US ceases penny pressing after over 2 centuries in circulation

By Mucahithan Avcioglu

ISTANBUL (AA) - A final ceremonial pressing of the last 1-cent piece was held Wednesday in Philadelphia after 232 years in circulation, the US Mint announced six months after the Trump administration declared that pennies would no longer be produced due to their nearly fourfold production cost.

"The Mint will continue to produce numismatic versions of the penny in limited quantities for historical and collector purposes," the agency said in a statement.

The Mint said that, while circulating production ceased, the penny remains legal tender, as there are an estimated 300 billion pennies in circulation—far exceeding the amount needed for commerce.

"Retailers and other businesses can continue to price goods and services in one-cent increments," it noted.

The penny, first authorized by the Coinage Act of 1792, has long played a role in daily American life—from the earliest days of the US economy to the present, according to the Mint.

"However, economic and production factors, combined with evolving consumer behavior, have made its continued production unsustainable. Over the past decade, the cost of producing each penny has risen from 1.42 cents to 3.69 cents per penny," it added.

In February, President Donald Trump said it made no fiscal sense to keep producing pennies.

“For far too long the United States has minted pennies which literally cost us more than 2 cents,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, which he owns. “This is so wasteful! I have instructed my Secretary of the U.S. Treasury to stop producing new pennies.”