“God bless America,” U.S. Treasurer Brandon Beach declared before striking the final penny. “We’re going to save taxpayers $56 million.”
The U.S. Mint on Wednesday ended production of the penny, a change made to save money and because the 1-cent coin that could once buy a snack or a piece of candy had become increasingly irrelevant.
The last pennies were struck at the mint in Philadelphia, where the country’s smallest denomination coins have been produced since 1793, a year after Congress passed the Coinage Act. Officials said the final few pennies would be auctioned off.
“God bless America, and we’re going to save the taxpayers $56 million,” U.S. Treasurer Brandon Beach said just before hitting a button to strike the final penny.
Pennies remain legal tender, but new ones will no longer be made.
The last coin to be discontinued was the half-cent in 1857, Beach said.
President Donald Trump ordered the penny’s demise as costs climbed to nearly 4 cents per penny and the 1-cent valuation became somewhat obsolete. Billions of pennies remain in circulation, but they are rarely essential for financial transactions in the 21st century economy.
