President Donald Trump has directed the Treasury Department to cease the production of new pennies, citing the increasing cost of minting the one-cent coin. Trump expressed his concern over the wastefulness of producing pennies that cost more than their face value, stating that each penny costs the U.S. Mint over 2 cents to produce.
The decision to stop minting new pennies comes as the U.S. Mint reported a loss of $85.3 million in the 2024 fiscal year on the production of nearly 3.2 billion pennies. The cost of producing each penny has risen to nearly $0.037, up from $0.031 the previous year. Similarly, the nickel also incurs a loss, with each $0.05 coin costing nearly $0.14 to make.
