Trump instructs Treasury to halt penny production

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: CNN Business

Published 10:36 PM EST, Sun February 9, 2025


CNN — President Donald Trump announced Sunday that he has instructed Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to halt the production of pennies, citing the high cost of producing one cent.

“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. Let’s rip the waste out of our great nations budget, even if it’s a penny at a time,” Trump said in a post to social media as he returned to Washington from the Super Bowl.

The penny has been under fire for years, with the movement to eliminate the penny picking up steam last month after Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency posted on X calling attention to the high cost of producing the single-cent coin.

Last year a New York Times Magazine story argued for abolishing the coin. “The necessity of abolishing the penny has been obvious to those in power for so long that the inability to accomplish it has transformed the coin into a symbol of deeper rot,” the piece noted.

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/09/business/trump-treasury-penny-production-halt/index.html

[OnlinePoker]

1. It's worked in Canada. We just round up or down to the nearest nickel. n/t

[Phoenix61]

2. There's a lot to be said for having just paper currency.nt

[Justice matters.]

16. Canada uses plastic (in color) and have transparent zones...

Those transparent zones figure graphics that counterfeiters can't reproduce faithfully.

Those features prevent frauds, the plastic sheet is more resistant (lasts longer than paper), and is easier to recycle.

[uncle ray]

3. obsolescence of the penny, just one of the many advantages of the coming runaway inflation.

[Calista241]

4. I wrote a paper advocating this in college over 20 years ago. N/t

[CaliforniaPeggy]

5. My god! This is the first decision he's made that I agree with!

[Lionel Mandrake]

15. me too

[CaliforniaPeggy]

17. Right there with you!

[Luciferous]

25. Me too!

[GiqueCee]

32. It horrifies me to have to say this...

... but I agree with the Orange Menace. Even more ridiculous is 9/10ths of a penny commonly seen in gasoline prices, and the common practice of posting $9.99 as bargain, instead of just saying $10.
Wonder what will happen when He-Whose-Name-Tastes-Like-A-Rotten-Sausage realizes he said something that isn't a lie. Maybe his head will explode.

[intrepidity]

36. It won't change that aspect

They'll still advertise prices using fractions, but just round up when cash payment is processed.

[tornado34jh]

6. Most countries in Europe rarely used anything below 5 cents, even in countries that don't use the Euro

When I went to the Czech Republic, the koruna, the Czech currency, rarely uses anything below 5 koruna česká (like 5 cents), The Danish krone uses 50 øre, like 50 cents, as the lowest denomination. The Swedish krona and the Hungarian forint use the 1 krona and 1 forint (like 1 dollar) respectively . There are exceptions however, such as the hryvnia in Ukraine, the manat in Azerbaijan, the lev in Bulgaria and the zloty in Poland, whose lowest domination has the US equivalent to 1 cent (not exchange rate, just value). My aunt used to collect foreign currency (much of it before many countries in Europe switched to the Euro).

[IronLionZion]

7. No more $.99 prices then

just have to round up

[Justice matters.]

14. In Canada, credit/debit card transactions still count pennies

Only purchases made with coins round totals up or down:

1 and 2 get rounded down to dimes
3 and 4 get rounded up to nickels
6 and 7 get rounded down to nickels
8 and 9 get rounded up to dimes

[C_U_L8R]

28. Do sales taxes round up/down too?

[Justice matters.]

34. The totals that include the sales taxes do.

They* are VAT type taxes. Only happens when buyers pay in cash. eCards don't round up/down.

*Federal GST (Goods & Services Tax) and in most provinces, provincial Value Added Taxes.

[SeattleVet]

8. When I was stationed in Germany (1979-1981) the US stopped shipping pennies over.

It cost them more to ship than they were worth. All purchases were to be rounded up or down to the nearest $.05.

A guy in my shop was livid, claiming that everything would be rounded up, since prices usually ended in .98 or .99, and it would cost him more all the time. He wouldn't listen to reason (if you bought multiple items, the ending digit was much more random).

Finally we decided to track all of our purchases over a month and see how things really worked out.

At the end of 30 days we sat down and totaled up our receipts from the base exchange, restaurants, bowling alley, record shop, etc. We both averaged pretty darn close to a draw...maybe $0.15 on either side, and I think his was the $.15 lower one.

