Editing Penny (United States coin) (section)

==Criticism of continued use==
===Proposals to eliminate===
{{Main|Penny debate in the United States}}
{{Also|Canadian penny|Australian one-cent coin}}

It has been suggested that the penny should be eliminated as a unit of currency for several reasons.  {{As of|2024}}, about a quarter trillion pennies are estimated to be in circulation, or more than 700 pennies for each person in the United States.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Weaver |first=Caity |date=1 September 2024 |title=America Must Free Itself from the Tyranny of the Penny |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/01/magazine/worthless-pennies-united-states-economy.html |work=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref>  Most Americans do not actually spend pennies, but rather only receive them in change and proceed to store them at home, or perhaps return them to a bank for higher denomination currencies, or cash them in at [[Coin counter|coin counting kiosks]].<ref name=":0" /> Most modern vending machines do not accept pennies, further diminishing their utility.{{Citation needed|date=June 2024}} In addition, the production cost now exceeds the face value of the coin, caused by increasing inflation.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hagenbaugh |first=Barbara |date=May 9, 2006 |title=Coins cost more to make than face value |url=https://www.usatoday.com/money/2006-05-09-penny-usat_x.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090307031235/http://www.usatoday.com/money/2006-05-09-penny-usat_x.htm |archive-date=March 7, 2009 |access-date=October 4, 2006 |work=[[USA Today]]}}</ref> 

In 2001 and 2006, for example, [[United States House of Representatives|United States Representative]] [[Jim Kolbe]] (R) of [[Arizona]] introduced bills which would have stopped production of pennies (in 2001, the [[Legal Tender Modernization Act]], and in 2006, the Currency Overhaul for an Industrious Nation [COIN] Act).<ref>{{Cite news |last=Zappone |first=Christian |date=July 18, 2006 |title=Kill-the-penny bill introduced |url=https://money.cnn.com/2006/07/18/news/penny/index.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190728021810/https://money.cnn.com/2006/07/18/news/penny/index.htm |archive-date=July 28, 2019 |access-date=July 28, 2019 |work=[[CNN]]}}</ref>

In anticipation of the business of melting down U.S. pennies and U.S. nickels for profit, the U.S. Mint, which is a part of the [[US Department of the Treasury]], implemented new regulations<ref>{{Cite web |title=United States Mint Moves to Limit Exportation & Melting of Coins |url=https://www.usmint.gov/news/press-releases/20061214-united-states-mint-moves-to-limit-exportation-melting-of-coins |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180708091846/https://www.usmint.gov/news/press-releases/20061214-united-states-mint-moves-to-limit-exportation-melting-of-coins |archive-date=July 8, 2018 |access-date=July 20, 2011 |publisher=Usmint.gov}}</ref> on December 14, 2006, which criminalize the melting of pennies and nickels and place limits on export of the coins. Violators can be punished with a fine of up to $10,000 [[United States dollar|USD]], imprisoned for a maximum of five years, or both.<ref>{{Cite web |title=CFR 2010 title31 vol1 part82 |url=http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CFR-2010-title31-vol1/pdf/CFR-2010-title31-vol1-part82.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150930033145/http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CFR-2010-title31-vol1/pdf/CFR-2010-title31-vol1-part82.pdf |archive-date=September 30, 2015 |access-date=January 5, 2013 |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office}}</ref>

In 2017, Senators [[John McCain]] (R-AZ) and [[Mike Enzi]] (R-WY) introduced S. 759, the Currency Optimization, Innovation, and National Savings (C.O.I.N.S.) Act of 2017, that would stop minting of the penny for 10 years and would study the question of whether production could cease thereafter. The bill died at the end of the 115th Congress with no hearings held by the [[United States Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs|Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=March 29, 2017 |title=S.759 - 115th Congress (2017-2018): Currency Optimization, Innovation, and National Savings Act of 2017 |url=https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/senate-bill/759}}</ref>

On February 9, 2025, President Trump said he instructed [[Scott Bessent]], the [[United States Secretary of the Treasury|secretary of the Treasury]], to halt production of the penny, citing its high production costs. However, Congress, not the president, authorizes the Treasury on what coins to mint.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Klein |first=Betsy |date=February 9, 2025 |title=Trump says he's instructed the Treasury to halt penny production |url=https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/trump-doge-usaid-news-02-09-25#cm6yd9c61001m3b6no8ip8cc3 |access-date=February 9, 2025 |publisher=[[CNN]]}}</ref> On April 30, 2025, Representatives [[Lisa McClain]] (R-MI) and [[Robert Garcia (California congressman)|Robert Garcia]] (D-CA) introduced the Common Cents Act, a bill to eliminate the penny and round cash transactions to the nearest [[nickel]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Semyon |first=Cassie |date=April 30, 2025 |title='Common Cents Act' aims to stop U.S. from minting pennies |url=https://spectrumlocalnews.com/mo/st-louis/politics/2025/04/30/common-cents-act--aims-to-stop-u-s--from-minting-pennies |url-status=live |access-date=May 13, 2025 |website=Spectrum News}}</ref>

