Treasury Department To Phase Out Penny

The U.S. Treasury Department has announced plans to end production of the penny, signaling the end of one of the nation’s oldest coins.

A Treasury official confirmed to CBS MoneyWatch that the department placed its final order for penny blanks, the metal discs used to make coins, earlier this month. Once those run out, likely in early 2026, the U.S. Mint will cease minting new pennies, as first reported by The Wall Street Journal.

First introduced shortly after the Mint was established in 1792, the penny now costs significantly more to produce than its face value. According to the U.S. Mint’s 2024 annual report, each 1-cent coin cost about 3.7 cents to manufacture and distribute.

By discontinuing the penny, the Mint is expected to save roughly $56 million per year.

Although they appear copper-colored, pennies are primarily made of zinc with a copper coating. Zinc prices have more than doubled since 2000, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.

The Trump administration had previously hinted at ending the penny. In January, Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency called the coin too expensive to produce. President Trump followed up in February, saying he had directed the Treasury to stop minting it due to its high cost.

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

Efforts to eliminate the penny aren’t new. In 2015, former Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew also raised concerns about its cost and questioned whether it should continue being produced.

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