Pennies become history in U.S. as Treasury Department places final order, expected to run out by 2026

Economic Times

24-05-2025

The US Treasury Department will cease penny production after its final penny blank order runs out in early 2026. This decision comes as the cost to manufacture each penny, primarily due to rising zinc prices, now exceeds its face value, costing 3.7 cents to produce.
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Penny's Long Run Nears Its End
Cost to Make a Penny Now Outweighs Its Value
US Mint to Save $56 Million Annually
Zinc Drives Up Costs
Trump Administration Accelerated the Decision
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After more than two centuries in Americans' pockets, the penny will finally be on its way out, as US Treasury Department has confirmed it placed its last order for penny blanks this month, with the United States Mint aiming to stop manufacturing the penny when the latest order runs out, as per a report.The Wall Street Journal predicted that the last batch of the blanks, which are flat, metal discs that the US Mint converts into coins, will run out in early 2026, reported CBS News.The decision was made because now the cost of making a penny is more than its own value. According to CBS News, the penny, which had been launched during the early days of the US Mint after its establishment in 1792, as of 2024, cost around 3.7 cents to manufacture and distribute, as per the US Mint's 2024 annual report.The US Treasury revealed that, by ending production of the penny, it would save the Mint around $56 million in annual savings, as per CBS News.The penny is made of zinc, with its distinctive appearance coming from a copper overlay, Zinc's cost per metric tonne had more than doubled from its price in 2000, as per the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis data, reported CBS News.This comes after the Trump administration had recently indicated that it planned to stop making the 1-cent coin, as per the report. Even billionaire Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency said in January that the penny was too expensive to produce and in February, US president Trump wrote on his social media site Truth Social, "For far too long the United States has minted pennies which literally cost us more than 2 cents. This is so wasteful!" adding "I have instructed my Secretary of the US Treasury to stop producing new pennies," as quoted in the report.Yes, the Treasury Department has confirmed that once the final supply of penny blanks runs out in 2026, production will stop.Because each penny now costs more than 3.5 cents to make, mainly due to rising material costs, especially zinc.