If you’ve looked in your cup holder lately and wondered why those copper-colored discs are still taking up space, you aren't alone. Honestly, it's been a long time coming. After 232 years of clinking around in pockets and clogging up self-checkout machines, the U.S. penny has finally reached the end of the line.
Production of the circulating U.S. penny officially ended on November 12, 2025.
That’s the date. No more "maybe next year." U.S. Treasurer Brandon Beach stood at the Philadelphia Mint and struck the very last one for circulation. It’s over. But before you go trying to pay for a $4 latte with 400 pennies just to get rid of them, there are some things you need to know about how this is actually going to work.
When is the penny being discontinued for good?
Technically, the "discontinuation" happened in stages. In early 2025, President Trump ordered the Treasury to stop making them, calling the process "wasteful." He wasn't exactly wrong. In 2024, it cost the government roughly 3.69 cents to make a single one-cent coin.
Think about that. We were spending nearly four cents to create one cent.
The Mint bought its final batch of penny blanks in May 2025. Those blanks were the last of the mohicans. Once the Philadelphia and Denver Mints stamped those final discs, the machines were powered down for good—at least for the ones you find in your change.
While the "when" of the manufacturing is settled, the "when" of the disappearance is much fuzzier. There are still an estimated 300 billion pennies floating around. They aren't going to vanish overnight. You’ll probably still see them in the wild for another decade or two, but they’re becoming a "legacy" currency.
Why now?
It basically came down to the math. The Treasury was losing about $85 million a year just to keep the penny alive. Zinc prices—the stuff pennies are actually made of, since they only have a thin copper coating—have skyrocketed.
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Plus, nobody uses them.
Research shows that the average American earns about a cent every two seconds. If you spend five seconds picking a penny up off the sidewalk, you’re technically working for less than minimum wage. Most businesses were already starting to view them as a nuisance rather than actual money.
What happens at the cash register?
This is where things get a little weird. Since the penny is gone but prices still end in ".99," how do you pay?
We’re moving toward a system called symmetrical rounding. If you’re paying with a credit card, debit card, or Apple Pay, nothing changes. You still pay $10.99. The "rounding" only happens when you use cold, hard cash.
Here is the basic breakdown of how most stores are handling it:
- If your total ends in 1, 2, 6, or 7 cents, the price rounds down to the nearest nickel.
- If your total ends in 3, 4, 8, or 9 cents, the price rounds up to the nearest nickel.
If your total is $5.02, you pay $5.00. If it’s $5.04, you pay $5.05.
It feels like you might get ripped off, but economists who studied the Canadian penny phase-out in 2012 found that it actually balances out to nearly zero over time. Sometimes you "win" two cents, sometimes you "lose" two cents.
Is it legal tender still?
Yes. Don't let a cashier tell you otherwise. The Treasury has been very clear: the penny remains legal tender. You can still spend them. Banks still have to take them. If you have a giant jar of them under your bed, they are still worth exactly one cent each.
However, don't expect to get pennies back. As they flow back into banks, the Federal Reserve is slowly pulling them out of the system. They aren't sending new ones back out to retailers.
The "Rounding Tax" and the Nickel Problem
There is a bit of a debate about whether this is secretly going to hike prices. Some skeptics call it a "rounding tax." They argue that retailers will intentionally price things so they always round up.
But honestly? Retailers are too busy competing with each other to bother micromanaging a two-cent rounding difference.
The bigger issue is actually the nickel. Now that the penny is dead, the nickel is the new "smallest coin." The problem is that it costs 13.8 cents to make a nickel. We’re still losing money on every coin we strike. Some people in D.C. are already whispering that the nickel should be next on the chopping block.
What you should do with your pennies
If you’re sitting on a stash of change, you have a few options.
- The Bank: Most major banks will still take your pennies. Some might require you to roll them, but many have coin-counting machines.
- Charity: Organizations like the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society have long relied on "Pennies for Patients." These charities are worried about the phase-out, so donating your stash now is a huge help.
- Check the Dates: If you have pennies from before 1982, they are 95% copper. Their "melt value" is actually higher than one cent, though it’s technically illegal to melt them for profit.
The phase-out of the penny marks a massive shift in how we think about money. We are moving away from physical tokens and toward a purely digital economy. It’s a bit sad for the collectors, sure, but for the rest of us, it just means one less thing weighing down our pockets.
Actionable next steps
- Empty the jars: Take your existing pennies to a Coinstar or your local credit union soon. As more banks stop prioritizing penny processing, it might actually become more of a hassle to get rid of them in bulk.
- Watch the receipts: Start paying attention to "cash rounding" at local shops. Most national chains have already updated their software, but smaller "mom and pop" shops might still be figuring out the math.
- Save a few: Keep a handful of the 2025 pennies. Since they are the final year of production, they might actually hold a bit of collector value in a few decades—much like the old "wheat" pennies do today.
The penny isn't "gone" gone yet, but the machines have stopped. The era of the one-cent piece is officially in the rearview mirror.