US Mint in Philadelphia presses final pennies as the 1-cent coin gets canceled

AP ^ | November 12, 2025 | Maryclaire Dell

[C19fan]

The U.S. Mint on Wednesday ended production of the penny, a change made to save money and because the 1-cent coin that could once buy a snack or a piece of candy had become increasingly irrelevant.

The last pennies were struck at the mint in Philadelphia, where the country's smallest denomination coins have been produced since 1793, a year after Congress passed the Coinage Act. Officials said the final few pennies would be auctioned off.

"God bless America, and we're going to save the taxpayers $56 million," U.S. Treasurer Brandon Beach said just before hitting a button to strike the final penny.

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TOPICS: Business/Economy; History
KEYWORDS: cent; debt; deficit; dollardebasement; inflation; penny

[Sacajaweau]

Shoulod have done nickels, too. We lose money on that coin, too.

[al baby]

First they came for the Pennies

[marktwain]

As someone pointed out, they are not really pennies, they are cents.

But the penny nomenclaure has stuck. Language changes.

[PGalt]

We’re losing Common Sense too.

[V_TWIN]

Loafer wearing yuppies hit hardest

[chajin]

We will soon become cents less.

[Leaning Right]

I guess this pretty much kills my campaign to bring back the half cent.

[alancarp]

A penny for your thoughts... oh...

[Tommy Revolts]

I’m deeply concerned about what will happen to $19.99.

[LouAvul]

One more step toward a cashless society.

[EandH Dad]

Should I hold on to that jar of pennies I have? If I wait long enough will it be worth real money?

[Ezekiel]

The U.S. Mint on Wednesday ended production of the penny...

...The last pennies were struck at the mint in Philadelphia

70 years to the day that the Clock Tower had been struck by lightning at 10:04 p.m. on the West Coast.

But they still have a better production cost-to-value ratio than the nickel, which costs nearly 14 cents to make.

14 x 5 = 70, so it'll all be okay. Nobody's gonna Lou's out!

😉

"We have been advocating abolition of the penny for 30 years. But this is not the way we wanted it to go," Jeff Lenard of the National Association of Convenience Stores said last month.

Poor Jeff, no vision! The Doc, now he had vision:

"Say you want to see the signing of the Declaration of Independence, or witness the birth of Christ..."

"... it's taken me almost 30 years of my entire family portion to realize the vision of that day!"

Sitting alone, my friends have all gone home
You never know when they'll come droppin' in..

Second Cup of Coffee ~ Gordon Lightfoot

[albie]

“ I’m deeply concerned about what will happen to $19.99.”

…that’s an interesting point. .99 works in retail. $19.99 vs $20.00 has worked in making an item appear to be $19 for a hundred years.

[4yearlurker]

Back in the late 1960s I went on a class school trip to this mint. Very old building. I saw big vats of quarters as we were on a guided tour. Also in one part of the old building there was a taxidermy Bald Eagle up in the corner behind glass. It was looking old a raggedy. The eagle was a mascot or pet from previous years.

[Candor7]

Money Penny, its the end of a era !

t

[OKSooner]

Why not make steel pennies?

[Candor7]

Better than nothing, and they will fit into a screw in light fixture.

[Dan in Wichita]

The cent has been issued by the US Mint every year since 1793, with the sole exception of 1815.

That happened because the US Mint got its cent planchets (i.e. blank coin discs) from a company in England, but the War of 1812 interrupted the flow of planchets.

The Battle of New Orleans in January 1815 was the final battle of the War of 1812. Eventually, trade between Great Britain and the US resumed, but not in time to get cent planchets to the Mint to strike 1815 cents.

[Dr. Sivana]

I’m deeply concerned about what will happen to $19.99.

ANd can we FINALLY get rid of the practice of gasoline stations charging 9/10s of a cent?