Treasury Dept. unveils plan to kill the penny

The U.S. Mint will officially stop making pennies once its final stock of penny blanks is used up, a Treasury official confirmed Thursday. While no specific end date was given, the decision effectively marks the beginning of the end for the 1-cent coin. This move follows a February directive from President Donald Trump, who ordered his administration to cease penny production. Trump cited the rising cost of minting the coin—now close to 4 cents per penny—and called it a wasteful use of taxpayer money. "For far too long the United States has minted pennies which literally cost us more than 2 cents. This is so wasteful!" Trump wrote on Truth Social. "I have instructed my Secretary of the US Treasury to stop producing new pennies." The move is expected to save $56 million annually in material and minting costs.