Treasury Department Places Final Order for New Pennies

After faithfully serving Americans since 1787, the penny is on its way to retirement. The United States Treasury announced it won’t place any more orders for penny blanks. That means once current supplies run out, new pennies will not be introduced into circulation. The Washington Post reported that the Treasury placed its final order for blanks this month with expectations that it will run out by early 2026. You can keep spending pennies as normal after that. But at some point, businesses will have to start rounding up or down to the nearest 5 cents for cash transactions. Why is the penny getting the axe? Well, according to the U.S. Mint’s 2024 annual report, pennies cost nearly 4 cents to produce and distribute. Part of this is due to rising material costs. Pennies are primarily made of zinc, and its price per metric ton has more than doubled since 2000. Over the years, penny production has decreased anyway. In 2024, the Mint only made 3.2 billion pennies, compared to about 11 bil ... Read full article.