Did you know the US Mint says it costs 3. 7 penn to create and distribute a single penny? That's why President Trump told the Treasury Secretary to stop making pennies altogether. The US Mint reported losing $85 million making three billion pennies last year. Trump posted to Truth Social saying, Let's rip the waste out of our great nation's budget, even if it's a penny at a time. Nickels cost 13. 8 cents each to make. Americans for Common Sense, a pro-penny group, says the volume of nickels in circulation would have to increase if pennies are phased out in order to fill the gap in small value transactions. The group also says Americans with lower incomes could be affected by this change since they're more reliant on cash transactions. They say retailers could use this as an opportunity to round prices up instead of down. The price of making pennies has been steady in recent years, but the cost of making a nickel has increased around 20% since 2022 due to the cost of raw materials. It would take an act of stop the use of pennies already in circulation, and the federal government would have to buy back the pennies that have already been distributed, which would be pretty pricey.
President Trump has stopped the production of pennies after the U.S. Mint reported losing $85 million dollars making 3 billion ...