The saying “a penny for your thoughts” could soon become obsolete.
That is because President Donald Trump has told Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to stop making pennies because of production cost.
“For far too long the United States has minted pennies which literally cost us more than 2 cents,” Trump announced with a post on Truth Social. “This is so wasteful! I have instructed my Secretary of the US Treasury to stop producing new pennies. Let’s rip the waste out of our great nations budget, even if it’s a penny at a time.”
The penny has been under fire for years, with the movement to eliminate the penny picking up steam last month after Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency posted on X calling attention to the high cost of producing the single-cent coin.
“The penny costs over 3 cents to make and cost US taxpayers over $179 million in FY2023,” the DOGE posted last month.
“The Mint produced over 4.5 billion pennies in FY2023, around 40% of the 11.4 billion coins for circulation produced,” the post continued.
“Penny (or 3 cents!) for your thoughts,” it concluded.
Last year, a New York Times Magazine article said abolishing the penny was a “necessity.”
“The necessity of abolishing the penny has been obvious to those in power for so long that the inability to accomplish it has transformed the coin into a symbol of deeper rot,” per the article.
X users posted a variety of opinions on the matter:
Love it-getting us out of debt a penny at a time
— Maryann Crook (@MaryannCrook13) February 10, 2025
President Trump just cancelled production of the penny.
— Paul A. Szypula
He should do the same for the nickel.
People have been calling for this for many years.
In this CBS Sunday Morning story from 9 years ago, they pointed out the absurdity of paying more to make coins than they’re worth. pic.twitter.com/MJRXQIeV1L(@Bubblebathgirl) February 10, 2025
