When President Donald Trump announced the discontinuation of the penny in February, responses ranged from a resounding “meh” to borderline celebration.
Outside circles of nostalgics, dedicated hobbyists, and amateur numismatists, nobody really cared. Nobody shed a tear. The only negative word anyone could muster typically came in the form of a couple of lines from commentators wondering what this would mean for disenfranchised individuals, namely the elderly and impecunious, unfortunate enough to find themselves using physical currency in the 21st century.
And, to a large extent, such indifference, if not casual approval, is understandable. Practically speaking, the number of people who still use cash with any regularity, although not strictly limited to the elderly and the poor, is declining. Meanwhile, even those who do use it seldom use change and almost certainly never use pennies.
Moreover, there has long been a perennial complaint and indisputable bit of trivia that pennies cost more to make than they are actually worth, meaning if penny production were a business, it would be a failure. For those wondering about fun facts for trivia night, according to a 2024 report by U.S. Mint, America’s one-cent coin actually costs $3.69 to produce. Thus, for fiscal conservatives, the end of the penny is a much-needed cut to what seems like obvious government waste. Some are even now looking to nix the nickel. Once more, for trivia night, our five-cent coin costs a whopping $13.78 to make.
However, the elimination of the penny is not without its downsides, which should have been obvious to anyone who bothered to think this through. Namely, the loss of the penny makes maintaining a working cash system less tenable and less desirable.
If you have a monetary system in which the smallest meaningful unit of value equals one cent, but the smallest available piece of currency is five times that, or perhaps 10 if the nickel nixers get their way, your monetary system no longer works, or at least doesn’t allow for a workable cash system without placing a penalty on cash transactions.
Subsequently, given the absence of official guidance on how to cope with this latest development, which may still require final approval by Congress, many retailers now report uncertainty over how to manage cash transactions.
As penny purgers blithely have suggested, businesses can round such transactions up or down, while whichever party is on the losing end can simply shrug off the loss. Yet, in practice, customers might feel a little cheated, while businesses might be reluctant to lose money every time a customer pays in cash.
THE PENNY IS GOING AWAY IN EARLY 2026: WHAT IT MEANS FOR YOU AND YOUR ONE-CENT COINS
Consequently, some businesses have started limiting cash transactions to exact change. My local Panera has signage asking customers to refrain from using cash unless absolutely necessary. Alternatively, others might opt for a cashless system altogether. During my most recent trip to my local AMC, I was informed by an employee that the chain had taken this route, possibly due to the discontinuation of the penny. However, AMC has not responded to my email requesting confirmation.
And, even though some countries have seemingly extirpated their penny equivalents without going completely cashless, this option might be the most reasonable choice for most businesses, barring the penny’s resurrection or legislation requiring them to accept cash. However, before we allow ourselves to be nudged closer to becoming a cashless society, perhaps it’s worth considering what this means: more surveillance, coupled with the possibility that one’s ability to engage in basic financial transactions can be shut off. Hence, perhaps before we allow the penny to fade into history, it’s worth rethinking the costs of its disappearance.
Daniel Nuccio is an independent journalist and a spring 2026 College Fix fellow. He is a regular contributor to the College Fix and the Brownstone Institute. He earned his doctorate in biology in 2025.