Farewell to the US Penny

After 232 years of continuous production, the US penny (or one cent coin) has finally ceased to roll off the presses for circulation. The US Mint hosted a ceremonial strike event at its Philadelphia facility in mid-November, with United States Treasurer Brandon Beach striking the final circulating penny coin.

Although circulating production has ceased, the penny remains legal tender. The Mint also plans to continue producing numismatic versions of the penny in limited quantities for historical and collector purposes.

Penny confusion continues

The administrative decision, taken earlier this year, to cease penny production was determined largely due to the cost of production rising from 1.42 cents to 3.69 cents per penny – or nearly four times its face value – over the past decade (see CN May 2025). Evolving consumer behaviour and the loss of its purchasing power have also made continued production unsustainable.

However, there are an increasing number of commercials banks and retailers who have reported shortages and issues with accessing the coins. This has led to the introduction of coin rounding in some cases, with transactions rounded down to the nearest 5 cents.