The U.S. Mint Announced It Will Stop Making Pennies. Here's How It Will Affect Businesses and Consumers. Can you still pay with pennies? How will businesses make exact change? Here's what we know.
By Erin Davis
The U.S. Treasury Department will stop making new pennies, according to a statement on Thursday.
The Wall Street Journal first reported that the U.S. government ordered its last penny blanks in May, and the United States Mint will stop manufacturing the one-cent coins when the final inventory of penny blanks is used. (Penny blanks are flat, metal discs that are turned into coins.)
President Donald Trump ordered the U.S. Mint in February to stop making pennies, noting its high production cost. According to the U.S. Mint, it costs up to 4 cents to make just one penny.
The penny has been used as a currency in the U.S for about 233 years and was first introduced in 1792.
The last pennies to enter circulation will happen in early 2026.
What Does Ending Penny Production Mean for Small Businesses?
Consumers will continue to be able to use pennies to pay for purchases, the Treasury Department said. That is, until the copper-plated coins run out. There are still about 114 billion pennies in circulation, per the New York Times.
In the statement, the department said that after the last batch, making exact change might be a thing of the past. That's because eventually, there won't be enough pennies for daily cash transactions.
The U.S. Treasury said businesses will be instructed to start "rounding up or down to the nearest 5 cents," when that happens, the statement says.
Related: Rare Penny Sells at Auction for $1.1 Million. Here's How to See If You Have One in Your Swear Jar.
