Trump Directs Treasury to Stop Minting New Pennies

Usually when coins are retired or replaced, the central bank will give a year or two to redeem coins and then they become strictly for coin collectors. In those cases, I would suggest hoarders go through their coins and

1. Assemble a date set, whether it be just one coin a year, one of each mint or whatever they fancy

2. Look for and put aside any errors or rare dates in quantity if they can.

3. Redeem the rest for some MONEY!

So, let's have some fun.

You get rid of the penny, and the cost to make all the other coins increases (just ask any accountant). That's because most of the fixed costs of penny manufacture do not go away; they get re-distributed.  

So, now the whiz kids running the show go after the nickel, which was an even bigger money loser to start with on a unit basis, and now looks even worse because we need to produce more of them due to the absence of the penny.  

Hooray! The nickel dies too!.  

Uh oh … the fixed costs of BOTH penny and nickel production are now borne by the dimes and quarters, doubling their fixed costs. Suddenly the dime is not the money maker it used to be.  Someone suggests closing the Philadelphia mint and outsourcing production to one of our favored trade partners.  But Pennsylvania being a critical swing state, powerful politicians intervene to save it.  Bye-bye FDR.

With the quarter now only ⅓ as profitable as it used to be, it comes under closer scrutiny.  Expensive consultants are hired to root out all the waste fraud and abuse that has caused the cost of producing quarters to skyrocket compared to what they cost in 2023.  

I wonder how this story ends?

"I wonder how this story ends?"

With a highly collectible series of 50 state circulating commemorative pennies authorized under the next President?    😂

Fun article on the topic from an economist whose Substack I read (I think this is a generally accessible link):

https://www.mondayeconomist.com/p/penny

I just made a relevant side calculation for a different post, but thought it should go here, too.

Since 1982, the USA has consumed over 929,000 metric tons (MT) of zinc to produce pennies, approximately 22,000 MT per year.   With the current price of zinc at about USD$1.30/lb, that's $63 million dollars of zinc for a year's production.

That's nothing compared to the amount of zinc that goes into batteries all over the world each year, but still, it gives you an idea of how much the Mint's contract with a zinc supplier is worth.

To build on those interesting statistics …

With total U.S. zinc consumption at around 900,000 MT/yr, it means that fully 2.5% of all zinc consumed in the U.S. goes into the single application of manufacturing of the one cent coin.

And, since most zinc consumed in the U.S. is imported (Canada, South Korea and Mexico being the leading sources), we can be sure the cost of making those coins is now higher due the Trump National Sales Tax initiative.  

The US Congress has introduced two bills that would require the US Treasury to stop releasing 1 cent coins into circulation in early 2026. They have placed their final order for blanks. Unknown at this time if collector coins will be produced. 

It looks like it's happening.  
 

A Treasury spokesperson said the government made its final order of penny blanks this month, and the United States Mint will continue to manufacture pennies only as long as an inventory of penny blanks exists. Consumers with pennies will still be able to use them for purchases. But without new pennies moving into circulation, businesses that complete cash transactions will have to start rounding up or down to the nearest nickel. 


https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/22/business/us-discontinue-penny

The first domino has fallen.

They'd better not stop minting the penny in the UK. That would kill off our oldest currency and end a 1300 year tradition.

imperiusdamian

They'd better not stop minting the penny in the UK. That would kill off our oldest currency and end a 1300 year tradition.

It sort of already ended with decimalization. The pre- and post-1971 pennies might share a name but its hard for me to really consider them the same thing given the different currency systems.

Honestly I quite like the old pound/shilling/pence system, kind of wish it had been retained. Having nearly every currency on earth be the exact same 1/100 system is kind of boring.

Within the confines of the UK, I suppose it depends on how you look at it.

You could argue it's a whole new currency at decimalisation, or just a simple refresh in how it works.

You could argue that the British penny only existed since the UK formed in 1707; the fore-runners being English / Scottish options. The Scots Penny didn't turn up until early 12th century. England as a unified nation didn't exist until about 927 after the successful conquest of viking York. So that would the date for first truly English penny, though some of the earlier forerunner kingdoms used the penny too.

And that's before you even consider could you argue about the “true” penny dying out in 1796 when the last (circulation) silver pennies were struck?

But I'm rambling waaaaay off topic. But it's just such an interesting thought. 🤔

=====

From a purely mathematical point of view, I like the old L/s/d system too. Like 12 is just such a fantastic number for currency having loads of multiples, and many of those multiples can be broken down too. So 240 pennies to the pound is a really amazing number.

But I get that 100 pennies is a lot easier to work with. Much less complex, and it makes it easy for foreign transactions as virtually everyone uses 100. If I recall correctly, its Mauritania & Madagascar which are technically non-decimal but in both cases, their subdivision is so worthless that its not actually used.

(I think the Sovereign Order of Malta retains a base 12 currency, but they're a weird non-nation organisational nation thingy)

A Collector

Within the confines of the UK, I suppose it depends on how you look at it.

You could argue it's a whole new currency at decimalisation, or just a simple refresh in how it works.

 

You could argue that the British penny only existed since the UK formed in 1707; the fore-runners being English / Scottish options. The Scots Penny didn't turn up until early 12th century. England as a unified nation didn't exist until about 927 after the successful conquest of viking York. So that would the date for first truly English penny, though some of the earlier forerunner kingdoms used the penny too.

 

And that's before you even consider could you argue about the “true” penny dying out in 1796 when the last (circulation) silver pennies were struck?

 

But I'm rambling waaaaay off topic. But it's just such an interesting thought. 🤔

 

=====

From a purely mathematical point of view, I like the old L/s/d system too. Like 12 is just such a fantastic number for currency having loads of multiples, and many of those multiples can be broken down too. So 240 pennies to the pound is a really amazing number.

 

But I get that 100 pennies is a lot easier to work with. Much less complex, and it makes it easy for foreign transactions as virtually everyone uses 100. If I recall correctly, its Mauritania & Madagascar which are technically non-decimal but in both cases, their subdivision is so worthless that its not actually used.

(I think the Sovereign Order of Malta retains a base 12 currency, but they're a weird non-nation organisational nation thingy)

We all know the One True Penny started its life with the great 1279 recoinage of Edward I.

I kid, I kid. Personally I see it as a continuity that began with Offa and continues to this day, with changes of metals and currency systems around it but the concept of the penny itself remaining the same. (The coin is still the same size as those earliest pennies.)

Although my personal favourite pennies are the 1797 Cartwheel coins. Beautiful.

Like I said, it's a really fun thought experiment with the UK. It's difficult to even pin down the first penny (one could argue even earlier than Offa with the Sceat being a proto-penny of similar size) let alone the “last” one.

I sometimes wonder whether we'd rather revalue our currency (e.g. divide everything by 10) rather than lose the penny & it's very very long history. (I don't think we really would as it sounds like a logistical nightmare especially in the digital age, but I wouldn't be shocked if we did either.)

The cartwheel pennies are certainly something though, just yesterday I bought a 1797 two-pence cartwheel, but I've got a couple of (very!) worn pennies too.

I say 1958-1783 usa cent could double or 20x its value depending on condition and rarity 

odinstein1988

I say 1958-1783 usa cent could double or 20x its value depending on condition and rarity 

1958-1793 will increase by .01-$3000 depending on the mintage of p,s,d mint mark / year of minted