After more than two centuries, the United States has stopped making pennies for circulation. The final circulating cents were struck in a ceremony at the Philadelphia Mint on November 12, 2025, with US Treasurer Brandon Beach striking the last coin. Here is what that means for the pennies already in your pocket.
Why the penny was discontinued
The simple reason is cost. According to the US Mint's annual reports, each cent cost well over its face value to make and distribute (about 3.7 cents in fiscal year 2024), so every penny struck lost money. The cent was also barely used: many people no longer carried change and stores increasingly accepted cards.
Are pennies still legal tender?
Yes. Ending production does not demonetize the coin. An estimated 300 billion pennies remain in circulation and you can still spend them, deposit them at a bank or roll them. Prices can still be set in whole cents; card and electronic payments are unaffected.
The last pennies
The final circulating cents are Lincoln Shield cents dated 2025: 655,200,000 were struck in Philadelphia and 645,200,000 in Denver. That is still a huge number, so ordinary 2025 cents are not rare. The Mint has said it will continue to strike small quantities of numismatic cents for collector sets.
Which pennies are worth keeping?
- Copper cents dated 1982 and earlier. They are 95% copper and weigh 3.11 g, containing about 2.95 g of copper, against 2.5 g for a mostly-zinc modern cent. Melting them is illegal, but many collectors set them aside.
- Wheat cents (1909 to 1958). Most are worth a little more than face, but several dates are valuable. See wheat pennies worth money.
- Key dates and errors such as the 1909-S VDB, the 1955 doubled die, the 1969-S and 1972 doubled dies and the 1982 copper and zinc varieties.
- The 2017-P cent (the only Lincoln cent with a P mint mark) and original uncirculated rolls from the final years, which some collectors are setting aside.
How to check your pennies quickly
Sort by date, then weigh anything dated 1982 (3.11 g is copper, 2.5 g is zinc). Check wheat cents for the D and S mint marks. Then look closely at 1955, 1969-S, 1972, 1983, 1984 and 1995 cents for doubled lettering. Our coin weight tool can count pennies by weight if you have a lot of them.
A short history of the American cent
The cent was one of the first coins the United States Mint struck for circulation, in 1793. Those early large cents were pure copper and noticeably larger than a modern quarter. In 1857 Congress abolished the half cent and replaced the large cent with a smaller coin, starting with the copper-nickel Flying Eagle cent. The Indian Head cent followed in 1859 and switched to bronze in 1864. In 1909 the Lincoln cent became the first regular US coin to show a real person, marking the centennial of Lincoln's birth.
The Lincoln cent then carried four different reverses: the wheat ears of 1909 to 1958, the Lincoln Memorial of 1959 to 2008, four Bicentennial designs in 2009 marking scenes from Lincoln's life and the Union Shield from 2010 to 2025. Its metal changed too, from bronze to wartime steel and shell-case brass, back to bronze, then to brass and finally to copper-plated zinc in 1982.
What other countries did
The United States is not the first country to stop making its smallest coin. Canada struck its last cent in May 2012 and stopped distributing them in February 2013. Australia withdrew its one and two cent coins in 1992 and New Zealand did the same in 1990. In Canada, cash totals are rounded to the nearest five cents: amounts ending in 1 or 2 round down, 3 or 4 round up to 5, 6 or 7 round down to 5 and 8 or 9 round up. Card and electronic payments are still charged to the exact cent. Canadian cents remain legal tender, just as US cents do.
What to do with a jar of pennies
Before anything else, sort out the coins worth keeping, using the checklist in this guide. Then decide how to cash in the rest. Banks and credit unions often accept rolled coins from their customers. Fifty cents make a roll and many banks ask you to write your account number on each wrapper. Coin-counting kiosks in stores take loose coins but often charge a fee unless you choose a gift card. Charities and school coin drives also welcome pennies. To estimate how many you have without counting, weigh the jar and use the coin weight tool, which works out the count for copper and zinc cents separately.
Will pennies become valuable now that they have stopped?
Not ordinary ones. Hundreds of billions remain in circulation and in jars, so a common Lincoln cent will not become scarce for a very long time. The coins that stand out will be the ones that already stood out: copper cents, key dates, errors and coins in exceptional condition. The last years of production may attract more interest from collectors putting together complete Lincoln Shield sets, but those coins were made in huge numbers. Coins kept in original Mint packaging or bank-wrapped rolls stay in the best condition, which is what usually matters most for modern coins.
The nickel faces the same problem
The five-cent nickel also costs the Mint more than its face value to make, according to the Mint's annual reports, because of the price of its copper and nickel alloy. The nickel has kept the same 5 gram weight and 75% copper, 25% nickel alloy since 1866, apart from the wartime silver nickels of 1942 to 1945.
Frequently asked questions
When was the first US penny made?
In 1793 at the Philadelphia Mint. The first cents were large copper coins, bigger than a modern quarter.
Did Canada get rid of the penny?
Yes. Canada stopped distributing its cent in February 2013 and rounds cash totals to the nearest five cents.
Are 2025 pennies rare because they were the last?
No. More than a billion 2025 cents were struck at Philadelphia and Denver, so ordinary examples are common. Only errors and exceptional examples stand out.