It's been a long run for the copper Lincolns, but all good things must come to an end.
The penny has been a drain on the U.S. mint for years, costing more in material than a penny is worth, and the plan to phase out the coin has been in the works for some time.
An immediate annual savings of $56 million in reduced material costs is expected by stopping penny production, according to the official, who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity to preview the news.
I mean, we spend more than $56 million on other stupid things I'm sure. Things that don't honor Honest Abe and that aren't as nostalgic as the one cent coin.
But also, $56 million a year straight down the drain? Yeah, I get it.
In February, President Donald Trump announced that he had ordered his administration to cease production of the 1-cent coin.
'For far too long the United States has minted pennies which literally cost us more than 2 cents. This is so wasteful!' Trump wrote at that time in a post on his Truth Social site. 'I have instructed my Secretary of the US Treasury to stop producing new pennies.'
It looks like, due to supply, your lucky penny is about to get a little luckier.
Congress, which dictates currency specifications such as the size and metal content of coins, could make Trump's order permanent through law. But past congressional efforts to ditch the penny have failed.
Oh, shocker. Congress failed to act. What a surprise.
Pennies are the most popular coin made by the U.S. Mint, which reported making 3.2 billion of them last year. That's more than half of all the new coins it made last year.
We should probably phase out the nickel, too.
...which costs almost 14 cents to mint.
I just can't wait for a district judge to order the treasury to start production again!
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