Does it make sense to get rid of cents? President Donald Trump ordered U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent to stop the production of new pennies on Monday as part of his campaign against government waste, citing the penny’s production cost, which exceeds its value.

“For far too long the United States has minted pennies which literally cost us more than 2 cents. 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 [sic] budget, even if it’s a penny at a time,” said President Trump on Truth Social.

Currently, a single penny costs 3.69 cents to produce and distribute, nearly four times the value of the coin, meaning that the U.S. government, and by extension the American taxpayers, lose 2.69 cents with every penny minted.

The U.S. minted over 3.2 billion pennies in 2024, resulting in a net loss to American taxpayers of roughly $86 million.

According to USA Today, only Congress has the authority to discontinue pennies, though it remains to be seen whether Trump’s order will face legal challenges.

The end of penny production could impact on cash payments, ultimately leaving businesses unable to provide the exact change for cash payments requiring any number of cents that is not a multiple of five — or to adjust their pricing incrementally.

While a 2019 poll suggested the majority of Americans favor holding onto the penny, it remains to be seen whether putting a stop to the minting of new pennies will have much impact on peoples’ pockets or opinions about the one cent coin.