The United States wouldn't be the first country to eliminate the coin, Turco said. Canada, for example, decided to phase out its penny in 2012. In the U.S., the Department of Defense stopped using pennies at its overseas bases in 1980 because it became too expensive to ship them.

Online chatter has lots of folks looking at their caches of coins hoping to find Lincoln wheat pennies that they unrealistically hope are priceless.

The Treasury just placed its final order of penny blanks, all of which are expected to be minted by early 2026. Eliminating the penny has been a bipartisan issue for years, as each coin costs nearly f

A penny saved was a penny earned. A penny bought your thoughts. A penny was pretty. A penny was pinched. A penny might even be hiding in your loafer. There won’t be as much of that anymore. The Treasury Department said on Thursday that it was phasing out the penny.

In a cost-cutting move, the U.S. Treasury will stop minting new pennies. Originally introduced in 1793, the one-cent coins will still be legal tender. There are more than 100 billion pennies in circulation.

That can lead to coins like the 1943 Lincoln bronze cent, which was made out of bronze in error. It should have been made out of zinc-coated steel, with the Mint having stopped using bronze which was needed for the war effort. Around 20 bronze Lincoln cents have been discovered, with the most expensive being sold for $1.7 million.