Pennies

[TX-Dennis]

I received an email from my primary bank yesterday. The email basically stated that the US Treasury ceased production of pennies in early 2025 (which I knew). Apparently the Federal Reserve is unable to supply any pennies to the banking system as of yesterday. The email further states that no pennies will be supplied as change orders to business customers going forward. Also that it will be necessary to round cash transactions to the nearest nickel as the supply of existing pennies becomes depleted.

They specifically encouraged the use of electronic transactions (debit and credit cards, etc.) which are unaffected by rounding. They said businesses should encourage or even incentivize their customers to use digital payments going forward.

Apparently it costs about 3 cents to produce each penny and 15 cents to produce each nickel. Dimes, quarters, and half dollars are less expensive to produce than their face value. How long before the nickel is discontinued as well?

 

[lihpster]

Cost to make the nickel could go down acceptably, if it was made from different materials. Copper and nickel aren't exactly cheap compared to some other metals. Scrapped Chevys and recycled Budweiser cans come to mind.

 

[sceva]

Cost to make the nickel could go down acceptably, if it was made from different materials. Copper and nickel aren't exactly cheap compared to some other metals. Scrapped Chevys and recycled Budweiser cans come to mind.

Pennies have not been made from copper since the 1980's; they are zinc with a copper plating.

Rounding to the nearest nickel? Hmmmm; My guess is that very quickly if not from the start everything will be rounded up to the next .05 for payments and by default rounded down for change.

 

[s&wchad]

Just my 2 cents worth...

Pennies need to go. I'm all in favor of cutting government costs whenever possible. This is coming from someone who's still willing to bend over and pick 'em up when I find them on the ground!

I've been separating copper pennies for some time (just because), but have a lot of post 1982 pennies that I'm not willing to roll up. I guess I should check and see if my bank has a coin counter. It irks me to use the one at the supermarket and pay a percentage.

 

[lihpster]

Pennies have not been made from copper since the 1980's; they are zinc with a copper plating.

I was talking about nickels. They are 75% copper and 25% nickel.

 

[mike4sigs]

Several Family-owned businesses here in my area charge 3% for use of credit/debit cards.
and on a side note, should i encourage my wife to cash in her hoard of pennies?

 

[YeshuaIsa53]

Nickel for your thoughts.

 

[StrawHat]

They should do away with the paper $1 bill and substitute a coin. Coins last much longer than paper.

Kevin

 

[Bekeart]

They should do away with the paper $1 bill and substitute a coin. Coins last much longer than paper.

I have read rumors about a proposed $1 coin for the US 250th anniversary.

For political reason I will not post "Who" will be imaged.

Bekeart

 

[gwpercle]

I have noticed lately that gas stations and restaurants can give you a discount if you pay in ... cash . The bank charges a business a fee on a credit or debit card transaction .
I think the banks may be losing some business (fees) because more are paying in cash to get the lower prices .
Banks are just going to have to do something about this paying in cash stuff ... it ain't making them no money !
Watch them close ... banks are good at getting us .
Gary

 

[IronSkillet]

Credit cards are banks and Banks are not you’re friends they need to take a percentage, remember not so long ago it was 10% for the big guy, well same idea here.
The question I have when it comes to the pennies, isn’t it written somewhere that Congress is responsible for the minting of coins, instead of a knee jerk reaction of getting rid of something that works, why wasn’t a cheaper alternative penny sought out?
As previously mentioned in this thread cost of a nickel is far greater than that of the penny.
Slippery slope once it starts who’s to say what’s next?

 

[s&wchad]

The cost to print a $1 bill is around 3 cents, but they typically only last 6 years. Coins last 25-30 years. I couldn't find any info on US $1 coins, but a half dollar coin costs 34 cents to make. I suspect $1 coins cost more.

Paper currency, even with its shorter lifespan, are less than half the cost of coins over time. Americans haven't embraced $1 coins (except for Golddollar), so going the way of Canada and eliminating the $1 bill seems like a losing proposition.

I don't have a problem with banks. I don't pay interest because I don't carry a balance, get cash back on CC purchases and I have free checking.

 

[TIMETRIPPER]

They should do away with the paper $1 bill and substitute a coin. Coins last much longer than paper.

Kevin

They have been trying to do that for years. Remember the Susan B. Anthony and Sacajawea coins? Trouble is, our government keeps printing paper dollars. The Canadians did it right. Once they started stamping out Loonies, they quit printing dollar bills. They also were smart enough to make the Loonie noticeably different enough so as not to be confused with their quarter.

John

 

[6string]

Canada discontinued $1 and $2 bills (paper) money many years ago.
The $1 coin has an image of a loon on one side, and they were quickly nicknamed “loonies”.
The $2 coin came later and is nicknamed the “toonie”.
Their “paper” currency ($5 and up) is actually made of plastic sheet.

If you like to do business in cash, you quickly find yourself carrying around a lot of heavy change!

To quote Dax Shepard’s character from “Idiocracy” Frito, “I like money!”.

