Congress Passes Bill to End Penny Production After 234 Years

The U.S. Senate has passed legislation that formally ends the production of the penny, sending the bill to President Donald Trump for his expected signature. The measure, known as the Common Cents Act, was approved by voice vote late Monday.

The bill gives a legal stamp of approval to the Trump administration's decision to stop minting the one-cent coin in 2025. The penny, first struck after the U.S. Mint was established in 1792, has been produced for 234 years.

The Mint has reported that making a single penny now costs nearly four cents. Ending production would yield immediate annual savings of $56 million, according to the agency. The coin has also fallen out of favor with consumers as digital transactions have become more common.

The bipartisan bill was sponsored by Reps. Lisa McClain, R-Mich., and Robert Garcia, D-Calif. Garcia said that halting production of a coin that costs almost four times its value to make is a matter of common sense for taxpayers.

Pennies already in circulation will remain legal tender, and the Mint produced 3.2 billion of them in 2024. The legislation sets out procedures for retailers as the coin is phased out, permitting stores to round cash transactions up or down to the nearest five cents. Retailer groups had lobbied for the bill to remove the risk of lawsuits as penny circulation dwindled, citing uncertainty over how to handle cash transactions when exact change is unavailable.

The bill also allows the government to use a zinc inner layer in the production of the nickel, which may see increased use as the penny disappears. The five-cent coin is currently made from nickel and copper, materials more expensive than zinc.