As part of his government wide effort to get rid of wasteful spending, President Donald Trump announced Monday the one cent penny will no longer be produced.
"For far too long the United States has minted pennies which literally cost us more than 2 cents. This is so wasteful! I have instructed my Secretary of the US Treasury to stop producing new pennies. Let's rip the waste out of our great nations budget, even if it's a penny at a time," Trump posted on Truth Social.
Trump is right about the economics.
"The worst value proposition by far among U.S. currency is the lowly penny. When the Lincoln penny first debuted in 1909, it was the first coin to feature a historical person in commemoration of President Lincoln's 100th birthday. Prior to that, some coins displayed Native Americans, but their identities were anonymous," MoneyDigest reports. "In 2022, the United States Mint disclosed that it cost 2.72 cents to produce each penny, a jump of nearly 30% over the prior year's cost...The Mint "lost" $171 million by making pennies in 2022, when considering the difference between producing the one-cent coins and their face value."
US MINT: In 2024, each penny cost 3.69 cents to make — the 19th straight year its production cost more than its value. pic.twitter.com/NL3Qt3teqk
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) February 10, 2025
The move is receiving bipartisan backing. Democrat Governor Jared Polis of Colorado is praising the idea.
As well as saving taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars, there are major environmental benefits to eliminating the penny. This is a great move. https://t.co/UVSjc5YbPF
— Jared Polis (@jaredpolis) February 10, 2025