President Donald Trump announced late Sunday that he has ordered the Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to cease the production of new pennies due to the increasing cost of minting the one-cent coin.
“For far too long the United States has minted pennies which literally cost us more than 2 cents. This is so wasteful! I have instructed my Secretary of the US Treasury to stop producing new pennies,” Trump said, sharing the message on Truth Social while leaving New Orleans after watching part of the Super Bowl.
“Let’s rip the waste out of our great nations budget, even if it’s a penny at a time,” he added.
The latest move follows a series of swift executive actions from the Trump administration aimed at implementing broad changes in various sectors, including immigration, gender issues, and even geographic terminology, such as renaming the Gulf of Mexico.
Although Trump did not mention the penny during his presidential campaign, the discussion was reignited after Elon Musk‘s “Department of Government Efficiency” suggested the idea last month.
According to the U.S. Mint, the production of nearly 3.2 billion pennies in the 2024 fiscal year resulted in a loss of $85.3 million. Each penny cost approximately $0.037 to produce—up from $0.031 the year before. The nickel, too, is a money-losing coin, with production costs nearly double its value, with each of the $0.05 coins costing nearly $0.14 to make.
The increasing prices of materials, including zinc and copper, have contributed to these rising expenses, reports CNN.
Debate Over The Penny
The debate over the future of the penny has been ongoing for years. Numerous proposals from members of Congress have suggested either halting penny production, removing it from circulation, or requiring rounding of prices to the nearest five cents, according to the Congressional Research Service.
Last year, a New York Times Magazine article urged the abolition of the penny, calling its continued existence a symbol of inefficiency. Similarly, a 2013 commentary from economist Henry Aaron in Brookings Institution advocated for not only eliminating the penny, but also discontinuing the nickel.
Advocates for scrapping the penny cite cost savings, faster checkout times, and the fact that other nations, such as Canada, have already removed their one-cent coin. Canada ceased minting its penny in 2012.
Historical Context
It wouldn’t be the first time the U.S. has discontinued a low-value coin. The half-cent coin was discontinued in 1857. The penny itself was first issued in 1793, with President Abraham Lincoln appearing on the coin since 1909.
While supporters of the penny claim it helps keep consumer prices lower and supports charities, many Americans see it as a nuisance that is tossed into drawers and piggy banks.