===Metal content and manufacturing costs===
The price of metal drives the cost to manufacture a cent. The Secretary of the Treasury has authority to alter the percentage of copper and zinc in the one-cent coin if needed due to cost fluctuations.<ref name="United States Mint" /> For years, the Mint's production and shipping costs for cents have exceeded the face value of the coin (the Mint's fixed costs and overhead, however, are absorbed by other circulating coins).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Staff |date=April 17, 2012 |title=Statement of Rodney J. Bosco Navigant Consulting, Inc. on "The Future of Money: Coin Production"" Before the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Domestic Policy & Technology United States House of Representatives – April 17, 2012 |url=http://financialservices.house.gov/uploadedfiles/hhrg-112-ba19-wstate-rbosco-20120417.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120916062843/http://financialservices.house.gov/uploadedfiles/hhrg-112-ba19-wstate-rbosco-20120417.pdf |archive-date=September 16, 2012 |access-date=September 10, 2012 |publisher=[[U.S. Congress]]}}</ref> As a result, the U.S. Treasury loses tens of millions of dollars every year producing cents. For example, the loss in 2013 was $55 million.<ref name="news.coinupdate.com" />

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: right;"
|+Cost to manufacture and distribute a penny, in cents
!Fiscal year
!2010 <ref name="United States Mint">{{Cite web |last=United States Mint |author-link=United States Mint |date=December 4, 2010 |title=U.S. Mint 2010 Annual Report |url=http://www.usmint.gov/downloads/about/annual_report/2010AnnualReport.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110514064318/http://www.usmint.gov/downloads/about/annual_report/2010AnnualReport.pdf |archive-date=May 14, 2011 |access-date=January 16, 2011}}</ref> 
!2011
!2012<ref>{{Cite web |last=Unser |first=Mike |date=May 24, 2019 |title=Penny Costs 2.06 Cents to Make in 2018, Nickel Costs 7.53 Cents; US Mint Realizes $321.1M in Seigniorage |url=https://www.coinnews.net/2019/05/24/penny-costs-2-06-cents-to-make-in-2018/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200712021139/https://www.coinnews.net/2019/05/24/penny-costs-2-06-cents-to-make-in-2018/ |archive-date=July 12, 2020 |access-date=July 11, 2020 |website=Coin News |language=en-US}}</ref>
!2013 <ref name="news.coinupdate.com">{{Cite web |date=January 20, 2014 |title=US Mint Cost To Make Penny and Nickel Declines in FY 2013 |url=http://news.coinupdate.com/us-mint-cost-to-make-cent-and-nickel-declines-3113/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190428121222/http://news.coinupdate.com/us-mint-cost-to-make-cent-and-nickel-declines-3113/ |archive-date=April 28, 2019 |access-date=January 21, 2014}}</ref>
!2014 <ref>{{Cite web |title=About &#124; U.S. Mint |url=http://www.usmint.gov/about_the_mint/PDFs/2014-rd-biennial-report.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170414013850/https://www.usmint.gov/about_the_mint/PDFs/2014-rd-biennial-report.pdf |archive-date=April 14, 2017 |access-date=April 24, 2018 |publisher=Usmint.gov}}</ref>
!2015 <ref name="http://coincollectingenterprises.com/information/cost-to-make-a-penny/penny-production-cost">{{Cite web |title=US Mint Cost To Make Penny |url=http://coincollectingenterprises.com/information/cost-to-make-a-penny/penny-production-cost |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150812160120/http://coincollectingenterprises.com/information/cost-to-make-a-penny/penny-production-cost |archive-date=August 12, 2015 |access-date=June 30, 2015}}</ref>
!2016 <ref>{{Cite web |last=Unser |first=Mike |date=February 21, 2017 |title=Penny Costs 1.5 Cents to Make in 2016, Nickel Costs 6.32 Cents; US Mint Realizes $578.7M in Seigniorage |url=https://www.coinnews.net/2017/02/21/penny-costs-1-5-cents/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200713155254/https://www.coinnews.net/2017/02/21/penny-costs-1-5-cents/ |archive-date=July 13, 2020 |access-date=July 11, 2020 |website=Coin News |language=en-US}}</ref>
!2017
!2018 <ref>{{Cite web |last=Unser |first=Mike |date=May 24, 2019 |title=Penny Costs 2.06 Cents to Make in 2018, Nickel Costs 7.53 Cents; US Mint Realizes $321.1M in Seigniorage |url=https://www.coinnews.net/2019/05/24/penny-costs-2-06-cents-to-make-in-2018/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200712021139/https://www.coinnews.net/2019/05/24/penny-costs-2-06-cents-to-make-in-2018/ |archive-date=July 12, 2020 |access-date=July 11, 2020 |website=Coin News |language=en-US}}</ref>
!2019 <ref>{{Cite web |last=Unser |first=Mike |date=February 7, 2020 |title=Penny Costs 1.99 Cents to Make in 2019, Nickel Costs 7.62 Cents; US Mint Realizes $318.3M in Seigniorage |url=https://www.coinnews.net/2020/02/07/penny-costs-1-99-cents-to-make-in-2019/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200712041543/https://www.coinnews.net/2020/02/07/penny-costs-1-99-cents-to-make-in-2019/ |archive-date=July 12, 2020 |access-date=July 11, 2020 |website=Coin News |language=en-US}}</ref>
!2022 <ref>{{Cite report |url=https://www.usmint.gov/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/2022-USM-Biennial-Report_P5_FINAL.pdf |title=2022 Biennial Report to Congress as Required by the Coin Modernization, Oversight, and Continuity Act of 2010 (Public Law 111-302) |date=April 2023}}</ref>
|-
|Cost (cents)
|1.79
|2.41
|2.00
|1.83
|1.70
|1.67
|1.50
|1.82
|2.06
|1.99
|2.72
|}

