Post by @project_shadow_us

The last U.S. penny was just minted — and your change jar is now a history lesson…Follow for more insightful posts. For the first time in over 230 years, the U.S. Mint has stopped producing new one-cent coins. The final pennies were pressed at the Philadelphia Mint on November 12, 2025, ending a run that began with early copper cents in the 1780s and the first official one-cent piece in 1793. Treasury officials say the math no longer works. It now costs about 3.69 cents to make a single penny, and the Mint lost more than $85 million on penny production in 2024 alone. In an age of cards, apps, and tap-to-pay, the smallest coin in U.S. currency has become a budget leak. The Trump administration argues the move is about cutting waste “a penny at a time,” as cash use declines and digital payments dominate daily life. Supporters point to the savings and efficiency; critics worry about rounding prices, low-income cash users, and the psychological impact of losing the coin that once defined “every cent counts.” Still, the penny isn’t dead in your wallet. More than 300 billion pennies will remain legal tender, and businesses can keep accepting them. A special final batch, marked with an “Omega,” won’t enter circulation and will instead be auctioned to collectors. From Fugio cents made of old powder-keg bands to Lincoln’s profile added in 1909, the penny has tracked America’s shift from metal money to digital wallets — and turned your spare change into a tiny economic history book and a real-time case study in how policy, costs, and culture collide. Credit: U.S. Mint reports #news #usnews #economy #PersonalFinance #moneymatters