By Anna Miele
Correspondent
The very last penny in the United States was finally produced on Nov. 12.
President Donald Trump issued an order to the Treasury Department to stop minting pennies due to recent budget cuts. Stores have reported running short on pennies and have had to round cash transactions up and down to the nearest five cents when customers don’t have exact change, according to USA Today.
This shortage has resulted in a shift to nickels, although they are much more costly to make, which can lead to other cuts in the federal budget. The U.S Mint’s annual reports show that a penny costs about 3.7 cents to produce, while nickels cost about 13.8 cents to make a very wide difference between the two costs.
The penny will remain a legal currency, however, economists predict that there will be a “rounding tax” for consumers who primarily pay with cash, according to Investopedia.
“For far too long the United States has minted pennies which literally cost us more than 2 cents. This is so wasteful!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Canada, which ended their penny production back in 2012, adapted in their own way when the Canadian Government advised retailers and other cash businesses to round to the nearest five cents, according to TIME.
Seemingly, this is what America has been adapting to as well, although some businesses have resorted to stockpiling, saving every last cent of pennies they have, says TIME.
The topic of discontinuing pennies has been a years-long debate, and even former President Barack Obama supported the elimination back in 2013 during an interview, according to NPR.
In earlier years, Congress has attempted to suspend its production temporarily or eliminate its circulation to address its cost, the Congressional Research Service reported.
Americans for Common Cents, a group that represents the interests of zinc producers and other coin manufacturers, has spoken out, calling Trump’s penny plan “fundamentally flawed,” saying that it would increase the Mint’s losses by the requirement to produce more nickels, according to NPR.
Although pennies have been around for a very long time, ever since digital payments and card payments were created, about 86.9% of all transactions in the U.S were cashless in 2024, according to CapitalOne Shopping Research.
