The U.S. said farewell after 232 years to the beloved penny as the Philadelphia Mint struck its final one-cent coin last Wednesday, following President Donald Trump‘s decision to halt its expensive production.
“Today I attended the final penny strike, symbolizing the end of penny production and the return of common sense,” U.S. Treasurer Brandon Beach wrote on X. “Each year the U.S. loses millions producing pennies as their demand plummeted.”
“Given the rapid modernization of the American wallet, the Department of the Treasury and President Trump no longer believe the continued production of the penny is fiscally responsible or necessary to meet the demands of the American public,” Beach explained during the historic moment.
“As public servants, it’s our responsibility to steward public resources with prudence and transparency. However, over the last decade, the American taxpayer has been repeatedly shortchanged,” Beach posted on X last Thursday. “Over the last 10 years, production costs for a single penny have nearly tripled while demand has plummeted.”
Back on February, Trump expressed his plan to end the production of the copper penny, considering that the manufacturing costs to make a singular coin averaged 3.69 cent over the last 10 years.
“For far too long the United States has minted pennies which literally cost us more than 2 cents,” wrote Trump in the February post. “This is so wasteful! I have instructed my Secretary of the US Treasury to stop producing new pennies. Let’s rip the waste out of our great nations budget, even if it’s a penny at a time.”
“Although today we say goodbye to our copper one-cent coin, let me be crystal clear, the penny remains legal tender,” Beach reassured. “We have over 300 billion pennies that remain in circulation and we encourage you to use them.”
Moreover, the treasurer revealed the drafts of the last batch of pennies, meant to celebrate America’s 250th anniversary. “These first drafts honoring America’s 250th Birthday and [President Donald Trump] are real,” Beach wrote on X.
Politico journalist Michael Stratford wrote on X that the last-ever circulating penny will be auctioned off, as he published a video of Beach pressing the button to strike one final penny.
“This is the last one–three, two, one!†Beach said in the video.
And suddenly, the U.S. had forever terminated production of the penny that had been made since 1793.
The post ‘Penny for Your Thoughts’: The End of the US Penny After Over 230 years appeared first on The Daily Signal.