By David G. Firestone
This will be my last column before my annual summer vacation, where I take the month of July off, to spend the summer with friends, and enjoying myself. Before I do, I’ve been wanting to discuss the recent news that the United States Mint will cease production of the penny. It needs to be clarified for some people that the penny will continue to circulate and is still legal tender.
The cited reason for eliminating the penny is the costs involved in producin the penny, specifically the fact that each individual penny costs. In the words of Chris Isidore and Matt Egan of CNN:
“A Treasury spokesperson said the government made its final order of penny blanks this month, and the United States Mint will continue to manufacture pennies only as long as an inventory of penny blanks exists. Consumers with pennies will still be able to use them for purchases. But without new pennies moving into circulation, businesses that complete cash transactions will have to start rounding up or down to the nearest nickel.
Each penny costs 3.7 cents to produce and distribute. While production costs have risen for each of the coins below, pennies and nickels are the only two that cost more to make than they’re worth. In 2024, it cost four times more to make a penny and three times more to make a nickel than it did 20 years ago.
But the cost of a penny might be a smaller problem than the alternative. That’s because the Mint actually loses even more money on each nickel it produces. Each nickel costs 13.8 cents, with 11 cents of production costs and 2.8 cents of administrative and distribution costs. These figures are for the government’s most recent fiscal year, which ended in September.”
First off, lets discuss this idea that pennies will vanish sooner than later. According to estimates, there are as many as 114 billion pennies currently in circulation. Since the US population is 340 million, this means that there are 325 pennies per citizen in the US. Second, unlike a dollar bill, which has a useful life of 2 years, pennies have a lifespan that lasts for decades. It’s going to take on hell of a long time for pennies to be few and far between.
The most crucial aspect to why people shouldn’t really be worried is that we are closer and closer to being a cashless society. Seriously, cash only businesses are fewer, and cashless stores are more common. Are we going to see some stores roll up to the nearest nickel for cash purchases, but it’s not an immediate threat.
Also, who is to say that this decision can’t be reversed. My thinking here is that if copper is too expensive, then another metal can be used. Same thing with nickels. If costs are too much, why not change the metal? We saw this back in 1965, when silver was taken out nickels and quarters. Who is to say that a more cost-effective metal can’t be used? Time will tell, of course.
But this got me to thinking…when was the last time the US Mint officially canceled a denomination of coin? With the help of Wikipedia, I was able to find a list of obsolete us coins. They are, in order of denomination:
-Half cent ½¢ (1793–1857)
-Fugio cent 1¢ (1787)
-Large cent 1¢ (1793–1857)
-Two-cent piece 2¢ (1864–1873)
-Three-cent silver 3¢ (1851–1873)
-Three-cent nickel 3¢ (1865–1889)
-Trime 3¢ 1865–1889
-Half disme 5¢ (1792)
-Half dime 5¢ (1792–1873)
-Twenty-cent piece 20¢ (1875–1878)
-Gold dollar $1 (1849–1889)
-Quarter eagle $2.50 (1796–1929)
-Three-dollar piece $3 (1854–1889)
-Half eagle $5 (1795–1929)
-Eagle $10 (1795–1933)
-Double eagle $20 (1850–1933)
So the last time the US eliminated a denomination of coin was 1933. However, the Eagle and Double Eagle were eliminated due to the Gold Reserve Act of January 30, 1934. Outside of that, there haven’t really been many coins that have ceased production since the late 1800’s. Again, with the number of pennies in circulation, and the fact that we are closer and closer to being a cashless society, it won’t be a big issue for some time, and a lot can happen.
With that, I’m going fishing, see you in August!
Sources Cited:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_Reserve_Act
Sources Cited:
https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/22/business/us-discontinue-penny
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obsolete_denominations_of_United_States_currency
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_Reserve_Act
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