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The United States Treasury minted its final production of pennies on Wednesday at the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. "The penny was first authorized by the Coinage Act of 1792; however, ongoing increases in production costs and the evolution in consumer habits and technology have made its production financially untenable," according to a statement from the U.S. Department of the Treasury. The last two pennies minted were stamped with a special omega and will not be circulated. Instead, the government intends to auction the pennies off. In February, President Donald Trump publicly called to halt penny production, citing the fact that pennies cost more money than they are worth. “For far too long the United States has minted pennies which literally cost us more than 2 cents,” Trump wrote in an online post in February. “This is so wasteful!” Production costs for pennies have since risen to to 3.69 per penny. “God bless America, and we’re going to save the taxpayers $56 million,” U.S. Treasurer Brandon Beach said. Meanwhile, the nickel rivals the production-cost-value ratio of pennies. It costs the federal government nearly 14 cents to mint a nickel. Minting a quarter costs 15 cents and it costs six cents to produce a dime. While pennies will no longer be minted, the coins will still be accepted as legal tender. There is an estimated 300 billion pennies in circulation, but many of which are sitting in coin jars or underneath couch cushions. Many retailers and businesses have said the Trump administration's decision to halt penny production came abruptly, lacking any federal guidance on how businesses should adopt the change. Some businesses have offered to customers paying cash that they'll round down, and have even offered prizes to people who bring in pennies. “We have been advocating abolition of the penny for 30 years. But this is not the way we wanted it to go,” Jeff Lenard of the National Association of Convenience Stores said last month. The half-cent coin was the last coin to be discontinued in 1857.
