Source: Di Chao
US mints last penny after Donald Trump killed the coin
The copper one-cent coin lost value as digital payments and production costs rose.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Brendan Beach helped mint the last U.S. one-cent coin at the Philadelphia Mint on Wednesday © Reuters
Due to digitization and rising costs, production of the one-cent coin in the United States was no longer attractive after 230 years in circulation, so the United States officially stopped production of the coin.
The last coin was printed Wednesday at the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia, following the U.S. Treasury Department's decision to phase out coins of that denomination. The cost of producing coins of this denomination has risen to nearly four times their face value.
“Given the rapid modernization of Americans' wallets, the Treasury Department and President Trump no longer believe that continued production of one-cent coins is fiscally responsible or necessary to meet the needs of the American public,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Brendan Beach said in remarks at the Mint.
The coin, which has been in circulation since 1793, is set to retire as consumers and retailers use it less and less as digital payment systems become more common. Over the past decade, its production costs have risen from 1.42 cents to 3.39 cents.
The U.S. Mint estimates that discontinuing production of coins of this denomination would save $56 million in annual material costs. During the last fiscal year, one-cent coins accounted for 57% of the coins the Mint put into circulation.
U.S. retailers have begun changing the change for cash payments from 1 cent to 5 cents. But the retail industry has warned that the penny's rapid disappearance could cause operational problems, such as when cashing bank checks at checkout counters.
Even if production of new coins ceases, pennies still in circulation will continue to be an accepted form of payment in stores.
“While today we officially say goodbye to the production of the copper one-cent coin, I want to make it clear: the penny remains legal tender,” Beach said. “There are still more than 300 billion one-cent coins in circulation, and we encourage everyone to continue to use them.”
Trump has called the production of one-cent coins “extremely wasteful” and earlier this year directed U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to phase out production. The Treasury Department stopped ordering the coin in May, and the Mint stopped mass production in June.
The final batch of five one-cent coins printed on Wednesday will not enter circulation but will be auctioned off by the Mint.
Source of this article: https://www.ft.com/content/87a3d5fe-7c0b-4b37-9678-d74e45b9d195