The Penny is Dead – The U.S. Treasury Announced it Will Officially Stop Manufacturing The Penny in 2026

Newsweek – The U.S. Treasury Department has announced that it plans to stop manufacturing the penny, the smallest value coin in the United States, after more than two centuries in circulation.

The department says it has placed its final order for penny blanks, and production will end when they run out, which will likely be early 2026, according to The Wall Street Journal, which first reported on the decision.

The penny has become increasingly costly to produce. According to the U.S. Mint, each coin now costs about 3.7 cents to mint and distribute, almost four times its face value.

The government lost over $85 million in 2024 by producing about 3 billion pennies. Much of this is due to the price of zinc, the primary metal used to make pennies, which has more than doubled since 2000.

I don't have much to say about the decision to quit producing pennies. It seems like a smart and obvious move. Nobody uses them anymore. It costs our government $0.04 to make a single one. Honestly I'm kinda surprised they're not giving DOGE credit for finding the $56 million (or $85 million depending on where you read) in annual savings that will allegedly come as a result of eliminating a penny. But regardless, the penny is on it's way out. It's been on it's way out. But come 2026, the U.S. Mint will stop printing them entirely. Goodbye penny. You were the 4th best coin.

Speed Rankings of Coins

- Quarter
- Dime

- Nickle
- Penny
- All coins that are a dollar, because a dollar is still enough money that you have to keep track of them. Keeping track of coins is annoying. With lesser value coins you can just kinda forget about them. Dollar coins are a responsibility. 

I'm trying to remember the last time I would have legitimately used a penny. Like actually went to pay for something at a cash register, reached into my pocket, and pulled out pennies to give someone exact change. It must have been in college. I could get a Polar Pop from Circle K for $0.63. There were plenty of times I had a couple of quarters, then dug out 13 sticky pennies from the cupholder of my Ford Taurus to get myself a refreshing polar beverage. But I'm not sure I've used a penny one time since I graduated and started making an actual salary.

Beyond pennies, cash in its own right just continues to become more and more unnecessary. Businesses aren't even fully prepared to deal in cash anymore. Last time I paid with cash, the guy at the register didn't have pennies at all. He just said, "Sorry I don't have pennies" and shortchanged me without a second thought. I didn't even question it. The only reason I had cash in the first place is because I won a mini-golf tournament at work. Cash is almost strictly used for funding vices nowadays. When I see somebody pulling money out of an ATM, I assume it's either to pay for drugs, for alcohol at a cash only bar, or for gambling. So few people carry cash now that even drug dealers will accept Venmo. Cash is such a hassle that they're willing to risk leaving a paper trail of themselves committing felonies to avoid dealing with it. 

Although I will say, restaurants have been sneaking in the "3% added to credit card purchases" at the bottom of their menus more and more lately. So I suppose it would behoove me to carry cash at times. But the problem with that is, once cash has been pulled out of my bank account, it's already spent in my mind. If I have cash, I'm way more likely to spend it flippantly. So what's really worse for me financially? Paying an additional 3% on a bill every now and then, or buying a Red Bull and a Snickers every time I walk past a news stand.

I always think about what a hit it must have been to homeless people when cash became virtually irrelevant. I used to give homeless people a dollar all the time. It was a nice easy way to make someone happy, but more importantly, to make myself feel like I was good person. But now I never have cash. I don't even carry cigarettes anymore. The only thing I ever have to give a homeless person is leftovers from dinner. But I've found a lot of homeless people don't want leftover. In fact, many of them are insulted by it. One time in San Francisco I ordered a big giant, way too expensive plate of some sort of seafood past for lunch. Really good food. Ate maybe half of it. I was going to be out all day, so I gave the leftovers to a homeless person and he yelled at me for not giving him silverware. If I'd given him a dollar (or a cigarette), he'd have been happy as a clam. But pennies on the other hand... pennies have become so invaluable that I wouldn't even give one to a homeless guy. It would be too insulting. If I gave a homeless man a penny, and he punched me in the face, I wouldn't even blame him. 

But hold onto your pennies people. Maybe there will come a time long after we're dead, when pennies are completely out of circulation, and they'll become valuable once again. Hundreds of years from now, a single penny could be worth as much as 7 or 8 cents.