Cent officially phasing out (link)

FredF

WSJ (via AP link) reporting that Mint has placed its last order of blanks for 1-cent coins. Expected last mint date is early 2026.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/us-mint-moves-forward-plans-153318356.html

Morgan White

It should have happened 15 years ago. I hope they continue making them for mint/proof sets but in bronze not zinc.

BillJones

I hope the 2026 cent does not become an “instant rarity” that will be distributed via another lottery. The mint seems to like to create frenzies for flippers these days. It would well if 2025 could be the last year if the 2026 mintage is very limited.

In the old days, the mint made an effort to issue more gold dollars during the 1880s to avoid creating rarities, although there was little demand for the coins.

johnny9434

what are they going to do with whats on the current market? just curious is all

Alpha2814

@FredF said:
Expected last mint date is early 2026.

That's not in the article. How did we come up with this? Do we know how many blanks were in the last order?

MsMorrisine

but

MsMorrisine

but

MsMorrisine

but

MsMorrisine

Pennies are the most popular coin made by the U.S. Mint,

lkenefic

Can changing the alloy in the Nickel bring that production cost down? I knew the Cent cost 3+ cents to make, but didn't realize that Nickels were the same way, if not more...

MsMorrisine

they can make nickels from aluminum, but they are constrained by the "electromagnetic signature similar" -problem-

HalfDime

No more penny for your thoughts, it will have to be a nickel.

SanctionII

After the cent is no longer produced for circulation nostaligia will result in increased popularity for:

1. the song Pennies From Heaven;

2. The Big Bang Theory (and its female lead Penny);

3. placing a cent on a railroad track so it can be flattened when train runs over it; and

4. filling Whitman Lincoln cent albums.

Also, if the cent is no longer produced, with the ban on melting cents be lifted?

If so, will there be an uptick in searching for copper cents (pre 1982) in order to hoard copper cents due to the melt value of same (currently about $0.0287 each, or almost three times face value) being much high than the face value of same?

If the melt value of a copper cent increased to a dime the harvesting of copper cents will go through the roof.

TrickleCharge

Sounds like it's time to bring back three cent coinage.

FredWeinberg

It might be interesting to see what happens to the values of major mechanical error
Cents in the next few years…….~ soon to be obsolete type coin errors, possibly.

The_Dinosaur_Man

I will still hope for continued offering in rolls and sets. Even though Canada discontinued theirs, the nation still issues the occasional commemorative issue.

dcarr

The history of the "penny" illustrates the trajectory of government-issued money.

The first "penny" was a small gold piece.
Then it was a small silver piece.
Then it was a very large copper disc.
Then it was a medium-sized copper piece with a small silver plug.
Then it was a medium-sized copper piece with no silver.
Then it was a small copper piece.
Then it was steel or zinc plated with copper.
And then it was gone.

.

MsMorrisine

@dcarr said:
And then it was gone.

it's in the parking lot

CaptHenway

Why are they still ordering planchets?

Creg

@CaptHenway said:
Why are they still ordering planchets?

Pending contracts?

CaptHenway

@Creg said:

@CaptHenway said:
Why are they still ordering planchets?

Pending contracts?

Possible. They may just be taking delivery of the last batch or one of the last batches of a long-term order.. If so then various headlines calling this a "new order" or "last order" or whatever might just be careless journalism.

291fifth

@CaptHenway said:
Why are they still ordering planchets?

Follow the money.

Russell12

@HalfDime said:
No more penny for your thoughts, it will have to be a nickel.

Good, I'm not making much money that way . . .

Morgan White

@MsMorrisine said:

@dcarr said:
And then it was gone.

it's in the parking lot

Those are worth a fortune.

DCW

A long time coming. Certainly was fun looking through cent rolls for varieties back when I had time to do that.

Eventually, and this is a depressing thought for a Friday night, all coins will be gone and we will go digital. In some ways, we already have

Old_Collector

@DCW said:
A long time coming. Certainly was fun looking through cent rolls for varieties back when I had time to do that.

Eventually, and this is a depressing thought for a Friday night, all coins will be gone and we will go digital. In some ways, we already have

Cheer up, a lot of people still collect gold coins and those have not been minted for almost a century. I know loads of people that collect old railroad nails, baseball cards, and lots of crazy old things. The stuff that they mint today has minimal resemblance to most of the things that I collect anyway. Many collect to maintain a contact with the past.

DCW

@Old_Collector said:

@DCW said:
A long time coming. Certainly was fun looking through cent rolls for varieties back when I had time to do that.

Eventually, and this is a depressing thought for a Friday night, all coins will be gone and we will go digital. In some ways, we already have

Cheer up, a lot of people still collect gold coins and those have not been minted for almost a century. I know loads of people that collect old railroad nails, baseball cards, and lots of crazy old things. The stuff that they mint today has minimal resemblance to most of the things that I collect anyway. Many collect to maintain a contact with the past.

Nobody said anything about coin collecting going away. But collecting coins from circulation does require coins to actually be...in circulation, right? People will still collect the cent, it was just fun being able to do it from pocket change.

Estil

I've said over and over there was no way the penny would be retired for good as long as the two Illinois Senators were sure to tag team filibuster any such attempt...but apparently no Act of Congress was necessary? I mean I thought all this time that was the reason the penny kept going as long as it did.

Steven59

So the cent costs 3 cents to make but the nickel costs 14 cents to make? How come no uproar about that wasteful cost???????

PeakRarities

@Estil said:
I've said over and over there was no way the penny would be retired for good as long as the two Illinois Senators were sure to tag team filibuster any such attempt...but apparently no Act of Congress was necessary? I mean I thought all this time that was the reason the penny kept going as long as it did.

The treasury has the sole discretion to mint as many or as few cents as they desire, but an act of congress will be required to codify it, and enact legislation that will lay out the system needed for stores to round up/down when making change. There’s several pieces of legislation introduced this year that I suspect will have ample bipartisan support needed, it’s so obviously foolish to continue.

PeakRarities

@Steven59 said:
So the cent costs 3 cents to make but the nickel costs 14 cents to make? How come no uproar about that wasteful cost???????

There will be, but one small step at a time, going after both right out the gate would be more likely to generate resistance. This way will allow people to adapt to the rounding process to the nearest .05, and realize that it’s virtually inconsequential. That way, when we’re ready to nix the nickel and round to the nearest .10, it won’t be as much of a shock to the public.

You are absolutely correct though, and the fact that there won’t be any more zincolns will significantly increase the need for nickels, so it may end up being a wash anyway. That said, that narrative would be a great way to present it to the public, that the “unexpected” demand for nickels requires swift action in order to achieve the potential savings that were expected.

Either that, or a change in composition would be needed. Stainless steel, perhaps? Strong, cheap, and corrosion resistant? Would the magnetic properties cause any issues with anything? The only thing I can imagine being a problem are vending machines, but most of them take credit cards or Apple/Google pay.

Mr_Spud

Oh well, once all the coins are gone…

Old_Collector

@DCW said:

. . . . ,

Nobody said anything about coin collecting going away. But collecting coins from circulation does require coins to actually be...in circulation, right? People will still collect the cent, it was just fun being able to do it from pocket change.

But cents will still circulate for a long long time as there are many billions out there, just no newly minted dates. Perhaps it will draw out some older dates from all the jars full.