Penny Production Paused for 10 Years: Treasury Bill Aims for Savings

The Currency Optimization, Innovation, and National Savings Act of 2025 puts a 10-year pause on minting new pennies, starting as soon as the Act is enacted. Basically, Congress thinks we've got enough pennies floating around, and making more is costing taxpayers too much.

Cents and Sensibility

The main idea here is to cut government spending. According to SEC. 2 of the bill, the Treasury loses money every time it produces a batch of pennies. By hitting the brakes on production, the government expects to save some cash. But don't worry, your jar of pennies is still good – the bill specifically states that all existing pennies remain legal tender for any debts, taxes, or other payments (SEC. 2).

Collector's Item?

Now, if you're a coin collector, you're not entirely out of luck. The bill allows the Secretary of the Treasury to keep producing pennies, but only for collectors, and only if the sales cover all the costs of production (SEC. 2). Think of it like a limited-edition run – you might pay a premium, but the government won't be losing money on the deal. For example, if the cost to produce a set of collectable pennies is $5, they will be sold to cover that expense.

Real-World Change

For most of us, this probably won't change much day-to-day. Businesses will likely still round to the nearest nickel for cash transactions. Whether you're grabbing coffee at the local diner or paying for parts at the hardware store, those pennies probably weren't making much difference anyway. The bigger impact might be behind the scenes, in terms of government budgets and resource allocation. It will be interesting to see how well this works. It is not clear how much money will be saved, and the Secretary of the Treasury has a lot of leeway to make pennies, as long as they are sold at cost.