The Brief History of the Penny, a Heartfelt Farewell, And What America Thinks About It

It looks like the penny’s luck has officially run out. After 232 years, the U.S. Mint produced the last penny on Nov. 12, 2025. The end of the penny raises several questions. Without it, what will you give someone for their thoughts? What will any of us pick up to have good luck? And what will go into penny presses in amusement parks and boardwalks across the country?

In all seriousness, this move by President Donald Trump shouldn’t come as a huge shock. After all, the penny cost more to produce than it was worth. But the loss still hits home for many Americans. In a new The Penny Hoarder survey of U.S. adults conducted the day after the final penny was minted, more than half said they feel sad or disappointed to see it go. That’s just proof that this tiny coin still carries a lot of emotional weight.

So what does the end of the penny mean for the American economy, how did we get here and how will it impact your wallet?

Our Eulogy for the Penny

We gather today to mourn a small but mighty friend, one who jingled loyally in our pockets, slept forgotten in our couch cushions and winked up at us from the pavement like a copper reminder that luck was always worth picking up.

The U.S. Mint has spoken: The penny is no more.

And we are not OK.

Sure, some will say it’s time. That inflation has turned the penny into little more than a nuisance, a relic of an era when “a cent” meant something. But who among us hasn’t worn down a bit over the years, and you don’t see anyone melting us down for parts.

The penny wasn’t just currency. It was character. It was humility in a world obsessed with paper and plastic. It was the underdog of the economy, and somehow it still carried the face of Abraham Lincoln, a man who knew a thing or two about endurance.

Oh, the indignities you endured, dear penny. We ignored you at gas stations. We sneered when a cashier handed you back in change. We tossed you in jars, dumped you in drive-thru trays, and left you to tarnish in the sun. And yet, you stayed—steadfast, gleaming, loyal. You were our copper conscience.

You taught us value in the smallest things. You taught kids to count, taught charities that small change can make a big difference, taught us to hope for luck if only we’d take a second to stoop.

And now, they tell us it’s “more efficient” without you. As if efficiency ever bought anyone a moment of nostalgia. As if rounding to the nearest nickel could replace the sacred ritual of exact change.

“A penny for your thoughts,” we used to say. Now what? A Venmo request for your opinions? Or maybe a 1.5% cash back offer if you think really hard? Try picking up credit card reward points off the ground and see if that brings you any luck.

Still, we like to believe you’re not gone, just retired. Maybe you’re off somewhere sunny, lounging by a pool of water instead of resting at the bottom of one. Maybe you’re at peace knowing you’ll live forever in idioms, in our sayings, and in the faint copper smell of our youth.

Rest easy, penny. You were never worthless to us, just underappreciated.

— The Penny Hoarder staff

Survey Snapshot: 57% of Americans say they’re sad to see the penny go — proving that sentiment still outweighs practicality.

What do Americans Think About the Death of the Penny?

We surveyed Americans to understand how people really feel about losing the country’s smallest (and most controversial) coin. The data shows a country torn between nostalgia, indifference, and total “good riddance.”

Public Sentiment

• 33.2% of Americans say they’re “very sad — it’s the end of an era.”
• 24% are “a little disappointed.”
• In total, 57% express sadness or disappointment over the penny’s retirement.
• Only 16.2% are happy or thrilled to see it go.
• 26.6% say they’re neutral — it doesn’t matter to them either way.

What People Plan to Do With Their Pennies

• 40.8% plan to keep them as collectibles.
• 34.6% will cash them in for money.
• 14.4% will store them in jars or containers.
• 4.2% plan to give them away or donate them.
• Only 1.4% said they’ll throw them out.

How Recently People Used Pennies

• 37.6% used a penny within the past week.
• 20.6% used one within the past month.
• 15.6% within the past year.
• 15.8% haven’t used one in more than a year.
• 10.4% can’t even remember the last time they used a penny.

Penny Habits and Attitudes

• 47.6% usually save pennies in jars or piggy banks.
• 30.8% spend them eventually.
• 11.4% dump them in drawers, purses, or consoles.
• 9% leave them in “take a penny, leave a penny” cups.
• Only 1.2% get rid of them immediately.

Have You Ever Thrown a Penny Away?

• 19.6% admit they’ve thrown pennies away many times.
• 11.2% have done it once.
• 11.4% thought about it but didn’t.
• 34.6% say they never throw them out and keep or use them.
• 23.2% say “absolutely not — it feels wrong.”

Ease of Everyday Purchases Without the Penny

• 39.8% say it’ll make no difference in daily life.
• 26.4% think it’ll make purchases easier.
• 33.8% expect it to make things a little or much harder.

Should Other Coins Go Too?

