The penny, a staple of US currency since since 1793, costs more than 3 cents to make, costing the government a net loss of $85 million, per the US Mint’s 2024 annual report, making it a target for the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency.

A machine operator transports penny blanks at the United States Mint in Philadelphia. Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg

But the humble coin’s biggest proponents — including Abraham Lincoln aficionados and the company, Artazn, which makes the penny blanks in Tennessee, argue there’s little — if any — savings to be gained.

“You’re not saving money by doing this,” said Mark Weller, who lobbies for Artazn and is also executive director of advocacy group Americans for Common Cents. Weller argued more people would use nickels, which cost nearly 14 cents a piece to make, helping to negate any savings.

Killing the penny is an idea that goes back to at least 1989 but has long been considered more of a quirky policy proposal than an earnest cost-cutting maneuver. In 2001, it was featured on an episode of the TV show West Wing.

The late Senator John McCainled a failed effort in 2017 to stop minting pennies, which are used less and less in commerce as the popularity of credit cards and digital payments has grown.

The government warned, however, that if Americans returned all of their unused pennies — a number that now may exceed 200 billion — they could overwhelm storage facilities, and that could cost, well, a lot of pennies.

Inflation Signal

Weller warned that eliminating the penny sends “absolutely the wrong signal” for the new administration, particularly on the hot button issue of inflation.

“It’s almost like that’s waving the white flag in the face of inflation,” Weller said.

There’s also the potential to drive up overhead and production costs for other coins by taking the penny out of production, Weller said.

Coils of metal, which will be turned into US nickels, at the US Mint in Philadelphia. Photographer: Scott Eells/Bloomberg

Weller suggested the administration save money instead by changing the nickel’s composition to use more zinc — the metal his client produces. That move, however, could set off a coin-eat-coin lobbying fight, unless Trump nukes nickels, too, to save even more money.

The penny is a copper-plated zinc coin.

Purse Power

Then there’s the obstacle of constitutional authority, with Congress granted the power to regulate US currency value and production. Still, the Treasury secretary does have discretion to mint the amount he considers “necessary.”

There’s precedent for Treasury acting to stop the minting of coins, including a 2011 order to halt mass production of dollar coins. And the US has gotten rid of coins in the past. In the 19th Century, the US abolished 2-, 3- and 20-cent coins, along with a half-cent piece, among other changes.

It’s not clear yet if lawmakers will push back on Trump’s penny move, which could affect jobs in Tennessee, North Carolina, Denver and Philadelphia.

Joni Ernst, the senator from Iowa and co-chair of the new Senate “DOGE Caucus” named for the Musk-helmed effort, had sponsored legislation authorizing changing the metallic makeup of coins to save money, but not to eliminate coins outright.