Should the United States pinch penny production?
We traveled to the U.S. Mint in Denver to get answers, and found that both pennies and nickels could be on the chopping block.
During the Super Bowl, President Trump tweeted that he had ordered the US Treasury to temporarily halt penny production. To make this halt permanent, Congress has to sign off. What does that mean for your pocket change? Let’s dive in!
In 2024, each penny cost 3.69 cents to produce - costing us a whopping $85.3 million! That’s a lot of cents spent to make a single cent.
But here’s the twist: without pennies in circulation, prices might round to the nearest nickel—which costs nearly 14 cents per coin to produce. If we need more nickels to pick up the slack, that could be $17.7 million down the drain—or even more. In other words, ditching pennies alone might force us to rely on a coin that’s even more expensive to make.
Meanwhile, dimes and quarters actually turn a profit, making them more sustainable options. In 2024, the US Mint made around $200 million producing quarters and dimes.
And what about us, the consumers? Some worry prices may get rounded up, hitting our wallets, while others say that digital payments are the future anyway.
So, are we ready to say goodbye to pennies—or maybe both pennies and nickels? What would you do if you were in charge? Drop a comment below, and thanks for watching!
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