The penny was not the United States’ first one-cent coin — that honor goes to the fugio cent, produced by a private mint in 1787 — but it is the best-known and has been the longest-lasting. The first U.S. penny was minted in 1793. It has gone through several design and even material changes over its centuries of life, but it is best known as a copper-coated zinc coin featuring President Abraham Lincoln on its obverse (front or “heads”) side. Lincoln’s visage was added to the coin in 1909 to celebrate the centennial of his birthday, the first to break the longstanding tradition of U.S. coins not featuring presidents.
On November 12, 2025, the U.S. Mint produced the final penny, following in the footsteps of countries such as Canada, Australia, and New Zealand in eliminating the production of their one-cent coin. The debate about whether to eliminate pennies in the U.S. has gone on for decades, coming to a head in the past several years since their production costs have quickly overtaken their actual value: each one-cent coin now costs almost four cents to produce.
From now on, the only pennies that the U.S. Mint will produce are collector’s items in limited quantities. All pennies currently in circulation (there are about 250 billion of them still around, if you were curious) are still legal tender and, though it would be difficult to find anything that still costs only a few cents these days, can still be used for transactions.
Due to the abruptness of the penny’s cancellation and the reported lack of guidance from the federal government, your local businesses may be making hasty changes to the way cash transactions are handled. Be prepared to see prices rounded up or down to the nearest nickel, or offers in stores to exchange pennies for higher denominations of cash. As time goes on, older pennies will be taken out of circulation, and requests for rolled pennies from banks and other businesses may not be able to be filled.
It is illegal in the U.S. to melt down pennies and nickels (five-cent coins), and while it is not strictly illegal to throw change away, it would still be a waste of money. If you have some change lying around, check in with your local coin-exchange kiosk or bank/credit union: you may be able to replace your pennies with easier-to-use currency. Finally, keep an eye on nickels: while there are no plans to eliminate the nickel too anytime soon, the fact remains that their production costs are also quickly outstripping their value.
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