On Sunday, U.S. President Donald Trump announced that he has ordered Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to stop producing pennies because the cost of making them is unnecessarily high. He said, "I have instructed my Secretary of the US Treasury to stop producing new pennies."
Trump wrote on his Truth Social account on Sunday night: "For far too long, the United States has minted pennies which cost us more than 2 cents. This is so wasteful!" This move by Trump was part of a broader effort to reduce government spending through executive orders and changing policies from immigration to the federal workforce.
The idea of eliminating the penny was not a part of Trump’s campaign promises, but it recently started gaining attention after Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency(DOGE) raised the issue in a post on Twitter, pointing out the rising costs.
According to the U.S. Mint, the government lost around $85.3 million in FY2024 producing nearly 3.2 billion pennies, where each coin costs around 3.7 cents, rising up more than 20% from 3.1 cents in the previous year. As reported by CNN, the increasing cost of metals like zinc and copper is part of the reason it’s getting more expensive to make the coin.
Although Trump has announced the end of penny production, it might be unclear whether he has the legal authority to do so without Congress. U.S. laws state that coin specifications like metal content and size are only determined by Congress.
However, an economics professor at Northeastern University, Robert K. Triest, noted in a report by the Associated Press (AP): "The process of discontinuing the penny in the U.S. is a little bit unclear. It would likely require an act of Congress, but the Secretary of the Treasury might be able to stop the minting of new pennies."
Lawmakers have introduced various proposals over the years to eliminate the penny or reduce its production. Some suggested that rounding the prices to the nearest five cents can make the transition smoother. Those who have supported getting rid of the coin argued that it would save money, and speed up transactions. They have also pointed out the fact that several other countries like Canada stopped minting their pennies in 2012.
Last year, an article in New York Times Magazine described the penny as "a symbol of deeper rot". Moreover, a commentary in 2013 from the Brookings Institution suggested discontinuing both the penny and the nickel, arguing: "Perhaps, the problem is not that advocates are being too bold, but rather they have been too timid - so let’s drop not just pennies, but nickels too."
Donald Trump’s announcement came when he was leaving New Orleans after watching the first half of the Super Bowl. He wrote: "Let's rip the waste out of our great nation's budget, even if it's a penny at a time."
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