In a move aimed at reducing government waste, President Donald Trump announced on Sunday that he has directed Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to stop producing pennies, citing the escalating cost of minting the coin.
“For far too long, the United States has minted pennies that cost us more than two cents to produce. This is an unnecessary waste of taxpayer money. I have instructed my Secretary of the Treasury to halt penny production immediately. We need to cut waste from our nation’s budget, even if it’s just a penny at a time,” Trump declared in a social media post after returning from the Super Bowl.
The penny has long been criticized for its inefficiency, with calls to eliminate the coin intensifying last month. Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency raised awareness on X about the rising cost of producing the single-cent coin, sparking renewed debate over its future.
A 2023 New York Times Magazine article further fueled the conversation, with the publication arguing that abolishing the penny should have been a priority for policymakers. “The failure to end penny production has become a symbol of deeper inefficiency within the system,” the article stated.
According to a 2023 report, the U.S. Mint circulated approximately 4.1 billion pennies that year. The Mint’s 2024 fiscal report revealed that the cost to produce and distribute each penny had risen to 3.7 cents—an increase of more than 20% from the previous year. Rising metal costs, including zinc and copper, are major contributors to the increasing expense.
In 2013, the Brookings Institution published a commentary calling for not only the end of penny production but also the discontinuation of the nickel. “The issue is not that advocates have been too bold, but rather too timid. Let’s eliminate pennies, nickels, and the rightmost decimal place entirely,” the piece suggested.
Trump’s directive adds to the growing momentum to eliminate the penny and potentially other low-value coins, as the debate over government spending and efficiency continues to evolve.
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