America's penny is facing its final minting days as the US Treasury sets plans to halt production in early 2026. But don't expect the coin to vanish right away. The roughly 114 billion pennies already out there—enough to fill a 13-story cube, per estimates—will stick around as legal tender, passing hands at cash registers across the country, CNN reports. Cash-heavy retailers, especially convenience stores, could be among the last places to see the coin disappear. They handle about 32 million cash transactions each day and will likely keep using pennies until local banks run out of rolls.
Once that happens, many stores are expected to start rounding cash transactions to the nearest nickel, but it won't be a blanket policy—the decision will fall to individual retailers. Shoppers will notice little immediate impact in electronic transactions, which will still go down to the penny. The National Retail Federation says the goal is to make the transition as hassle-free as possible. If the Canadian experience offers a guide—pennies have been out of production in Canada since 2012 but are still recognized as legal tender—the US penny's final fade from everyday use could take years, or even decades.
Amid the serious repercussions, the New York Times previously explored what might happen to the iconic penny loafer. "It will be a dime loafer," Martha Stewart predicted as she attended Fashion Week in New York. Another idea is to adorn the shoes with something other than a coin. "Just replace it with weird things like mini Teletubby plush bears or something," said stylist Gabriela Karefa-Johnson. (This content was created with the help of AI. Read our AI policy.)
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