US Mint Halts Penny Production as Costs Soar
In a move aimed at saving taxpayers $56 million, the United States Mint has stopped producing pennies, marking the end of an era for America's smallest denomination coin. The final few coins were struck in Philadelphia on Wednesday, with the last ones to be auctioned off.
For decades, pennies have become increasingly obsolete, as transactions are rarely conducted in 1-cent increments. However, their discontinuation has left many nostalgic and some retailers scrambling. Some stores rounded prices down or pleaded with customers to bring exact change, while others resorted to giving out prizes for a pile of pennies.
The move was championed by President Donald Trump, who claimed that minting pennies cost the US more than 2 cents each. The penny's demise marks the end of a tradition dating back to 1793, when Congress passed the Coinage Act and production began in Philadelphia.
While some people view the penny as a collector's item or a nostalgic reminder of the past, historians argue that its loss is an important cultural record. "We put mottos on them and self-identifiers," said Frank Holt, an emeritus professor at the University of Houston. "They reflect our politics, our religion, our art, our sense of ourselves, our ideals, our aspirations."
In contrast to other coins like the dime or quarter, which still have a significant production cost-to-value ratio, pennies are considered relatively inexpensive to produce. However, their discontinuation has raised concerns about how businesses will handle transactions and whether consumers will adapt.
As billions of pennies remain in circulation, it remains to be seen how this change will affect everyday commerce and consumer behavior.
In a move aimed at saving taxpayers $56 million, the United States Mint has stopped producing pennies, marking the end of an era for America's smallest denomination coin. The final few coins were struck in Philadelphia on Wednesday, with the last ones to be auctioned off.
For decades, pennies have become increasingly obsolete, as transactions are rarely conducted in 1-cent increments. However, their discontinuation has left many nostalgic and some retailers scrambling. Some stores rounded prices down or pleaded with customers to bring exact change, while others resorted to giving out prizes for a pile of pennies.
The move was championed by President Donald Trump, who claimed that minting pennies cost the US more than 2 cents each. The penny's demise marks the end of a tradition dating back to 1793, when Congress passed the Coinage Act and production began in Philadelphia.
While some people view the penny as a collector's item or a nostalgic reminder of the past, historians argue that its loss is an important cultural record. "We put mottos on them and self-identifiers," said Frank Holt, an emeritus professor at the University of Houston. "They reflect our politics, our religion, our art, our sense of ourselves, our ideals, our aspirations."
In contrast to other coins like the dime or quarter, which still have a significant production cost-to-value ratio, pennies are considered relatively inexpensive to produce. However, their discontinuation has raised concerns about how businesses will handle transactions and whether consumers will adapt.
As billions of pennies remain in circulation, it remains to be seen how this change will affect everyday commerce and consumer behavior.
anyway, 2 cents seems like a lot of money just for one penny but i guess it adds up, right? 
some people are already complaining about how this is gonna affect small businesses and stuff, i hope they can figure it out tho 
like what's gonna happen to all those old penny hoarders now?! 
i mean i get that they cost too much but can't we just, like, make them out of a different material or something? 
instead of getting rid of them completely 
anyway, i'm kinda sad about this... pennies were so cool 
and now they're just gonna fade away 
. and what about all the nostalgia?! 
. anyway, gotta respect the president's move - it's a small change that can add up 
i feel bad for the ppl who collect them tho 
they're like, nostalgic reminders of the past 
anyway, it's interesting to think about how this change will affect businesses and consumers... maybe we'll all just get used to rounding prices down 
and yeah i feel for the collectors tho, those pennies are like a piece of history 
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