(Unfortunately the lesson didn't seem to stick, since he's now a huge MAGA supporter.)

It'll work out even more randomly now, when you add in the various sales taxes and the like. In places where cards are used you pay the actual price; the rounding only applies to cash purchases. I don't see any real downside to eliminating the penny. After all, we have gotten along fine after they eliminated the half cent coin that was minted from 1789 to 1853 - and while the feds never minted them, some states produced the 'mill', valued at 1/10 cent. Ever notice on coupons where the stated value is 1 mill?)

[samsingh]

9. its the magats that want the penny

[usonian]

10. Eric and Jared were seen robbing change sorting machines prior to the run on pennies coming

5, 4, 3, 2 ...

[jgmiller]

11. I'm sure if they put his face on it he would want them to make nothing but pennies

I'm pretty certain that once again he's violating the law since congress determines currency policy. I could be wrong on that however.

It's not a bad idea, in the 1800's we actually made half cents and eventually dropped them. Logistically there are so many circulating pennies that it shouldn't have a negative impact on people who use coins for quite a while.

[SeattleVet]

12. Ah, if only he were eligible to have his ugly mug on a coin!

Due to a law passed by Congress in 1866 no living person can be on US coinage.

(I really wish he was already eligible!)

[Justice matters.]

18. Problem is, the sick convicted felon thinks he is above all laws. nt

[Hugin]

13. I see the Tangeranus has yet again yanked the spotlight on himself.

For the next week the entire M$M will be breathlessly reporting on how brave sir shit ball courageously ended the pennies.

Snap to reality! The man is ending democracy! He’s becoming a fascist dictator! He wants to turn Gaza into a private resort using your tax dollars! The man is denying aid to the horrific disaster in California! He’s shuttered the CDC, NIH, Consumer Protection… and so on. He and his henchmen have designs on ending Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, SNAP, and any other social program that can be named.

But, at least we won’t have the fucking penny anymore.

Jesus! This is why we lose!

I give up. If anyone needs me I’ll be studying Ancient Australian Mythology.

[Polybius]

19. It's been talked about for years, but I've always opposed it

Last edited Mon Feb 10, 2025, 10:26 PM - Edit history (1)

Still do.

[Hugin]

24. As ending the penny should be opposed. The penny symbolizes freedom.

The most common coin > Lincoln > The Great Emancipator > End to slavery > Freedom > Freedom to everyone. It’s symbolic of Freedom.

Ending the penny has long been a racist trope and dog whistle. It’s no coincidence that the racist-in-chief announced his plan during the half-time of the Super Bowl.

But, pennies are expensive to make. Just like maintaining freedom is expensive. It’s still cheaper than eggs though.

[Polybius]

38. That's not why I've always opposed getting rid of the penny though

In fact, it never even crossed my mind that Lincoln is the reason why they want to get rid of it. I had no idea.

[Hugin]

39. I learned stuff like that from having a second grade teacher who was a civil rights firebrand.

It was her first job after being in the marches. A very nice lady. Not everyone was so lucky.

She was so full of life and history.

I learned about the racist contempt for the penny much later, during a darker time.

Beyond that, there’s so much lost symbology in everyday things. Back in the day they used to have the time to think about the meaning of things before TV and modern life filled life with fluff. They would build this symbology into important objects as a means of teaching and to have something to talk about.

[eppur_se_muova]

20. Next Dem President should introduce a 2-cent coin ...

... w/MLKJ on the face.

[SunSeeker]

21. Well, just make it out of cheaper material then. But we need pennies for accurate payment and change.

Seems like a relatively easy fix.

[C0RI0LANUS]

22. 1) If the penny had Ronald Reagan on it, I bet Trumpf wouldn't have proposed this; 2) Felon Musk must want the metals.

Pennies are made primarily of zinc, with a copper coating comprising around 2.5% of the coin’s weight.

[mwooldri]

23. Next: The $1 bill.

Bank of England hasn't issued £1 notes since 1984. Royal Bank of Scotland stopped in 2001. Canada stopped their $1 note in 1989. There has never been a €1 note issued.

