OAN Staff Katherine Mosack
9:25 AM – Thursday, November 13, 2025
The United States has produced its last penny, as President Donald Trump canceled its production after 232 years.
Wednesday marked the last day the Philadelphia U.S. Mint would create a penny, the one-cent coin that costs four cents to produce.
The coin was introduced in 1793 and had the buying power to afford a candle, a piece of candy, or a newspaper at the time. Now, billions of pennies remain in circulation, but it’s nearly impossible to find goods that can be bought with a single cent.
“God bless America, and we’re going to save the taxpayers $56 million,” Treasurer Brandon Beach said at the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia before pressing a button to strike the final penny.
The last coin to be discontinued in the U.S. was the half-cent in 1857, Beach said. This was another copper coin that featured Lady Liberty and was minted for less than 70 years.
“It’s an emotional day,” said Clayton Crotty, who has worked at the mint for 15 years. “But it’s not unexpected.”
Trump argued that the penny has become obsolete in the modern market, costing about four times its actual worth in currency to make. He believes that there are also enough in circulation currently to tide America over for the foreseeable future.
“For far too long the United States has minted pennies which literally cost us more than 2 cents,” Trump wrote in a social media post in February. “This is so wasteful!”
“Today I attended the final penny strike, symbolizing the end of penny production and the return of common sense,” Beach wrote on X after minting the final coin. “Each year the U.S. loses millions producing pennies as their demand plummeted.”
Indeed, pennies cost about $56 million to make every year, according to the Treasury Department.
The last coin featuring President Abraham Lincoln’s likeness will be put up for auction.
Businesses are now rushing to alter pricing to accommodate the new change. Ahead of the penny’s cancellation, some banks even complained that their amount of copper coins was running low.
By comparison, the 10-cent dime costs six cents to produce, and the 25-cent quarter costs 15 cents.
Moving forward, the penny will still have monetary value as legal tender, but will double as a historical artifact, a nostalgic curio, and a symbol of luck.
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