The U.S. Mint has made its final order of penny blanks and plans to stop producing the coin when those run out, a Treasury Department official confirmed Thursday.
The move comes as the cost of making pennies has increased markedly, by upward of 20% in 2024, according to the Treasury.
By stopping the penny’s production, the Treasury expects an immediate annual savings of $56 million in reduced material costs, according to the official, who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity to preview the news.
In February, President Donald Trump announced that he had ordered his administration to cease production of the 1-cent coin.
“For far too long the United States has minted pennies which literally cost us more than 2 cents. This is so wasteful!” Trump wrote at that time in a post on his Truth Social site. “I have instructed my Secretary of the US Treasury to stop producing new pennies.”
Advocates for ditching the penny cite its high production cost — almost 4 cents per penny now, according to the U.S. Mint — and limited utility. Fans of the penny cite its usefulness in charity drives and relative bargain in production costs compared with the nickel, which costs almost 14 cents to mint.
Mortgage rates tick up
The average rate on a 30-year mortgage in the U.S. climbed this week to its highest level since mid-February, a setback for home shoppers that threatens to slow sales further this spring homebuying season.
The rate increased to 6.86% from 6.81% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. A year ago, the rate averaged 6.94%.
Last week, mortgage applications fell 5.1% from a week earlier as home loan borrowing costs increased, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.