The Treasury Department said it plans to stop producing the penny – as the cost to create the coin is nearly four times its worth.
The U.S. mint made its final order of penny blanks and said it plans to halt the production of pennies once those run out, which will likely be in early 2026, according to The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the news.
In stopping the production of pennies, the Treasury expects an immediate annual savings of $56 million in reduced material costs, the Treasury said Thursday. While the penny is only worth a cent, the coin costs nearly 4 cents to create.
New pennies will stop going into circulation by early next year, meaning businesses will have to either round up or down to the nearest 5 cents.
The announcement comes as the cost to make pennies has increased by over 20 percent in 2024, and as President Donald Trump announced he would cease production of the coin.
“For far too long the United States has minted pennies which literally cost us more than 2 cents. This is so wasteful!” Trump previously wrote on his Truth Social site. “I have instructed my Secretary of the US Treasury to stop producing new pennies.”
There are currently about 114 billion pennies currently in circulation, though they have become a less common coin to use.
With reporting from the Associated Press.
