Donald Trump Orders US Treasury To Halt Minting Pennies To Cut Waste

US President Donald Trump has ordered the Treasury Department to stop minting new pennies. The billionaire ordered to cease production of the one-cent coin, citing the rising cost of its production. The move to cease penny production adds to the Trump administration's efforts to enact sweeping change through executive orders on issues ranging from immigration to gender and diversity to the name of the Gulf of Mexico.

"For far too long the United States has minted pennies which literally cost us more than 2 cents. This is so wasteful! I have instructed my Secretary of the US Treasury to stop producing new pennies," Trump wrote.

"Let's rip the waste out of our great nation's budget, even if it's a penny at a time," he added.

The one-cent coin, also known as a penny, was first issued by the federal government in 1793. Since 1909, the profile of President Abraham Lincoln has adorned the obverse side of the coin which is made of zinc and copper.

It remains unclear whether President Trump has the power to unilaterally eliminate the lowly coin as the currency specifications - including the size and metal content of coins - are dictated by Congress.

A debate over whether the penny should be dropped from the line-up of American currency has been rumbling for years. In 2013, economist Henry Aaron called for dropping pennies and nickels from US currency saying, "Life would be simpler without this monetary detritus."

However, the issue of eliminating the pennies was part of the Republican leader's election campaign. But his mega-billionaire ally Elon Musk's so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) had raised the prospect in a post on X last month highlighting the production cost. 

The US Mint reportedly lost $85.3 million in the 2024 fiscal year that ended in September on the nearly 3.2 billion pennies it produced. Every penny cost nearly $0.037 - up from $0.031 the year before. The mint also loses money on the nickel production, with each of the $0.05 coins costing nearly $0.14 to make.

Supporters of the penny have argued that it helps keep consumer prices lower and is a source of income for charities. For many Americans, however, the coin has become a nuisance that ends up being discarded in drawers, ashtrays and piggy banks.

However, if the penny were to be scrapped, one idea would be to simply make the last digit of the prices of all products a zero.