The U.S. Mint has made the decision to stop minting the penny as the cost to create a single penny now exceeds the value of it.
After 232 years, the penny stopped being manufactured. The penny first began circulation in 1792 following the passage of the Coinage Act of 1792 which established the U.S. Mint and created the dollar as a form of currency. In 1909, Abraham Lincoln became the first President of the United States to be featured on a U.S. coin with his face being minted onto the penny to commemorate his 100th birthday. During the second world war, the U.S. Mint started minting steel pennies due to a copper shortage. Over time, the value of the penny gradually decreased, with inflation making the value of the dollar more widespread. This leads into 2025, where it now costs the U.S. Mint 4 cents to make 1 penny.
The decision came in February of this year, when U.S. President Donald Trump said that it made no fiscal sense to continue producing pennies. Trump instructed Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent to stop the production of pennies, highlighting the fact that the value of the penny exceeds its value. The penny is not the only piece of discontinued currency, the $500 dollar bill, which was discontinued in 1934, and the $1000 dollar bill, which was discontinued in 1945 have also been popular pieces of discontinued currency.
Though the penny will no longer be minted, there are still roughly 300 billion pennies in circulation, meaning that some stores may still accept pennies, and that they will still be used as an important form of currency. With the penny no longer being minted, stores have to make the decision as to how they round excess change. Stores such as Goodwill are rounding charges down to the nearest five regardless of how high the number is, other stores such as McDonalds are making to decision to take a more complex approach to rounding, with some rounding one and two down to the nearest five, rounding three and four up to the nearest five and likewise, rounding six and seven down to the nearest five, and eight and nine up to the nearest five.
Overall the value of the penny dropping has resulted in its discontinuation by the U.S. Mint, with purchases being rounded to the nearest five. The impact this will have on U.S. businesses and the retail industry has yet to be seen, however its consequences could be either positive or negative.
