WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Mint stopped earning money in 2025but legislation passed by the Senate and sent to President Donald Trump’s desk will officially end their production after 234 years.
The bill, passed Monday night by voice vote, orders the government not to make pennies, giving a legal seal of approval to the Trump administration’s decision to halt production of the currency last year. The penny, one of the first coins produced after the Mint was established in 1792, has become increasingly expensive to produce and is used by fewer consumers as digital transactions have become more common.
Trump is expected to sign the bill. He wrote in a social media post last year that the United States had been producing the penny for “far too long.”
Ending the penny will save millions of dollars
The Mint claims that the production of a penny now costs almost 4 cents and that stopping them would generate immediate savings of $56 million per year.
The bipartisan bill, called The Common Cents Act, was sponsored by Reps. Lisa McClain, R-Mich., and Robert Garcia, D-Calif.
“When it comes to reducing waste and making sure our tax dollars are spent wisely, it makes sense that we stop making a part that costs nearly four times more than it is worth to produce,” Garcia said.
Consumers can still use their money
The coins are still in circulation and the official end of their production does not mean that consumers or stores cannot use them. The Mint said it earned 3.2 billion cents in 2024.
The bill outlines new procedures for stores as pennies are phased out, and it allows them to round transactions to the nearest 5 cents.
Retailers had lobbied for the bill to eliminate the threat of lawsuits as coin circulation declined.
“Businesses across the country have faced the cascading consequences of the lack of coins in circulation, operating under constant uncertainty about how to handle cash transactions when exact change is not available,” a coalition of retail groups wrote to House leaders in a letter earlier this year.
The bill would also allow the government to use an internal layer of zinc in the production of nickel, the circulation of which could increase as the penny is phased out. The 5-cent coin is currently made from both nickel and copper, which are more expensive than zinc.
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