The US has ended running the penny-After 230 years

The US is set to make the final sendny.

The Philadelphia Mint will strike the final set of one-cent coins on Wednesday, after more than 230 years of production.

The coins will remain in circulation but the phase-out has already prompted businesses to start adjusting prices, as they say pennies will be harder to find.

The government says the move will save money, or as President Donald Trump put it in February when he first announced the plans:

Pennies, which honor Civil War President Lincoln and are made of pleted-plated zinc, are now worth nearly four cents a decade ago, according to the Treasury department. It estimates the decision to end production will save about $56m a year.

Officials argue that the rise of electronic transactions is making the penny, which first came into production in 1793, increasingly moot.

The Treasury department estimates that about 300 billion of the coins will remain in circulation, “far in excess of the amount needed for commerce”.

Many pennies end up being useless. About 60% of all coins in circulation in the US – or about $60-$90 for the typical household – are struck in the house of piggy banks, According to a 2022 government assessment.

But Penny-Pincers beware: As businesses begin to calculate prices, the movement is expected to collect costs for shoppers. deer Study by researchers at the Richmond Federal Reserve It is estimated that it could cost consumers $6m per year.

Other countries are also moving away from their lowest value coins. For example, Canada produced the last batch of one cent coins in 2012.

Australia and New Zealand retired one and two cent coins in the 1990s, and New Zealand stopped production of the five cent coin in 2006.

The UK floated a plan to scrap 1p coins in 2018, although the proposal was later withdrawn.

But the rise of electronic transactions prompted the UK to stop producing the coins in 2024, after officials decided there were enough 1p and 2p coins in circulation.

In the spotlight now is the Nickel, which has a face value of five cents but costs almost 14 cents to produce.

Retiring the coin has a greater impact on consumers, costing consumers about $ 55m per year, according to the FEDMOND FED study.