The U.S. Mint Thursday stated it has ordered the final batch of pennies after President Trump ordered the elimination of the little-loved one-cent coin.
With the price of producing a single penny already skyrocketing to about 4 cents, Trump in February ordered Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who oversees the mint, to cease making new copper cash as quickly as potential.
However the ubiquitous pocket and purse fillers bearing the likeness of President Abraham Lincoln are unlikely to develop into scarce in a single day.
There are about 114 billion pennies at the moment in circulation in the USA, the Treasury says, with an untold quantity buried in couch cushions or rattling round below automotive flooring mats.
Except for its outsized manufacturing value, anti-penny advocates cite the coin’s restricted utility as costs have risen and customers shift to digital funds and card transactions.
Followers of the penny cite its usefulness in charity drives and nostalgia for a bygone period when one penny may purchase a chunk of gum. They argue that nickels are a giant cash loser too, costing practically 14 cents apiece to provide.
Pennies are the most well-liked coin made by the U.S. Mint, which reported making 3.2 billion of them final yr. That’s greater than half of all the brand new cash it made final yr.
Congress, which dictates forex specs corresponding to the scale and metallic content material of cash, may make Trump’s order everlasting by way of regulation. However previous congressional efforts to ditch the penny have failed.
The nation’s treasury secretary has the authority to mint and difficulty cash “in amounts the secretary decides are necessary to meet the needs of the United States.”
The penny was one of many first cash made by the U.S. Mint after its institution in 1792.
