President Donald Trump has ordered the U.S. Treasury to stop minting pennies because their production cost exceeds their value. The one-cent coin currently costs over 3.7 cents to produce. (Nickels may face the same fate since it costs the mint nearly 14 cents to produce the 5-cent coins! )  

The issue is nothing new. Last year was the 19th straight year that the cost of the coins exceeded their value.

Many Americans regard both nickels and pennies as more nuisance than currency. The typical household is sitting on $60 to $90 in neglected coins. Americans either lose or discard millions of dollars in coins every year, treating them like trash. 

The penny will remain legal tender; the US just won’t be producing more of them by mid-2026. Eliminating the penny is projected to save the Treasury around $56 million annually, which is not exactly chump change.

But not everybody is cheering the decision. The demise of the penny is expected to lead to job losses at Artazn, a major employer in Greene County in East Tennessee. The company, which is the sole supplier of pennies in the US,  supports around 250 jobs directly and contributes to the local economy in Greeneville and beyond. Local and federal officials are working hard to figure out how to limit the impact on the community. 

Businesses and consumers are likely to see prices rounded up to the nearest nickel as pennies slip into the nostalgic memories of the past…just like penny loafers and penny candies or gumballs.

Steve Gill is the publisher of TriStar Daily and is a notorious penny pincher!