U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Treasurer Brandon Beach will visit the Philadelphia Mint on Wednesday to oversee production of the final circulating one-cent coin or penny, each of which costs nearly 4 cents to produce, Treasury said.
U.S. President Donald Trump said in February he was ordering Treasury to halt what he called the “wasteful” minting of pennies, prompting gas stations, fast-food chains and big-box stores to adjust prices and round cash transactions.
Treasury said rising production costs and rapidly changing consumer habits and technology had made production of pennies “financially untenable” and unnecessary, noting that it now costs 3.69 cents to make each penny, up from 1.42 cents a decade ago.