Also all these countries issue polymer banknotes now.

Why is the USA so far behind the times? One guess is that the feds want to preserve stability and trust so they only make incremental changes.

[Bengus81]

26. Going to end that silly ass .9 at the end of a gallon of gas too?

[Bengus81]

27. Big deal ass munch...more cover for your fucking Contract on Americans

[JohnnyRingo]

29. Before DJT is done we'll stop printing the dollar bill.

Although I'm all for ending pennies, it's a sign of inflation rendering them without value.
Trump's economic policy will certainly nail the coffin shut on the penny and perhaps make the nickel the throwaway coin.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

30. MaddowBlog-Trump's pennies order adds to list of legally dubious power grabs

Even if Trump's position on pennies has merit, what matters most is his willingness to make unilateral policy declarations outside of his authority.

2/ “Trump’s pennies order adds to list of legally dubious power grabs

Even if Trump's position on pennies has merit, what matters most is his willingness to make unilateral policy declarations outside of his authority.”

www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...

— @GottaLaff (@gottalaff.bsky.social) 2025-02-10T14:54:15.919Z

Link to tweet

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/trumps-pennies-order-adds-list-legally-dubious-power-grabs-rcna191445

When Donald Trump swore an oath to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States,” perhaps he brushed past this detail. The Associated Press reported:

President Donald Trump says he has directed the Treasury Department to stop minting new pennies, citing the rising cost of producing the one-cent coin. ... Trump had not discussed his desire to eliminate the penny during his campaign. But Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency raised the prospect in a post on X last month highlighting the penny’s cost.

As the Republican left New Orleans after watching the first half of the Super Bowl, he wrote to his social media platform, “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. Let’s rip the waste out of our great nations [sic] budget, even if it’s a penny at a time.”......

But whether one supports or opposes sticking with the penny is separate from the question of governmental power. Penny critics have spent recent years pressing lawmakers on this for the most obvious of reasons: It’s up to Congress to make decisions about U.S. currencies.

Even if Trump’s underlying position has merit — and it very well might — what arguably matters most in a situation like this isn’t about pennies, as much as it’s about the president unilaterally making a policy declaration outside of his authority.

In other words, presidential power-grabs matter, even if they’re in pursuit of worthwhile policy goals.

A New York magazine report added, “Like so many other things Trump has said or tried to do since retaking office, it’s not clear if he can legally [order the Treasury to stop making pennies]. It would probably require an act of Congress to fully discontinue the coin, since Congress dictates America’s currency specifications. But as with so many other things, Trump may just try to do it anyway.”

[BumRushDaShow]

33. He continues to proceed as if there is no "Article I" of the Constitution, only Article II

And specifically -

Article I

(snip)

Section 8.

The Congress shall have power

(snip)

To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights and measures;

To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities and current coin of the United States;

(snip)

https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/articlei

Our Mint here in Philly makes pennies (and other coins - all with the "P" mint mark) -



The current building is fairly "new" (opened in 1969) and I remember as a kid in middle school, when they would give us tours in there and we would get a bag of 50 pennies at the end of the tour!

In fact, the building that it used to be in just before the current was built, had itself been built in 1901, and was across the street from the middle/junior high school that I went to. It has "VNITED STATES MINT" carved across the top cornice (the building has been used by the Community College of Philadelphia since the mint operations moved) -



The 2 earlier buildings before the 1901 one have since been demolished -

Original -



2nd -



(sorry to throw all that in a reply to you - I grew up with that Mint and even worked with a guy at my agency who had worked there before moving to my lab at the time )

[LetMyPeopleVote]

31. West Wing Flashback-Elimination of the penny

trump's plan for the penny triggered a West Wing flashback for me

Link to tweet

[Deminpenn]

35. Trump has no idea how the US Mint works

The justification is that it costs 3 cents to make a 1 cent coin. But the Mint sells currency to the Treasury at face value, so while they "lose" money selling pennies, they make money when they sell the other coins at their face value.

This was explained to me by a former work colleague whose parent was a big mahof at the local US Mint.

[intrepidity]

37. Good point.

Curious now about the costs of the other denominations, including paper. Seems just 1 c-note would offset any coin deficit many times over.