By Jeff Cox
The beleaguered U.S. penny is living on borrowed time.
With the cost of making the cent coin rising and President Donald Trump looking for ways to reduce unnecessary spending, the U.S. Treasury has ordered its last batch of “blanks” that it uses to form pennies, a department spokesman said Thursday.
The last of the new pennies will enter circulation early next year. Ultimately, it will mean that supply will dry up and businesses will be pressed into rounding prices to the nearest nickel.
For taxpayers, Treasury says halting the production of pennies will save $85 million — a modest amount compared to the $6.8 trillion the government spent in 2024 but nevertheless another step in fiscal belt-tightening.
“Minting pennies costs the American taxpayer millions every year – nearly four times more than the pennies are worth,” Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) said on May 1 when he helped introduce the “Make Sense Not Cents Act” that would provide the congressional authorization to stop penny-printing. “No private business would produce something at a 4x loss. It’s time to stop wasting Americans’ hard-earned tax dollars making overpriced pennies.”
Specifically, the Treasury Department estimates that producing the Abraham Lincoln-fronted coin now costs 3.69 cents apiece, up 20% in 2024 alone.
Disclaimer
The information contained in South Florida Reporter is for general information purposes only.
The South Florida Reporter assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions in the contents of the Service.
In no event shall the South Florida Reporter be liable for any special, direct, indirect, consequential, or incidental damages or any damages whatsoever, whether in an action of contract, negligence or other tort, arising out of or in connection with the use of the Service or the contents of the Service. The Company reserves the right to make additions, deletions, or modifications to the contents of the Service at any time without prior notice.
The Company does not warrant that the Service is free of viruses or other harmful components
This article originally appeared here and was republished with permission.
![Pinterest](https://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https://southfloridareporter.com/get-ready-to-round-up-treasury-set-to-halt-penny-production/&media=https://southfloridareporter.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/2150794404.jpg&description=The U.S. Treasury has ordered its last batch of "blanks" that it uses to form pennies, a department spokesman confirmed.){kind=link}