Trump Directs Treasury Department To Stop Minting the ‘Wasteful’ US Penny

The penny is a topic of hot debate currently, and Americans from all walks of life may have an opinion over the fate of the coin. Some sentimentalists may gesture toward the American penny’s long history — after all, as TIME explained, it was one of the first coins ever produced by the U.S. Mint shortly after its founding in 1792 — or the notion of making a wish after tossing one of the tiny coins into a fountain.

However, others, including President Donald Trump, suggest that the time has come for the penny to exit production, primarily over cost concerns.

“For far too long the United States has minted pennies which literally cost us more than 2 cents,” Trump posted to Truth Social. “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.”

How Much Does the US Penny Cost To Produce?

The fact is that the U.S. penny costs nearly four times as much to mint as it’s worth in terms of face value.

According to CNBC, citing U.S. Mint data, it costs 3.69 cents to manufacture each penny as of 2024. In fact, for nearly two decades now, it has cost more to manufacture the American penny than the coin itself has been worth. Per AP News, the U.S. Mint indicated it had lost $85.3 million in making the almost 3.2 billion pennies produced in 2024.

That’s not counting the environmental cost of manufacturing the coin, nor the fact that many economists consider it to be well past its expiration date in terms of practical usage.

In 2015, as Coinweek reported, former U.S. Mint Director Philip N. Diehl wrote:

“One hundred years ago, an American offering a penny per thought would have been shelling out $.25 — not a very generous offer, but then it’s only a thought. Today, the value of a penny has shrunk to the point that, if you earn more than the minimum wage, you’re losing money stopping and picking up a penny on the sidewalk,” he argued.

“In fact, I supported eliminating the penny when I was director of the Mint, even though it would reduce hours for our workforce. But less so than you might think. Most of the work of producing the nation’s one-cent coin has been outsourced to business. The Mint only stamps and bags the coin. All other steps in the process are done outside the Mint. These business interests have a lot to do with why the penny survives today, 25 years after its utility to commerce was over,” he added.

That may be true, at least in part. TIME cited pro-penny proponent Americans for Common Cents (ACC), headed by Executive Director Mark Weller, as having argued that DOGE’s focus on eliminating the penny was misguided and based on erroneous fact-finding. Weller, however, was cited in a 2009 Washington Times article as having admitted that his group is, at least in part, funded by the zinc industry.

“We make no secret that one of our major sponsors is a company that makes the zinc ‘blanks’ for pennies,” Weller said at the time.

Other critics of the penny’s potential elimination point to a so-called rounding tax — wherein retailers may push prices up to the highest/nearest nickel in the event of the penny’s end — and the fact that charities often rely on a massive amount of small change to make ends meet as valid reasons to keep the coin in production.

Can Trump Actually Get Rid of the Penny?

While it’s a matter of some contention as to whether Trump has the sole power to make such a directive to the U.S. Mint, as “currency specifications — including the size and metal content of coins — are dictated by Congress,” as AP News detailed, some experts suggest that the president’s order is likely to find footing.

TD Cowen’s Jaret Seiberg believes the halt will happen and pass judicial review. The consequences may need to be addressed sooner, rather than later, as CNBC outlined.

“We believe this order would survive judicial review, which is why this is likely to occur,” Seiberg wrote on Feb. 10. “We worry about this leading to a shortage of pennies, which could force merchants to pay banks more for coins. It also adds legal risk for merchants and banks. That could create the crisis needed to force Congress to act.”

AP News cited Robert K. Triest, an economics professor at Northeastern University, as agreeing that the penny’s days were likely numbered — with or without congressional approval.

“The process of discontinuing the penny in the U.S. is a little unclear. It would likely require an act of Congress, but the Secretary of the Treasury might be able to simply stop the minting of new pennies,” he said in January.