The penny's luck is about to run out. The AP reports the US Mint in Philadelphia is set to strike its last circulating penny on Wednesday. President Trump ordered the one-cent coin's demise earlier this year: "For far too long the United States has minted pennies which literally cost us more than 2 cents," Trump wrote in an online post in February. "This is so wasteful!" The AP reports the current cost per penny is closer to 4 cents.
The US Mint has been making pennies in Philadelphia, the nation's birthplace, since 1793, a year after Congress passed the Coinage Act. But CNN reports the coin's start predates the establishment of the Mint; the first penny was pressed in 1787. It was the first coin to the bear the likeness of a US president, with that design change occurring in 1909. Over the last century, about half of the coins made at US Mints in Philadelphia and Denver have been pennies, and today there an estimated 300 billion of them in circulation (a penny usually has a 30-year lifespan, reports USA Today).
The penny "remains legal tender and will retain its value indefinitely," notes the Treasury Department, which adds the amount in circulation "far exceed[s] the amount needed for commerce." Still, some retailers have voiced concerns in recent weeks as supplies ran low and the last production neared. They said the phase-out was abrupt and came with no guidance from the federal government on how to handle customer transactions. "We have been advocating abolition of the penny for 30 years. But this is not the way we wanted it to go," Jeff Lenard of the National Association of Convenience Stores said last month.
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US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Treasurer Brandon Beach were expected to be in Philadelphia on Wednesday afternoon for the final production run. The Treasury Department expects to save $56 million per year on materials by ceasing to make them—but CNN notes that savings could be canceled out by the need to press more nickels, which cost nearly 14 cents to make.
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