You’ve probably seen the headlines or heard a rumor at a checkout counter that the penny is dead. People look at that little copper-colored disc and think it’s a relic of the past, like phone booths or VCRs. But here’s the reality: are they not making pennies anymore? Actually, they are. They’re making millions of them. Every single day.
Go to the U.S. Mint’s production data and you’ll see the numbers are staggering. In 2024 and 2025, the Philadelphia and Denver mints pumped out billions of Lincoln cents. It seems wild when you realize that most of us just let them rot in a jar or drop them into those "take a penny, leave a penny" trays without a second thought.
Why the Mint Keeps Striking Zinc
It costs more than three cents to make one penny. Think about that for a second. The government is essentially "buying" pennies for three cents and selling them to the public for one cent. It sounds like a terrible business model because, frankly, it is. The U.S. Mint's 2023 Annual Report explicitly stated that the unit cost for the penny was 3.07 cents. It’s likely even higher now due to the fluctuating costs of zinc and copper plating.
So, why keep going?
The answer is a messy mix of nostalgia, lobbying, and the terrifying logistics of price rounding. If we stopped making pennies today, every cash transaction would have to be rounded to the nearest five-cent increment. Critics argue this would lead to a "rounding tax" where businesses nudge prices up, not down. Whether that's true or just a fear tactic is debated by economists, but it’s enough to keep the machines running in Philly.
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The Lobbying Power Behind the Cent
Believe it or not, there is a literal "penny lobby." It’s called Americans for Common Cents. This group is largely funded by companies like Jarden Zinc Products, the very firm that supplies the zinc blanks used to make the coins. It’s a classic Washington tale. They argue that the penny is a vital part of the economy and that its removal would hurt low-income families who rely on cash.
Then there’s the sentiment. Americans love Lincoln. The 16th President has been on that coin since 1909, and there is a deep-seated psychological attachment to the currency. Whenever a bill is introduced in Congress to kill the penny—and it happens every few years—it usually dies in committee. Nobody wants to be the politician who "killed Honest Abe."
Canada Did It, Why Can't We?
In 2012, Canada looked at the math and said, "Enough." They stopped distributing pennies entirely. Their reasoning was simple: it was a drain on the taxpayer and a nuisance for retailers. Since then, Canadian cash transactions are rounded to the nearest five cents, while digital payments (credit, debit, Apple Pay) stay exact.
It worked. The sky didn't fall. Inflation didn't spike.
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But the U.S. is a much bigger beast. We have a massive amount of "penny-denominated" debt and a culture that is notoriously slow to change its physical money. We still have the dollar bill, while most other developed nations moved to $1 and $2 coins decades ago. We are clingers. We like our paper and our tiny, money-losing coins.
The Zinc Problem and Metal Composition
If you think pennies are made of copper, you’re living in 1982. Before that year, pennies were 95% copper. Today, they are 97.5% zinc with a thin copper skin. If they were still solid copper, they’d be worth nearly five cents in raw metal, and people would be melting them down in their backyards for profit (which, by the way, is highly illegal).
The price of zinc is the real driver here. When global zinc prices spike, the cost to the U.S. taxpayer goes up. Even though the Mint has experimented with cheaper metals like steel—much like they did during World War II in 1943—none have proven as durable or as easy to mint as the current zinc-core composition.
How the Penny Affects Your Wallet
Even if you never use them, you’re paying for them. The Mint loses tens of millions of dollars every year on penny production. That’s a "seigniorage" loss. While the Mint makes a massive profit on quarters and dimes—which cost much less than their face value to produce—the penny and the nickel are the "loss leaders" of the American currency world.
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Retailers also lose money. Think about the time it takes for a cashier to count out four cents in change, or the time spent by armored car services hauling heavy bags of pennies that are barely worth the gas used to transport them. It’s an efficiency nightmare.
What Actually Happens if They Stop?
If the U.S. finally pulls the plug, here’s the likely scenario based on the Canadian model:
- The Penny Remains Legal Tender: You could still spend the ones you have. You just wouldn't get new ones back.
- Rounding Rules: Cash totals would round. $10.02 becomes $10.00. $10.03 becomes $10.05.
- Digital Stays the Same: If you’re using a card, you still pay the exact cent. There’s no "rounding tax" on your Visa bill.
The Future of the Cent
Is the end in sight? Probably. But not today. As long as there are powerful lobbies and a public that views the penny as a symbol of American stability, the Mint will keep churning them out. However, as we move closer to a "cash-light" society, the sheer irrelevance of the coin might eventually outweigh the nostalgia.
If you have a mountain of pennies at home, you're not alone. Most of the pennies minted in the last decade aren't even in circulation; they're sitting in jars, couch cushions, and landfills. We are essentially minting trash. But for now, the answer to "are they not making pennies anymore" is a resounding, if somewhat expensive, yes.
What You Should Do Now
- Cash them in: Don't let them sit. Use a Coinstar or check if your local credit union has a free coin counter. Turning $50 of "trash" into usable cash is an easy win.
- Check for Rarities: Before you dump them, look for 1943 copper pennies (extremely rare) or 1955 doubled die cents. Most are worth exactly one cent, but some are worth a fortune.
- Watch the Legislation: Keep an eye on the "Currency Efficiency Act" or similar bills that occasionally pop up in Congress. One of these days, one might actually pass.
- Donate: Many charities have programs specifically designed for "loose change." It's the most painless way to give back.
The penny is a strange survivor of a bygone era. It's a coin that costs more than it's worth, serves almost no functional purpose in modern commerce, and yet remains an icon of the American pocket. We might not like them, we might not use them, but we aren't ready to say goodbye to them just yet.