The United States has stopped producing pennies – one-cent coins.
The ceremony for striking the last one-cent coins took place on Wednesday in Philadelphia at the world's largest mint, although the last pennies for public circulation were actually produced back in July, The Philadelphia Inquirer reports.
The U.S. government has been producing pennies in Philadelphia since 1793, when the city was the capital of the country.
The main reason for discontinuing the minting of pennies is its unprofitability due to inflation and changes in payment methods. The coin costs 3.69 cents to produce, which is more than its face value.
The cessation of production is expected to save about $56 million a year, according to estimates from the U.S. Treasury. There are about 300 billion one-cent coins in circulation, and they remain legal tender.
The decision to stop producing pennies was made by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessen at the direction of President Donald Trump, who called for an end to the production of unprofitable coins last winter. U.S. Treasury Chief Brandon Beach called it "common-sense policy" to align currency with modern usage.
The last time the U.S. discontinued a small denomination coin – the half-cent – was back in 1857, nearly 170 years ago.
