Trump has introduced many new changes to the way the US is run, creating quite the discourse, but one thing I think we can all agree is a good move is scrapping the minting of pennies.
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According to the U.S. Mint annual report, it costs 3.69 cents to produce one single penny. After printing over 3 billion pennies last year, this made a loss of $85.3 million. This seems like a needless waste of money and resources.
Now, Trump is looking to follow suit, declaring on his Truth Social social media page that there will be no more pennies minted. His statement was "For far too long the United States has minted pennies which literally cost us more than 2 cents. This is so wasteful! I have instructed my Secretary of the US Treasury to stop producing new pennies. Let's rip the waste out of our great nation's budget, even if it's a penny at a time."
Now, under the order of President Trump, there will be no new pennies minted, slowly making them disappear from circulation.
Who's Going To Miss The Penny Anyway?
The UK treasury made no new orders of 1 and 2-pence coins in 2024. Canada has also scrapped production of their smallest currency over ten years ago. Trump certainly isn't the first to stop minting small pennies.
Honestly, it's high time they were out of circulation anyway. I am never going to be a supporter of a cashless society because there are too many crimes I like to commit with hard cash. But, it's undeniable that the smaller pennies have become obsolete.
It isn't the cost of minting alone that is of concern. Melting down and reforming the pennies for circulation is a phenomenally energy-intensive process. If we can cut that out, it's for the better.
We may be seeing the end of $4.99 deals, but that's all just capitalist mind games anyway. I can't personally remember the last time I had the opportunity to hand over a single penny. If cutting out the minting of new pennies saves the US much-needed cash, then this particular Trump legislation gets my support.
