Eliminating the penny

[kork13]

I just got a news alert -- Trump has instructed the Treasury to stop making pennies.

[ua_guy]

The nickel costs $0.13 to produce, so going after the penny might be pound foolish. But then we'd also lose the nickel if production of that was ceased too. Eliminating the penny will probably mean the next smallest denomination - the nickel - will see higher demand to fill small change transactions. $0.03 to make a penny or $0.13 to make a nickel. This might begin to explain how the man lost money running a casino.

Are we really saving money by eliminating the penny, if the goal is to cut costs? And with so many things lately, why isn't Congress making decisions which are probably theirs, and/or why aren't they being consulted first?

[QuarterMillionMan]

With the nickel costing .13 cents to make I say stop production of it too. Why just get rid of the penny, get rid of the nickel too just round up or down.

[kork13]

Updating with a legitimate news article:

"So long, Penny!"

https://apnews.com/article/trump-penny-treasury-mint-c4510debefe6cbfb0dd908d8fed7eb50

[disneysteve]

We probably only still have the penny because of lobbyists for the zinc industry bribing members of Congress.

If anybody really wants to cut government waste, what they really need to do is eliminate lobbyists and legal bribery.

[Petunia 100]

We probably only still have the penny because of lobbyists for the zinc industry bribing members of Congress.

If anybody really wants to cut government waste, what they really need to do is eliminate lobbyists and legal bribery.

You nailed that.

On a related note, what has become of the option to "like" a post?

[james.hendrickson]

You nailed that.

On a related note, what has become of the option to "like" a post?

Petunia, vbulletin removed the 'like a post" feature in the latest update. Sorry. : (

[QuarterMillionMan]

Will banks still take pennies after production stops?

[kork13]

Will banks still take pennies after production stops?

Without a doubt. Pennies will remain legal tender, so there's no reason banks or any other place wouldn't accept them. Coins are designed to stay in circulation for 30+ years, so I would expect them to remain in regular use for at least 5-10 years. Over time, they'll likely fall out of use... But just like the old $1 Eisenhower's or Sacajawea's are still legal tender, you just don't come across them very much.

[bjl584]

Without a doubt. Pennies will remain legal tender, so there's no reason banks or any other place wouldn't accept them. Coins are designed to stay in circulation for 30+ years, so I would expect them to remain in regular use for at least 5-10 years. Over time, they'll likely fall out of use... But just like the old $1 Eisenhower's or Sacajawea's are still legal tender, you just don't come across them very much.

I probably have enough pennies in my stash to keep them in circulation for 30 plus years - hahaha

On a serious note, I have heard that people in general tend to hoard pennies which has constrained supply.

[disneysteve]

I probably have enough pennies in my stash to keep them in circulation for 30 plus years - hahaha

On a serious note, I have heard that people in general tend to hoard pennies which has constrained supply.

The fact that they still mint 4 billion pennies each year is amazing. Where do they all go? Unlike dollar bills that wear out in a couple of years, coins last virtually forever. It’s not uncommon to get change somewhere and find a coin from the 1960s. There must be hundreds of billions of pennies out there.

And it’s not that people hoard them. It’s that people get them in change and have nothing to do with them so they toss them in a jar on their dresser. Maybe they cash them in every few years but they may accumulate hundreds of dollars in change before they do.

[james.hendrickson]

Here is some context from PBS:


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Trump orders U.S. Treasury to stop minting new pennies, citing rising cost of producing the coin

Politics Feb 10, 2025 1:42 PM EST WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump says he has directed the Treasury Department to stop minting new pennies, citing the rising cost of producing the one-cent coin.

“For far too long the United States has minted pennies which literally cost us more than 2 cents. This is so wasteful!” Trump wrote in a post Sunday night on his Truth Social site. “I have instructed my Secretary of the US Treasury to stop producing new pennies.”

The move by Trump is the latest in what has been a rapid-fire effort by his new administration to enact sweeping change through executive order and proclamation on issues ranging from immigration, to gender and diversity, to the name of the Gulf of Mexico.

Trump had not discussed his desire to eliminate the penny during his campaign. But Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency raised the prospect in a post on X last month highlighting the penny’s cost.

The U.S. Mint reported losing $85.3 million in the 2024 fiscal year that ended in September on the nearly 3.2 billion pennies it produced. Every penny cost nearly $0.037 — up from $0.031 the year before.

The mint also loses money on the nickel, with each of the $0.05 coins costing nearly $0.14 to make.

READ MORE: Trump says he plans to impose steel and aluminum tariffs, with more import duties coming

It is unclear whether Trump has the power to unilaterally eliminate the lowly one-cent coin. Currency specifications — including the size and metal content of coins — are dictated by Congress.

But Robert K. Triest, an economics professor at Northeastern University, has argued that there might be wiggle room.

“The process of discontinuing the penny in the U.S. is a little unclear. It would likely require an act of Congress, but the Secretary of the Treasury might be able to simply stop the minting of new pennies,” he said last month.

Members of Congress have repeatedly introduced legislation taking aim at the zinc coin with copper plating. Proposals over the years have attempted to temporarily suspend the penny’s production, eliminate it from circulation, or require that prices be rounded to the nearest five cents, according to the Congressional Research Service.

Proponents of eliminating the coin have cited cost savings, speedier checkouts at cash registers, and the fact that a number of countries have already eliminated their one-cent coins. Canada, for instance, stopped minting its penny in 2012.

It wouldn’t be the first time the U.S. eliminated its least valuable coin. The half-cent coin was discontinued by Congress in 1857.

Trump’s new administration has been sharply focused on cutting costs, with Musk, who has been brought on to lead the task, targeting entire agencies and large swaths of the federal workforce as he tries to identify a goal of $2 trillion in savings.

“Let’s rip the waste out of our great nations budget, even if it’s a penny at a time,” Trump wrote in his post.

Trump sent the message as he was departing New Orleans after watching the first half of the Super Bowl.

AP White House Correspondent Zeke Miller contributed to this report.

Link to source article here.

[ua_guy]

It's that last line that's the kicker. “Let’s rip the waste out of our great nations budget, even if it’s a penny at a time,” Trump wrote in his post.

Trump sent the message as he was departing New Orleans after watching the first half of the Super Bowl.

How much did we taxpayers pay, in pennies, so he and his family could fly one or more of our country's taxpayer-funded airplanes to the Superbowl and bring their security detail, which we also pay for?

I'm also confused with all these cost-saving initiatives. Demonizing the penny, but giving the nickel a pass, when it's fleecing us on a greater scale. What am I missing? Is this some kind of joke?

[Petunia 100]

The irony of sticking taxpayers with the tab for his Superbowl attendance while complaining about government waste wasn't lost on me either.

[QuarterMillionMan]

Anyways back to pennies before 1982 are copper. So much to learn about pennies. Do a search on 2009 Lincoln penny. Then there is the Wheat penny. I got about $3 worth of pennies to rummage through to see if I have anything of value.