The US will present its last penny in Philadelphia on Wednesday, according to a report by the Associated Press. And while the coin will still remain legal tender, ordinary money is becoming much harder to find.
President Donald Trump first announced in February that pennies should no longer be minted, calling them worthless because the cost of producing them exceeds their value.
“For too long the United States has minted pennies that literally cost us more than 2 cents. It’s a waste!” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “I have instructed my Secretary of the U.S. Treasury to stop producing new money. Let’s take the waste out of our great nations budget, even if it’s a penny at a time.”
Trump was actually underestimating the cost of producing the penny. According to the Wall Street Journal, it was 2.7 cents in 2022 but will rise to 3.7 cents in 2024. Before the penny, the last time the U.S. Mint stopped minting a half-penny coin was in 1857. At the time the half-penny ceased minting, the coin was worth about 18 cents in today’s currency.
Ending production of the penny was justified, but almost everyone agrees that Trump went about it the wrong way. The President did not coordinate with Congress or retailers to implement the plan in a phased manner, something that other countries such as Canada did in a much more orderly manner. Canada stopped producing its one-cent coins in 2012 and encouraged businesses to round to the nearest five cents.
“We’ve been advocating to eliminate the penny for 30 years. But this is not the way we wanted,” Jeff Lenard of the National Association of Convenience Stores told the AP last month.
As a result, many stores are asking customers to pay in exact change (including pennies), which Gizmodo recently spotted at a Ralph’s grocery store in San Diego, California. The sign on the self-checkout machine reads: “The U.S. Treasury has ceased production of pennies, which is now affecting supply. If using cash for payment, please consider providing exact change.”
The US Mint in Philadelphia has been making the penny since 1793, when it was made of 100% copper. Since 1982, the penny has been made of copper-plated zinc, consisting of 97.5% zinc and 2.5% copper. The first pennies featured a flowing hair “Liberty” design and changed several times over the decades, including the Flying Eagle design (1857–58), the Indian Head design (1859–1909), and the Lincoln cent, which has had minor variations since it was first introduced in 1909.
Treasury Secretary Scott Besant and Treasurer Brandon Beach will reportedly be at the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia on Wednesday for the final production of the penny.