 

[IronSkillet]

I don't have a problem with banks. I don't pay interest because I don't carry a balance, get cash back on CC purchases and I have free checking.

True, but understand every time you use that CC the bank still receives a fee from that vendor. One way or the other you are paying for the use of that credit card, small business owners seem to be catching on and offer a cash discount to the customer because using cash is a win for both the small business owner and their customers.
Free checking has strings from the bank, banks vary on what the criteria is to provide “free” as long as you stay within that agreement it is free.
Back to the penny and government waste, like eliminating the pennies is going to reverse the National Debt?

 

[H Richard]

Europe has a $1 and $2 coin the smallest bill is a $5. They did still have a penny last time I was there.

 

[mtgianni]

There are a few gas stations and restaurants in Montana that charge extra for cc customers. Most do not and they are the ones with repeat business. Most ACH transactions run between $0.30 and $0.50, so if someone charges my cc 3% for a $100 charge they are making money on the transaction.

 

[45Smashemflat]

I’m in middle Ga and finding most restaurants are adding 3% to CC transactions along with a few merchants. The CC fees have existed forever, but the vendors have just adjusted prices to account for it.

I guess it’s just a sign of the times that they have flipped the math.

And my tin foil hat brain just sees the removal of the penny as just one more tactic of the “war on cash.”

 

[cracker57]

Watch out for cash to go away, when it does so does a lot of your freedom. If you think big brother is watching you now wait until they know what you spend every PENNY on. Tax the kid who mows your lawn, tax the man you bought the used appliance from, tax the.........No more gas for you you, you spent your quota for the month. Sorry you have already spent x amount on ammo, no more for you....
When you use a CC they know every penny spent and what it was spent on.
no cash=no freedom.

 

[s&wchad]

True, but understand every time you use that CC the bank still receives a fee from that vendor. One way or the other you are paying for the use of that credit card...

That fee will be rolled in, whether I use a CC or not. I'm not going to change the world and credit/debit cards are here to stay. I'll take the cash back, unless the vendor offers a better discount for cash. You also can't pay bills or make purchases online with cash.

Back to the penny and government waste, like eliminating the pennies is going to reverse the National Debt?

Every little bit helps...

 

[SMSgt]

I just cannot see smacking a guy in the face with a roll of aluminum quarters being that effective.

 

[Buford57]

Just my 2 cents worth...

I came to the Lounge for the daily chuckle and read this instead. Thanks.

I think I first read about a proposal to scrap the penny during the Johnson administration. Since at that time my primary source of income was the 2¢ deposit refund from glass bottles I found along the road it was an existential crisis. I wonder what the total loss has been since then, including the costs of all the recent "instant collectable" redesigns.

For now I will frustrate the process by carrying pennies so I can avoid rounding.

 

[lihpster]

I just cannot see smacking a guy in the face with a roll of aluminum quarters being that effective.

Gotta put it in a sock first.

 

[SMSgt]

Gotta put it in a sock first.

I had more in mind the guys who carry a roll of quarters to hold in their hand, but a sock would work also.

 

[YeshuaIsa53]

Auctions starting at a nickel.

 

[Onomea]

Anybody remember the great penny shortage of the early 1970s? I was working in a retail store in NYC and pennies were hard to come by.

I really like the convenience of credit and debit cards. I like not having to carry very much cash around and only needing to replenish it twice a year or so.

And I don't begrudge merchants who charge more for credit cards and appreciate it when they will take a debit card for the cash discount. (My car dealer was like that when I bought a set of tires as is a discount supermarket I use.)

Was reading an article the other day about credit card nerds who spend a lot of time with spreadsheets keeping track of sign up offers and maintaining dozens of cards simultaneously.

"Isaac Khor, a doctoral student at Northeastern University, has been opening credit cards since the start of the pandemic. “I’m up 15 grand this year,” he said. “Ph.D. stipends are not that high, so this actually does dramatically augment my income.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/11/...ytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

I don't have enough patience or interest to try that myself — and I prefer to just manage a couple of credit cards — but I can see how some folks might enjoy playing the game.

For free bank services, all ya gotta do is keep a minimum balance. Sure, the bank gets to use the money, but I am not gonna stash cash under my mattress so I don't mind.

 

[Bajadoc]

I guess, in this case, not making cents makes sense.

 

[375hh1973]

This thread made me realize that I own ZERO pennies.

Seldomly use cash and the few times I do, the pennies get left on the counter.

Have used cash about 6 times in 2025.

 

[Mike SC Hunter]

Cost to make the nickel could go down acceptably, if it was made from different materials. Copper and nickel aren't exactly cheap compared to some other metals. Scrapped Chevys and recycled Budweiser cans come to mind.

Could work cuz when we went off the gold standard system around 1964...........Our $$$ had ZERO value........Just the backing of the gov............Ya sceered yet?

 

[Yaworski]

Wow! It costs three cents to make something that will last centuries.

Do they really need to make more pennies? Have they needed to make pennies for decades? They don't wear out.