Check your pockets. Or that dusty jar on the dresser. You’ll probably find a copper-plated zinc coin staring back at you with Abraham Lincoln’s profile. People have been asking are they stopping making pennies for decades now, and honestly, the rumors usually fly faster than the coins actually circulate. Every time inflation spikes or metal prices jump, a new wave of headlines suggests the one-cent piece is finally headed for the graveyard of history. But if you look at the actual production schedules from the United States Mint, the reality is a lot more complicated than a simple "yes" or "no."
It's a weird situation.
The United States Mint literally loses money on every single penny it stamps. According to the 2023 Annual Report from the Mint, it now costs about 3.07 cents to produce a one-cent coin. Think about that for a second. The government is intentionally manufacturing an item that is worth less than a third of what it costs to make. It sounds like a total disaster from a business perspective. Yet, year after year, billions of them roll off the presses in Philadelphia and Denver.
Why the Government Keeps Minting a "Losing" Coin
You’d think the math would be enough to kill it. If you’re running a business and your product costs $3 to make but sells for $1, you go bankrupt. Fast. But the Treasury Department doesn’t operate like a standard lemonade stand. One of the biggest reasons are they stopping making pennies remains a "no" is because of the lobby groups.
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Take a look at Americans for Common Cents. This is a real organization, and they’ve spent years fighting to keep the penny in your pocket. They argue that if we get rid of the penny, prices will go up because of "rounding." If your coffee costs $2.02 and there are no pennies, the shop might round it up to $2.05. Over time, they claim, this becomes a "rounding tax" that hits low-income families the hardest. Whether that’s actually true is up for debate—most economic studies of countries that killed their small change, like Canada, show that inflation didn't actually move the needle—but the political pressure is real.
Then there’s the zinc industry.
The modern penny isn't actually copper. It’s 97.5% zinc with a thin copper coating. Companies like Jarden Zinc Products (now part of the wider Greif corporation) have a massive interest in the Mint continuing to buy their metal. It’s a classic case of Washington politics: a specific industry benefits from the status quo, even if the general public finds the coins annoying.
The Canadian Comparison: Does it actually work?
Our neighbors to the north already did it. In 2012, Canada officially stopped distributing the penny. They didn't ban them; you can still take a bag of old Canadian pennies to the bank. But they stopped making new ones.
What happened? Basically nothing. The world didn't end. For cash transactions, businesses just round to the nearest five-cent increment. If your total is $1.02, you pay $1.00. If it’s $1.03, you pay $1.05. For digital transactions—debit cards, credit cards, Apple Pay—the price stays exactly the same down to the cent. It’s a clean system. But in the U.S., we have a certain sentimental attachment to "Abe" that makes the transition a lot stickier.
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The Logistics of a Penny-Free America
If the question of are they stopping making pennies ever shifts to a definitive "yes," the logistical headache would be massive. We are talking about billions of coins currently in circulation.
- The U.S. Mint produced over 4.5 billion pennies in 2023 alone.
- Vending machine industries would need to reconfigure logic for change-making, though most don't take pennies anyway.
- Charities that rely on "penny drives" would need to pivot their entire branding.
- Sales tax calculations in states with complex percentage rates would suddenly feel "off" to consumers during cash payouts.
It’s not just about the metal. It’s about the habit. We’ve been using the cent since the Fugio Cent was first minted in 1787. It’s woven into the fabric of American commerce. However, the Mint is currently exploring "alternative metals." They’ve been authorized by Congress to look into cheaper alloys—maybe steel or a different mix of aluminum—to bring that 3-cent production cost down. So far, nothing has worked quite right without breaking the existing coin-sorting machines used by banks and Coinstar kiosks.
Is the Coin Shortage Speeding Up the End?
During the pandemic, you probably saw those signs at grocery stores: "Please use exact change" or "Use your card." People started thinking this was a secret way to phase out the penny. It wasn't. It was a "circulation" issue. People were staying home, which meant the billions of pennies sitting in jars weren't moving through the economy.
The Fed had to ration how many coins it sent to banks. This gave us a glimpse of what a penny-less world looks like. It looked like... well, a lot of people just using their phones to pay for things. As we move closer to a cashless society, the question of are they stopping making pennies might actually become irrelevant. If nobody uses cash, it doesn't matter if the coin exists or not.
But for now? The Mint’s machines are still humming.
The Inflation Factor
Inflation is the real penny-killer. Back in the early 1900s, a penny could actually buy things. A piece of gum. A newspaper. Today, you can't find a single item in a store that costs one cent. Even the "penny candy" at the local corner store is probably twenty-five cents now.
When a unit of currency loses its "purchasing power" to the point where you literally wouldn't stop to pick it up if you saw it on the sidewalk, it’s effectively dead. Economists call this the "nuisance value." If it takes more time to count out the pennies than the value they provide, they are a net negative on the economy. Some estimates suggest the U.S. loses hundreds of millions of dollars in "time productivity" every year just from people fumbling with pennies at cash registers.
What You Should Actually Do With Your Pennies
So, if they haven't stopped making them yet, but they’re clearly on the way out eventually, what’s the move?
Don't expect them to become "collector's items" overnight. Because there are billions in circulation, a standard 2024 penny will likely never be worth more than one cent in our lifetime. However, there is a catch. Pennies minted before 1982 are made of 95% copper. These are actually worth about 2 to 3 cents just for the raw metal. It’s technically illegal to melt them down for profit right now, but many "stackers" keep them anyway, betting that the law will change once the penny is officially retired.
If you’re sitting on a mountain of change, don't wait for a government recall.
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The best next steps for your change:
- Audit your jars: Look for pennies dated 1982 or earlier. If you’re a hobbyist, these are worth keeping for the copper content.
- Use the "no-fee" trick: Many Coinstar machines will waive their 11-12% fee if you opt for an e-gift card (like Amazon or Starbucks) instead of cash.
- Check for "Key Dates": Before you dump them, look for the 1943 steel penny (it’s silver-colored) or the 1909-S VDB. Those are actually worth real money.
- Ditch the cash: If you hate the clutter, stick to digital payments. The "rounding" issue only affects physical cash transactions in most proposed legislation.
The bottom line is that the U.S. government is slow. They’ve been "studying" the elimination of the penny for years. While countries like Australia, New Zealand, and the UK (with their half-penny) have all moved on, the U.S. remains stubbornly attached to its smallest coin. Are they stopping making pennies tomorrow? No. But the economic pressure is reaching a breaking point where the Treasury might finally have to admit that the "cent" makes no sense.
Keep an eye on the Mint’s quarterly production reports. When you see those numbers start to dip below the 1-billion mark, that’s when you’ll know the end is truly near. Until then, keep your jars ready and your copper sorted.