The Death of the Penny

Tiffany Sun

August 15, 2025

With the robust rise of technological innovations comes the gradual retirement of cash. More often than not, people end up walking out of the house with just a phone in their pocket, no longer needing a brown leather wallet or a white clasp purse. And even those that do take along a couple of green paper bills no longer have the metal clinking of round coins accompanying their every movement.

For many, including myself, coins are more of a nuisance than they’re worth, and so slowly they’ve faded into the background, till they’re more representative of small objects to make a wish upon and throw in a well, or leave behind in some dusty corner, or flip as a mean to make a yes or no decision (even then we often use online websites that simulate a physical coin now), rather than currency. Unbeknownst to most, the government has needed to mint more pennies because of how they rarely stay in circulation, as many end up stashed in penny collection jars, stuck between sofa seats, or rusting at the bottom of sewage grates.

Earlier this year, in February, the US government made its final order in penny blanks, and Donald Trump ordered the US Mint to permanently stop the production of pennies. His goal (as many of his other actions are) is to save money. Surprisingly, the production of pennies generates a net loss, as they each cost more than 3 cents to make, while only being valued at 1 cent. It is estimated that $56 million will be saved with the farewell to penny productions.

That being said, the penny still remains as legal tender and will keep its value. Similar to the penny, the nickel is also a losing investment. Each nickel costs 13 cents to produce, while only worth 5 cents. However, the government has not indicated any intention of halting nickel production as of now. Although the government has aimed to decrease coin production in general, including the nickel, with the absence of the penny, demand for the nickel is forecast to increase, erasing all savings from the stop to penny production.

This is not a new idea, as seen when Canada stopped minting pennies in 2012 and stopped penny usage altogether in 2013.

With this discontinuity of pennies, stores must start rounding their prices up to the nearest nickel. Albeit with the wide use of online payments, the presence of cent values won’t prove as much of an obstacle for many consumers. Whether you’re an avid penny collector, nostalgic penny lover, or annoyed penny hater who would rather not have any jangling coins in their pockets, it might soon be time to say farewell to the penny for good.