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PHILADELPHIA -- The U.S. Mint connected Wednesday ended accumulation of the penny, a alteration made to prevention wealth and due to the fact that the 1-cent coin that could erstwhile bargain a snack oregon a portion of candy had become progressively irrelevant.
The past pennies were struck astatine the mint successful Philadelphia, wherever the country's smallest denomination coins person been produced since 1793, a twelvemonth aft Congress passed the Coinage Act. Officials said the last fewer pennies would beryllium auctioned off.
"God bless America, and we're going to prevention the taxpayers $56 million," U.S. Treasurer Brandon Beach said conscionable earlier hitting a fastener to onslaught the last penny.
The past U.S. penny to beryllium minted happened successful Philadelphia connected Nov. 11, 2025
Pennies stay ineligible tender, but new ones volition nary longer beryllium made.
The past coin to beryllium discontinued was the half-cent successful 1857, Beach said.
President Donald Trump ordered the penny's demise arsenic costs climbed to astir 4 cents per penny and the 1-cent valuation became somewhat obsolete. Billions of pennies stay successful circulation, but they are seldom indispensable for fiscal transactions successful the 21st period economy.
"For acold excessively agelong the United States has minted pennies which virtually outgo america much than 2 cents," Trump wrote successful an online station successful February. "This is truthful wasteful!"
Still, galore radical person a nostalgia for them, seeing them arsenic fortunate oregon amusive to collect. And immoderate retailers voiced concerns successful caller weeks arsenic supplies ran debased and the extremity of accumulation drew near. They said the phase-out was abrupt and came with nary authorities guidance connected however to grip transactions.
Some rounded prices down to debar shortchanging shoppers. Others pleaded with customers to bring nonstop change. The much originative among them gave retired prizes, specified arsenic a escaped drink, successful speech for a heap of pennies.
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"We person been advocating abolition of the penny for 30 years. But this is not the mode we wanted it to go," Jeff Lenard of the National Association of Convenience Stores said past month.
Some banks, meanwhile, began rationing supplies, a somewhat paradoxical effect of the effort to code what galore spot arsenic a glut of the coins. Over the past century, astir fractional of the coins made astatine mints successful Philadelphia and Denver person been pennies.
But they inactive person a amended accumulation cost-to-value ratio than the nickel, which costs astir 14 cents to make. The diminutive dime, by comparison, costs little than 6 cents to produce, and the 4th astir 15 cents.
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Back successful 1793, a penny could get you a biscuit, a candle oregon a portion of candy. These days, galore beryllium successful drawers oregon solid jars and are fundamentally formed speech oregon collected.
No substance their look value, collectors and historians see them an important humanities grounds that tin beryllium traced backmost for much than 200 years. Frank Holt, an emeritus prof astatine the University of Houston who has studied the past of coins, laments the loss.
"We enactment mottos connected them and self-identifiers, and we determine - successful the lawsuit of the United States - which dormant persons are astir important to america and should beryllium commemorated," helium said. "They bespeak our politics, our religion, our art, our consciousness of ourselves, our ideals, our aspirations."
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