Farewell to the penny and nickel?
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After 232 years of production, the final circulating penny was struck by United States Treasurer Brandon Beach on Nov. 12, 2025, at the United States Mint production facilities in Philadelphia, according to the United States Mint website. During the ceremonial strike event hosted by the United States Mint, acting Mint Director Kristie McNally said, “While general production concludes today, the penny’s legacy lives on. As its usage in commerce continues to evolve, its significance in America’s story will endure.”
The one-cent coin’s worth was first authorized by the Coinage Act of 1792, making it the longest-running coin in circulation in the United States. The modern Lincoln design first appeared on a penny in 1909, while its reverse design of the Union Shield was introduced in 2010.
As a result of current economic and production factors, in addition to evolving consumer behavior, continued production of the penny has become unsustainable. In the past 10 years, the cost of production for a single penny increased from 1.42 cents per penny to 3.69 cents per penny. As there are calculated to be around 300 billion pennies currently in circulation, the penny will continue to be legal for commerce even with discontinued production, as stated by CNN.
The 300 billion one-cent coins in circulation will far exceed the number needed for business. As of right now, businesses and other retailers will be able to continue using the penny in their commerce and pricing their goods and services in one-cent increments according to the United States Mint, though banks and merchants are already reporting penny shortages according to CNN.
Furthermore, as coins are continuously becoming less popular with an increasing push towards a cashless economy, the discontinuation of the penny could raise concerns, especially for lower-income consumers, according to CNN. Mark Weller, executive director of Americans for Common Cents, said, “The move away from cash really benefits big banks and credit card companies…They’re charging businesses every time someone swipes their cards, and those costs end up being passed onto consumers.”
The nickel may be the next coin to become history. With the penny being phased out due to its production costs exceeding its value and its limited utility, similar concerns apply to the nickel, as reported by CNN.
Currently, each nickel with a value of only five cents, costs nearly nine cents to produce, making it an even greater financial loss than the penny. Additionally, nickels are composed of “75% copper and 25% nickel, while pennies — despite their reputation as a copper coin — are copper-plated zinc, meaning they are 97.5% zinc and only 2.5% copper,” according to CNN.
Since 2016, zinc has maintained a steady price, while copper and nickel have both almost doubled. Perhaps the end of penny production is just the start of retiring small-change coins for the United States, and they may follow in the steps of New Zealand and Australia, both of whom have eliminated the production of their nickels and pennies.
Since 1792, when Congress created the United States Mint, the Mint has been the only manufacturer in the country permitted to produce circulating coinage for trade and commerce in the U.S., as reported by the United States Mint. While production for the penny has ended, the Mint plans to keep making limited-edition pennies for collectors to honor their historical significance.