The U.S. Mint has announced that it plans to terminate production of one-cent coins as soon as the current supply of blanks (flat metal discs) is exhausted.
That day is anticipated to arrive in early 2026, and it will be filled with sadness – akin to losing a beloved “member of the family.”
The U.S. penny has been around since George Washington was president, when Congress approved the Coinage Act of 1792, to establish a mint and regulate the official coins of the United States.
The first mint, located in Philadelphia, Pa., and operating as a bureau of the Department of the Treasury, began cranking out pennies in 1793.
In the beginning, pennies were made of pure copper, but the metal content has changed several times over the years. Since 1982, pennies have been 97.5% zinc, with a thin copper coating (2.5%).
Early on, the size of the penny and the images used on the “heads and tails” sides varied widely. The coin was “standardized” in 1909, when the Abraham Lincoln penny was introduced to commemorate the 100th birthday of President Lincoln.
Theodore
Roosevelt was president in 1909, and he “considered Lincoln the savior of
the Union.” Roosevelt hired Victor David Brenner, a skilled engraver and
designer, to create a portrait of Abraham Lincoln for the face of the coin.
Poet Carl Sandburg approved. Employed as a reporter at the Milwaukee (Wis.) Daily News in 1909, Sandburg wrote: “The homely face of ‘Honest Abe’ will look good on the penny, the coin of the common folk from whom he came and to whom he belongs.”
Sandburg asserted: “The penny is the coin used by those who are not sure of tomorrow, those who know that if they are going to have a dollar next week, they must watch their pennies this week.”
“Follow the travels of the penny, and you find it stops at many cottages and few mansions. ‘Keep the change,’ says the rich man, ‘How many pennies do I get back?’ asks the poor man,” Sandburg continued.
Brenner’s
original image of Lincoln on the “heads” side (obverse) of the penny remains
unchanged, but the “tails” side (reverse) has been redesigned several times,
most recently in 2010. (That’s when a “Preservation of the Union” shield with
13 vertical stripes replaced the Lincoln Memorial.)
Now, in 2025, President Donald Trump says the penny is no longer relevant in the present-day economy, because the penny has become too expensive to produce.
Financial experts say it currently costs about 3.7 cents for the U.S. mints in Philadelphia and Denver, Colo., to produce each penny, almost four times its monetary value.
The federal government could trim expenses by about $56 million a year in a “penny-free environment,” reported Scott Horsley, the chief economics correspondent at NPR (National Public Radio).
An
interesting bit of data is that it has “cost more than a penny to make a penny”
for 19 consecutive years now.
With the penny apparently headed down the path toward “endangered species” status, we’re going to have ante up and amend idioms such as “a penny for your thoughts,” which was “coined” in 1522 by Englishman Sir Thomas More.
Pundits are chuckling about the pending demise of the penny, saying: “No cents makes common sense.”
The phaseout of pennies will require stores to round prices up or down to the nearest nickel. Hence, in the “new economy,” nickels will be asked to step up and shoulder a bigger load.
The trouble is: the five-cent coin is not nearly as lovable as the lowly penny. The nickel is bigger, heavier and clunkier.
Ultimately, it may take an act of Congress to discontinue use of the penny. The Constitution specifies that Congress is responsible for overseeing the nation’s monetary system.
Rep. John Rose (R-Tenn.) was quick to predict that phasing out the penny would increase demand for nickels.
“Minting nickels is also a money-loser for the government,” Rep. Rose said, “since each five-cent coins cost about 14 cents to make.”
Oh, Lordy. The plot thickens.
Americans have a “nostalgic connection” with the lowly penny
Consider
the melodic “Pennies From Heaven,” a popular American song from 1936, written
by Arthur Johnston with lyrics by Johnny Burke, which was introduced by Bing
Crosby with Georgie Stoll and his Orchestra in the film of the same name.
The
tune was nominated in 1936 for an Academy Award for Best Original Song.
“Pennies From Heaven” became an anthem for “hope, cheer and promise” during the
dark days of the Great Depression.
And
don’t you know each cloud contains pennies from heaven?
You’ll
find your fortune falling all over the town…
Be
sure that your umbrella is upside down.
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