Common cents: US Mint to press its final penny

"The US Mint in Philadelphia is set to strike its last circulating penny on Wednesday as Donald Trump has canceled the one-cent coin. The US president has ordered its demise as costs climb to nearly four cents per penny and the one-cent valuation becomes somewhat obsolete. The US Mint has been making pennies in Philadelphia since 1793, a year after Congress passed the Coinage Act."

"For far too long the United States has minted pennies which literally cost us more than 2 cents, Trump wrote in an online post in February, as costs continued to climb. This is so wasteful! Still, many people have a nostalgia for them, seeing them as lucky or fun to collect. And some retailers have voiced concerns in recent weeks as supplies ran low and the last production neared."

"Over the last century, about half of the coins made at US Mints in Philadelphia and Denver have been pennies. The treasury department expects to save $56m per year on materials by ceasing to make them. But they still have a better production-cost-to-value ratio than the nickel, which costs nearly 14 cents to make. The diminutive dime, by comparison, costs less than six cents to produce and the quarter nearly 15"

The US Mint in Philadelphia will strike its last circulating penny after the president ordered the end of the one-cent coin because production costs near four cents. Pennies have been minted there since 1793 and billions remain in circulation despite limited usefulness for modern transactions. Retailers reported shortages and an abrupt phase-out led to ad-hoc responses—rounding prices, requesting exact change, offering incentives—while banks began rationing supplies. The Treasury expects to save $56m annually on materials by halting production, though the penny's production-cost-to-value ratio remains better than the nickel. A dime costs under six cents to produce; the nickel nearly 14 cents and the quarter nearly 15.

Read at www.theguardian.com