WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) — Lawmakers in Congress from both sides of the aisle are proposing bills to halt production of the coin, but a pro-penny group warns of unintended consequences.
"They no longer make any 'cents' at all," Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) said.
Oregon Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley is pushing to halt production of the penny.
"It's so simple. It costs four cents to make each penny," Merkley said. "Most pennies do not stay in circulation. People leave them on their counter, leave them on their couch cushions, children don't pick them off the street anymore."
He and Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee are sponsoring a bill to stop making the one-cent coins. They say it could save taxpayers $85 million a year.
The U.S. Mint reported in 2024 that it cost 3.69 cents to make the penny, up 20% from the year before. That's the 19th year in a row the penny costs more to make than its face value.
"Consumers benefit if you have a low denomination coin," Executive Director of Americans for Common Cents Mark Weller said.
Mark Weller is with Americans for Common Cents, a group that supports the penny and is also supported by a company that supplies zinc to the mint to make the coins.
He says stopping production will make things more expensive.
"The alternative to the penny is rounding transactions to the nickel, and that's just a real loser for consumers," Weller said.
Weller also says ending penny production could lead to the mint making more nickels, which cost almost 14 cents to make.
"The fact is we're actually going to lose more money," Weller said.
Merkley says this is an easy way to cut waste, and one the administration supports.
President Trump called for the Treasury to halt penny production in February. He wrote on Truth Social, "Let's rip the waste out of our great nations budget, even if it's a penny at a time."
Merkley wants to put that in law.
"We'll look for an opportunity to get it hopefully voted on as an amendment to some other bill," Merkley said.
A separate House bill to end penny production would require cash transactions be rounded to the nearest nickel but electronic payments would not be rounded.