When copper reached a record high in February 2011,<ref>{{Cite news |date=August 20, 2012 |title=METALS-Copper falls on euro zone disappointment, China worry |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/markets-metals-idUSL6E8JK8AM20120820 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181207040910/https://www.reuters.com/article/markets-metals-idUSL6E8JK8AM20120820 |archive-date=December 7, 2018 |access-date=November 18, 2012 |work=Reuters}}</ref> the melt value of a 95% copper cent was more than three times its face value. As of January 21, 2014, a pre-1982 cent contained 2.203 cents' worth of copper and zinc, making it an attractive target for melting by people wanting to sell the metals for profit. In comparison, post-1982 copper-plated zinc cents have a metallurgical value of only 0.552 cent.<ref name="coinflation.com">{{Cite web |title=Current Melt Value Of Coins – How Much Is Your Coin Worth? |url=http://www.coinflation.com/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160617065505/http://www.coinflation.com/ |archive-date=June 17, 2016 |access-date=January 21, 2014 |publisher=Coinflation.com}}</ref>  Prior to 1982, the fluctuating price of copper periodically caused penny shortages, as people hoarded them for their perceived metallic value.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Bradley |first1=Paul |title=On the scent of a shortage: A penny saved is a penny out of circulation |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_boston-phoenix_1982-04-20_11_16/page/n34/mode/1up |access-date=19 August 2024 |work=The Boston Phoenix |date=20 April 1982}}</ref>

===Toxicity===
{{More|Zinc toxicity|Copper toxicity}}
Zinc, a major component of U.S. cents minted after mid-1982, is toxic in large quantities. Swallowing such a coin, which is 97.5% zinc, can cause damage to the stomach lining because of the high solubility of the zinc ion in the acidic stomach.<ref>Dawn N. Bothwell, M.D., and Eric A. Mair, M.D., FAAP. "[http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/111/3/689?ijkey=f41f5a688254663281baabc6ebe9c3bfc964e612&keytype2=tf_ipsecsha Chronic Ingestion of a Zinc-Based Penny]", ''[[Pediatrics (journal)|Pediatrics]]'' Vol. 111, No. March 3, 2003, pp. 689–691. Retrieved April 17, 2008.</ref> Coins are the most commonly ingested foreign body in children but generally are allowed to pass spontaneously unless the patient is symptomatic.<ref>Mark L. Waltzman, M.D. "[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16969175 Management of esophageal coins]" ''Current Opinion in Pediatrics'' Vol. 45, No. Jan 1–Feb 2006, pp.71–3. Retrieved February 23, 2010.</ref> Zinc toxicity, mostly in the form of the ingestion of U.S. pennies minted after 1982, is commonly fatal in dogs where it causes a severe [[hemolytic anemia]].<ref>Stowe CM, Nelson R, Werdin R, et al.: "Zinc phosphide poisoning in dogs". ''JAVMA'' 173:270, 1978</ref> It is also highly toxic in [[companion parrot|pet parrots]] and can often be fatal.<ref>See, for example, this [http://www.petparrots101.com/parrots-risk.asp list of common parrot illnesses and their causes]</ref>