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The US has officially ended production of the one-cent coin as digitisation and rising costs undercut the case for the penny after 230 years.
The last coin was printed at the US Mint in Philadelphia on Wednesday following the US Treasury’s decision to phase out the denomination, whose production costs have risen to almost four times its value.
US treasurer Brandon Beach, speaking at the Mint, said: “Given the rapid modernisation of the American wallet, the Department of the Treasury and President [Donald] Trump no longer believe the continued production of the penny is fiscally responsible or necessary to meet the demands of the American public.”
The phaseout of the coin, which has been in circulation since 1793, comes as the shift to digital payment systems makes its use by shoppers and retailers increasingly rare. Its production costs have risen from 1.42 cents to 3.39 cents over the past decade.
The US Mint estimates halting production of the denomination will save $56mn a year in material costs. The penny accounted for 57 per cent of coins the Mint placed into circulation in the last fiscal year.
US retailers have begun rounding up from pennies to nickels when returning change to customers who pay with cash. But the retail industry has warned of operational problems from the penny’s rapid disappearance, such as in cashing bank cheques presented at the checkout line.
Pennies still in circulation will continue to function as an accepted form of payment in stores, even after new production has been halted.
“Although today we say goodbye to the continued production of our copper one-cent coin, let me be crystal clear: the penny remains legal tender,” Beach said. “We have over 300bn pennies that remain in circulation and we encourage you to use them.”
Trump has called production of the penny “so wasteful” and directed US Treasury secretary Scott Bessent to wind down output earlier this year. The Treasury stopped ordering the coin in May and the Mint ended large-scale production in June.
The final batch of five one-cent coins printed on Wednesday will not enter circulation but will be auctioned off by the Mint.
Additional reporting by Gregory Meyer in New York
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