If enacted, the legislation would instruct the Treasury Department to stop producing pennies for ordinary circulation. The Mint could, however, continue producing limited quantities of pennies for collectors. Importantly, pennies already in Americans’ possession would remain legal tender and could still be used for purchases and other payments.
In one important sense, however, the penny’s production era has already ended.
The U.S. Mint conducted its ceremonial final strike of a circulating one-cent coin on November 12, 2025, officially closing a 232-year chapter in the production of the denomination. The Mint continues to produce collectible versions, but circulating pennies are no longer being manufactured.
The economics behind the decision are straightforward. Producing the smallest denomination eventually became substantially more expensive than the value stamped on the coin itself.
According to the U.S. Mint, the cost of producing a penny had climbed from 1.42 cents a decade earlier to approximately 3.69 cents per coin. The Mint has estimated that ending circulating penny production would save about $56 million annually in production costs.
“Today the Mint celebrates 232 years of penny manufacturing,” Acting Mint Director Kristie McNally said during the ceremonial final strike. “While general production concludes today, the penny’s legacy lives on.”
The Common Cents Act would essentially turn the existing administrative decision into permanent federal policy by placing the end of circulating penny production into law.
That would not mean the sudden disappearance of pennies from American wallets, cash registers or coin jars. The Mint estimates that roughly 300 billion pennies remain in circulation. Those coins can continue to be spent even though new circulating pennies are no longer being manufactured.
The legislation also tackles the practical question that could become increasingly important as the existing supply gradually declines: What happens when a cash purchase ends in an amount that cannot be paid exactly with available coins?
The proposed answer is standardized rounding.
When exact change cannot be provided, qualifying cash transactions would be rounded to the nearest five cents. Amounts ending in 1, 2, 6 or 7 cents would generally move downward, while totals ending in 3, 4, 8 or 9 cents would move upward. Transactions already ending in zero or five cents would remain unchanged.
The rounding system would apply to cash transactions rather than every form of payment. Customers paying with credit cards, debit cards, checks, electronic transfers and other non-cash methods would continue to be charged to the exact cent. Businesses that have pennies available could also continue giving exact change.
The proposal does not stop with the penny.
The House-passed legislation would also give the Treasury Department additional flexibility regarding the composition of the nickel. A less expensive material could potentially be used if testing demonstrates that the change would reduce manufacturing costs without causing significant problems for vending machines and other equipment that handles coins.
The nickel itself presents a similar cost challenge. The U.S. Mint reported that the nickel’s production cost exceeded its five-cent face value in fiscal year 2025, with a unit cost of 13.31 cents.
Another major component of the legislation concerns the enormous number of pennies that are already out there.
The Federal Reserve would be tasked with developing a national transition strategy addressing the continued collection, deposit and circulation of existing pennies. The bill also establishes reporting requirements concerning the nation’s coin-distribution system.
The legislation is also designed to look beyond the immediate mechanics of cash rounding. Its provisions call for consideration of how the transition could affect consumers who rely more heavily on cash, including lower-income Americans, older consumers and people who have limited access to traditional banking services.
Congress has been working on penny legislation through separate House and Senate measures.
The Senate previously advanced its own version of the Common Cents Act, S. 1525. That legislation similarly sought to end circulating penny production, preserve the penny as legal tender and establish rules for rounding cash transactions.
The House subsequently passed H.R. 10167 on September 14. The Senate received the House measure on September 15 and referred it to the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee.
That means the penny’s fate is not yet completely settled.
Despite the House vote, another step remains before the legislation could reach President Donald Trump. Because the House and Senate have worked on different versions of the legislation, Congress must still complete the necessary legislative process before a final bill can be sent to the White House.
For Americans, the change would likely be gradual rather than dramatic. Pennies already in circulation would remain legal tender, and the coins would not suddenly become worthless. But if Congress ultimately sends the Common Cents Act to the president and it becomes law, the United States would be formally moving away from a coin that has been part of American commerce since the earliest days of the republic.
After more than two centuries, the penny may be entering its final chapter—not because Americans can no longer use it, but because the federal government has determined that continuing to manufacture it no longer makes economic sense.
