You’ve probably looked at that pile of copper-colored discs sitting in your car’s cup holder or at the bottom of a junk drawer and wondered, honestly, why are we still doing this? It’s a valid question. The truth is, if you are asking "when did they stop making pennies," the answer depends entirely on where you live.
In the United States, they haven't stopped. Not yet.
The U.S. Mint is still pumping out billions of these things every single year. It’s wild. Despite the fact that it costs significantly more than a cent to make a cent, the Philadelphia and Denver mints are still humming along, striking Lincoln’s face onto zinc blanks coated in a thin veneer of copper. If you’re in Canada, though, the story is totally different. They pulled the plug years ago.
The Great Canadian Penny Exit
Let's look at our neighbors to the north first because they actually had the guts to do it. Canada officially stopped distributing the penny on February 4, 2013. They didn't just wake up one day and decide to quit, either; it was a calculated move by the federal government to save about $11 million a year. The Royal Canadian Mint stopped producing them in May 2012, and by the following winter, banks were told to stop giving them out.
It was a smooth transition. Basically, if you pay with a card in Canada, you still pay the exact price down to the cent. But if you're using cash? The total gets rounded to the nearest five-cent increment. Nobody panicked. The world didn't end. Inflation didn't skyrocket. It just... worked.
Why the US is Still Making Pennies
So, why is the U.S. lagging? It’s complicated. It’s political. It’s also about zinc.
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Most people think pennies are copper. They aren't. Since 1982, the penny has been 97.5% zinc. The 1982 transition is actually a huge deal for coin collectors because that’s the year they switched the composition mid-production. If you find a 1982 penny, it could be the heavy copper version or the light zinc version. After that? All zinc.
The cost of metal is the biggest argument for why they should stop making pennies. According to the U.S. Mint's 2023 Annual Report, it now costs about 3.07 cents to produce a single one-cent coin. We are literally losing money on every single penny that drops out of the machine. It’s a negative return on investment.
The Lobbying Factor
You might wonder who is fighting to keep a coin that costs three times its value to manufacture. Follow the money. Specifically, follow the zinc. Jarden Zinc Products, based in Tennessee, provides the blanks (called planchets) to the Mint. They have a vested interest in keeping the penny alive. They’ve spent a lot of money lobbying Congress to ensure that the penny stays in circulation.
There's also Americans for Common Cents. This is a group that argues the penny is a symbol of American stability. They claim that if we get rid of it, "rounding up" will hurt the poor. But economists like Robert Whaples have looked at this and found that the "rounding tax" is basically a myth. People round down just as often as they round up. It’s a wash.
The 1943 Steel Penny: A Temporary Stop
While the U.S. hasn't stopped making the penny permanently, there was one year where they stopped making the copper penny entirely. This is a fun bit of history. In 1943, the U.S. needed copper for the war effort—shell casings, wiring, you name it. So, the Mint switched to zinc-coated steel.
These 1943 steel pennies are weird. They look like dimes. They’re magnetic. They also rust like crazy if they get wet. If you find a "silver" looking penny in your change today, check the date. If it’s 1943, you’ve got a steelie. If it’s any other year, it’s probably just been plated by a bored chemistry student.
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Interestingly, a few copper pennies were accidentally struck in 1943 using leftover blanks. Those are worth a fortune. We’re talking six figures at auction. It's the ultimate "check your pocket change" story.
What Happens if the US Finally Quits?
If the U.S. Treasury finally decides to stop making pennies, the process would likely mirror the Canadian model. You wouldn't lose your money. Your jars of pennies would still be legal tender. You just wouldn't get them back as change from the grocery store.
There have been several bills introduced in Congress over the years to "suspend" production. The CENTS Act (Currency Efficiency in National Treasury Services) is one example. It never seems to get enough traction. Why? Because the penny is nostalgic. Americans love their history, and Abraham Lincoln is arguably our most beloved president. Taking him off the lowest denomination coin feels, to some, like a slight against his legacy.
The Military Already Did It
Here is something most people don't know: the U.S. military already stopped using pennies at overseas bases. In places like Germany or South Korea, AAFES (Army & Air Force Exchange Service) facilities don't use pennies. It’s too expensive to ship heavy boxes of one-cent coins across the ocean. They round to the nearest nickel. It's been that way for decades, and the soldiers get along just fine.
The Hidden Cost of the Penny
It’s not just the 3-cent manufacturing cost. It’s the time.
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Think about the "opportunity cost." That’s the fancy economic term for the time you waste fumbling for a penny in your wallet while the person behind you in line sighs. National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) has pointed out that the time spent handling pennies costs businesses millions in labor. If every transaction takes two extra seconds because of pennies, that adds up to thousands of hours across the national economy.
Then there's the environmental impact. Mining zinc and copper, smelting it, trucking heavy coins across the country—it's a massive carbon footprint for a coin that most people immediately throw into a jar and never spend. Pennies have a very low "velocity," meaning they don't circulate well. They go from the bank to the store to the customer, and then they die in a piggy bank. The Mint has to keep making more because we keep hoarding them.
Is 2026 the Year?
There are persistent rumors every few years that "this is the year they stop." There was a lot of chatter about 2022 and 2023. Now, people are looking at 2026, the 250th anniversary of the United States. While the Mint is planning special designs for the Semiquincentennial, there is no official word that the penny is being retired.
In fact, the Mint recently released the "Next Gen" designs for various coins, and the penny remains part of the lineup. If they were going to kill it, they probably wouldn't be investing in new master dies and artistic revisions.
Actionable Steps for Your Pennies
Since the U.S. hasn't stopped making pennies yet, you probably have a lot of them. Here is what you should actually do with them rather than letting them collect dust.
1. Sort for Copper
Check your dates. Anything from 1981 or earlier is 95% copper. These are actually worth about 2 to 3 cents just in metal content. While it's currently illegal to melt them down for profit, many people hoard them as a hedge against inflation.
2. Use a Coinstar (Wisely)
Don't pay the 11% or 12% fee. That’s a scam. Most Coinstar machines will give you the full 100% value of your coins if you choose a "Gift Card" option instead of cash. Amazon, Starbucks, or grocery store gift cards are usually available.
3. Look for the "Wartime" Steelies
As mentioned, look for the 1943 steel penny. But also look for the 1944 copper penny that sticks to a magnet. If you find a 1944 penny that is magnetic, you’ve found a steel blank that was struck in the wrong year. That’s a high-value error coin.
4. Deposit Them at the Bank
Most people don't realize that banks are required to take your pennies, but they usually require them to be rolled. Buy some cheap paper rollers, spend a Sunday afternoon with a podcast, and turn that "dead" money back into a usable balance in your checking account.
The penny might be a "zombie currency"—technically alive but serving no real purpose—but until the law changes, it's still part of our financial reality. We are one of the few industrialized nations left clinging to a coin that represents 1/100th of a dollar, a unit of value that hasn't had real purchasing power since the 1970s. Whether it's 2026 or 2036, the end is coming. It's just a matter of when the cost of keeping the tradition finally outweighs the political will to save it.