Trump seeks to halt minting of new pennies due to manufacturing cost

JACKSON, Tenn. — President Trump is on a quest to cut government spending, which could mean saying farewell to the classic penny.

The penny, one of the first coins made by the U.S. Mint after its establishment in 1792, now costs more than three cents to produce according to their report last year. Now, the president is questioning the monetary future of its value.

“I do use change. I think it’s important. The minute you stop using cash is when it goes away, it’s a lubricant of our economy. However, hard decisions have to be made when the actual manufacturing process of making a penny exceeds the value of the item once it’s finished,” said Preston Howell, local resident and shopper.

On social media overnight the president wrote that he has instructed the treasury secretary to stop producing new pennies, ending a 233-year run of the 1-cent coin. The U.S. Mint reported losing $85.3 million in the 2024 fiscal year, which ended in September, on the nearly 3.2 billion pennies it produced.

“We’re going to see what happens, we have a long way to go. We’re talking about fraud, waste, abuse and when a president can’t look for fraud, waste, and abuse we don’t have a country anymore,” said Howell.

Howell says he is still undecided on whether he’s ready to say goodbye to the classic coin just yet.

“Whether or not it should go away forever, I don’t know, but if it cost over two cents to make a penny, and when you’re done making it, it’s value is only one, then that’s the bigger issue I think,” said Howell.

Proposals over the years have attempted to temporarily suspend the penny’s production, eliminate it from circulation, or require that prices be rounded to the nearest five cents, according to the congressional research service.

According to economics professor at Northeastern University Robert Triest,

“The process of discontinuing the penny in the U.S. is a little unclear and it likely requires an act of Congress, but the secretary of the treasury might be able to simply stop the minting of new pennies.” 

The rising cost of metals, including zinc and copper, is part of the reason it’s been becoming more expensive to make the coin.

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