President Trump announced Sunday that he is telling the Treasury Department to stop minting pennies, ending a 233-year run of the 1-cent coin.
For the 2024 fiscal year, the annual U.S. Mint report said that it takes about 3.7 cents to produce and distribute one penny, a 20% increase from the previous year. The increase has been partly driven by the rising costs of metals like zinc and copper, according to the report.
Rising production costs have spurred other countries to eliminate small denomination coins. Canada stopped making pennies in 2012, and Australia stopped circulating one and two-cent coins back in 1992. In the U.S., discontinuing the penny entirely may require congressional approval.