November 12, 2025 marked the minting of the last penny. Donald Trump ordered the Treasury Department to discontinue production of pennies, reasoning that they are too expensive to keep minting. Since 2006 the cost of manufacturing a penny has risen to the point where it costs more to manufacture than its worth ($0.01). Currently, The US Mint reports that each penny costs a little over three cents to make. Thus, the government goes into a negative balance when paying to produce these coins; in fact, in 2023 the production of pennies cost taxpayers $179 million.
Although the penny no longer remains in production, billions of bronze coins are still in circulation. While they are still considered legal, the penny begins to slowly phase out of use. There are roughly 250 billion pennies in circulation but their movement has slowed down as a majority of Federal Reserve no longer have sufficient numbers of pennies to distribute. Businesses now find themselves in a penny shortage and forced to round customer balances to the nearest five cents. Some businesses round up and collect the extra money for charity; however, for the businesses that round down the extra debt they put on themselves becomes extremely costly over time. So far, many states have advocated for the creation of federal laws prohibiting rounding transactions to the nearest nickel. The US Mint states that the cost of rounding consumer transactions to the nearest nickel is roughly six million. The unavailability of the penny will likely lead businesses, who don’t already, to go cashless.
With current inflation, it is possible—however, unlikely—that other coins are to be put out of production, as the cost of manufacturing rises above the set value. Nickel costs roughly 13 cents to produce per unit; however, the US Mint declares their discontinuation will not happen anytime soon because the cost of rounding to the nearest dime doesn’t quite outweigh the cost on taxpayers. The final discontinuation of the penny marks its slow but sure death—and more importantly—the growing preference for a cashless society.