The United States is running out of pennies. President Trump's decision to stop producing the penny earlier this year is starting to have real implications for the nation's commerce, the AP reports. Merchants in multiple regions of the country have run out of pennies and are unable to produce exact change. Meanwhile, banks are unable to order fresh pennies and are rationing pennies for their customers. One convenience store chain, Sheetz, got so desperate for pennies that it briefly ran a promotion offering a free soda to customers who bring in 100 pennies. Another retailer says the lack of pennies will end up costing it about $3 million this year, because of the need to round down to avoid lawsuits.
To be sure, not one retailer or bank has called for the penny to stick around. Pennies, especially in bulk, are heavy and are more often than not used exclusively to give customers change. But the abrupt decision to get rid of the penny has come with no guidance from the federal government. Many stores have been left pleading for Americans to pay in exact change. "We have been advocating abolition of the penny for 30 years. But this is not the way we wanted it to go," said Jeff Lenard with the National Association of Convenience Stores. The United States is not the first country to transition away from small denomination coins or discontinue out-of-date coins. But in all other cases, governments wound down the use of their out-of-date coins over a period of, often, years. (Click for more on the problem, and what's making it worse.)
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