Down to the last penny: US Mint closes the books on producing one-cent coins

After more than two centuries, the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia has put in its final two cents — sort of.

On Wednesday, at an event that included Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Treasurer Brandon Beach, the mint stamped the last two U.S. pennies that will ever be made after production costs and the rise in digital financial transactions made the one-cent coins wasteful and impractical.

‘Let’s rip the waste out of our great nation[‘]s budget, even if it’s a penny at a time.’

Those lucky two pennies have been marked with what USA Today described as a “special omega mark” and will not enter into circulation.

The Philadelphia Mint first began stamping pennies in 1793, a year after Congress passed the Coinage Act. According to the New York Post, at the time, items that could be purchased for a penny included a biscuit, a candle, a piece of candy, and of course, a person’s thoughts.

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Matthew Staver/Bloomberg

However, these days, the one-cent coins cost nearly four cents to make, and the decision to discontinue stamping them is expected to save the Treasury Department $56 million in materials annually.

“Ongoing increases in production costs and the evolution in consumer habits and technology have made its production financially untenable,” a statement from the department said, according to USA Today.

The department further noted that the penny “remains legal tender and will retain its value indefinitely.” Reports estimate that at least 250 billion pennies are currently in circulation.

President Donald Trump has railed against ongoing production of the penny for months, calling for it to end. “For far too long the United States has minted pennies which literally cost us more than 2 cents. This is so wasteful!” he posted on Truth Social back in February.

“I have instructed my Secretary of the US Treasury to stop producing new pennies. Let’s rip the waste out of our great nation[‘]s budget, even if it’s a penny at a time.”

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