• 71.4% say “no — keep the rest.”
• 6.4% think the nickel should go next.
• 4.4% would retire the dime.
• 3% would retire the quarter.
• 4.4% say retire all coins.
• 10.4% are unsure.

Loose Change at Home

• 31.4% have $10–$50 in loose change.
• 30% have $1–$10.
• 13.6% have $50–$100.
• 13.6% have more than $100.
• 5.8% have less than $1.
• 5.2% have no idea.

When People Last Rolled or Cashed Coins

• 47.8% did it more than a year ago.
• 27.6% did it within the past year.
• 14.6% did it within the past month.
• 6.4% say they’ve never done it.

Impact on Spending from Rounding Prices

• 42% say rounding won’t affect them at all.
• 18% think they’ll spend more.
• 14.6% think they’ll spend less.
• 18.2% worry businesses will always round up.
• 7.2% are unsure.

What Americans Will Miss Most

• 43.2% say they’ll miss using the penny for exact change.
• 17.6% will miss coin-jar savings.
• 10.6% will miss luck and superstition.
• 10.4% will miss the nostalgia.
• 9.8% say they’ll miss nothing — good riddance.
• 5% will miss collecting them.
• 3.4% say they’ll miss Lincoln’s face.

The Origin of the Penny

The penny is actually very old as a concept. The origins of a universally valued coin can be traced to the Denier, which was minted by Pepin the Short, the King of Francia and father of Charlemagne, around 755 AD. From there the concept was borrowed by King Offa of Mercia, a part of modern-day England, where the term penny was first, pardon the phrase, coined.

Fast forward a thousand years later, and the penny as a term has been used by the British to refer to the smallest denomination of their currency for a very long time. It was a concept that, unlike tea, Americans did not throw overboard when the revolution came and went. The U.S. Mint first produced American pennies in 1793. After depicting Lady Liberty, eagles and Native Americans for over a century, the penny’s current face, showing Abraham Lincoln, was set in 1909. Barring a few changes in the composition of zinc and copper, the penny has been mostly unchanged to this day. 

Why the End of the Penny?

What caused the demise of the penny? In a word: Money. (Ironic, right?)

According to the U.S. Mint, pennies cost 3.69 cents to produce per penny. A significant portion of the American public doesn’t even end up using these newly minted pennies. The average number of times an American paid with cash in a month decreased 50% from 2016 to 2023. Halting the production of the penny is expected to save taxpayers about $56 million a year.  

The United States isn’t the only country abandoning its penny. Canada stopped producing their pennies in 2012. Australia stopped minting pennies in 1991, as did New Zealand in 1988.

So that’s the argument in a nutshell. Pennies cost more money to make than they add to the economy. Plus, economists are reasonably certain they can be phased out of the economy with few negative effects.

What Happens Next?

The average American likely won’t notice a difference and will still be using pennies. They are still legal tender and can be used to make purchases. 

They won’t be completely out of our lives for a very long time. Once circulation slows, pennies likely will be sent back to the Treasury to be melted down, which is what Canada did. Given that there are currently 250 billion pennies circulating in the American economy, it will be a slow decline for the humble penny.

Without pennies, the cost of your purchases may be rounded up or down to the closest five-cent denomination, which will either cost more for you or for the business selling that product or service. In fact, some businesses have already started doing this because of a lack of pennies. If you pay with a credit or debit card, your purchase will be charged the same as always. In the long run, the government, and therefore taxpayers, will save millions of dollars a year.

There is also a movement to get rid of the nickel. The cost deficit is even greater for them, according to the U.S. Mint, tracked at 13.8 cents for every nickel. Some even argue that, without pennies, the demand for the nickel as the new smallest denomination of U.S. coin will increase, costing the taxpayers even more money. 

For any concerned coin collectors out there, rest easy: dimes and quarters still cost less to produce than what they add to the economy, so they are not on the chopping block. 

That little glint of copper on the sidewalk that portends good fortune may soon be gone, but hundreds of millions, if not billions, of taxpayer dollars may be saved.

What to Do With Your Pennies

If you have an abundance of these copper coins, what should you do with them? Using them at businesses with a change shortage would be helpful to business owners. You also have several options for turning them into paper bills:

• Take them to your bank (help out your bank teller by pre-rolling them in coin paper)
• Bring them to a credit union 
• Use Coinstar, although it typically charges fees
• Go to a Publix — the grocery store chain has coin-sorting machines and you can redeem your coins for cash

Save More of Your Money — Even With the End of the Penny

Regardless of the potential end of the penny and literal penny hoarding, it never hurts to boost your savings. If you’re stuck on how you can save more money on an already tight budget, we can help. We compiled some of our favorite ways to save money below.

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William Fewox has worked as a freelance writer since 2017, and his work is featured in literary magazines such as The Aquarian, The Navigator and The Historian.