SAN ANTONIO — President Donald Trump announced Sunday that he is telling the Treasury Department to stop minting pennies. What would canceling the coin’s production mean for you?
The penny has been around for 233 years, since 1792. But as time has gone on, the cost to produce the coin just isn’t worth any penny.
“The Treasury Department will probably listen and stop making these coins and our judiciary probably could hold up this decision and rule it to be acceptable,” said Bill Dendy, a financial strategist.
So how would it affect you?
When you are at the store, any transaction would likely be rounded up or down to the nearest nickel. The development could also impacting charitable fundraising, as many organizations rely on penny donations when people are checking out.
“This will cause a run on the nickel, because if we start running out of nickels, and oddly enough, it costs like 13 to 14 cents to make every nickel,” said Dendy.
In the 2024 fiscal year, the U.S. Mint said it cost 3.7 cents to produce and distribute one penny. That is up 20% from 2023.
The reason for the increase in cost? The rising costs of copper and zinc, which are used to produce the penny.
“It’s just interesting how quickly and abruptly it’s come about and how it will probably cause a run on the pennies as we want to go ahead and double our drawers of pennies,” said Dendy.
The U.S. wouldn’t be the first country to stop making pennies. Canada stopped making the coin in 2012. And Australia quit both one and two-cent coins in 1992.
“There may not be a lot of resistance to this,” Dendy said. “Even though the way it’s done may cause your constitutionalist to get concerned and it may cause the Treasury to say we don’t have to but we’re going to do it anyway.”
Even though President Trump gave his two cents about the penny by instructing the treasury not to make it, getting rid of it completely will likely require congressional approval.