The 'Common Cents Act' Eliminates the Penny and Changes How Nickels Are Made

The Common Cents Act is straightforward: it officially stops the U.S. Mint from making pennies for general circulation and tweaks the recipe for the nickel. The core goal is efficiency, specifically cutting the cost of minting currency, which often costs more than the coin’s face value. While this doesn't mean your existing jar of pennies is instantly worthless—they remain legal tender for paying debts and making purchases—it does mean the penny is officially retiring from the production line. The Mint can still make them, but only for collectors (the numismatic crowd).

The Nickel Gets a Makeover

Before we say goodbye to the penny, let's look at the nickel. The bill updates the specifications for the five-cent coin. Currently, the standard copper-nickel alloy nickel must weigh exactly 5 grams. Under this new legislation, however, the Secretary of the Treasury gets the green light to use a different, potentially cheaper composition: a coin with an inner layer of zinc and an outer layer of nickel. If they go this route, the weight can vary slightly, between 4 and 6 grams. The kicker? The Secretary can only authorize this change if testing confirms that this new mix actually lowers the cost of making the coin. This is a smart move toward cost control, but it does give the Treasury some wiggle room in setting the exact metal mix, so we’ll have to see how the new nickels look and feel in the future.

Say Goodbye to Exact Change

The most noticeable change for the average person is the end of the penny. While this might sound like a minor annoyance, it has real-world implications, especially for cash transactions. When the penny is gone, businesses will have to round cash transactions to the nearest five cents. If you buy something priced at $1.98, you won’t get two cents back; the transaction will likely be rounded up or down. For credit or debit card purchases, nothing changes, but for those who rely heavily on cash—which often includes lower-income shoppers—this rounding could add up over time. It’s a small amount on a single purchase, but if you’re making multiple cash transactions daily, the cumulative effect of being rounded up can be a hidden cost.

Who Wins and Who Pays?

The clear winner here is the U.S. Treasury, which stands to save money by not producing a coin that costs more than one cent to make. This is a pure cost-saving measure for the government. However, the costs of this change are borne by two groups. First, the manufacturers who currently supply the metal for penny production will need to pivot. Second, consumers and businesses dealing in cash will have to adjust to the new rounding rules. Think about your local convenience store or farmer's market stand; they will need to implement new rounding policies, which can lead to minor confusion or delays as people adjust to a world without the one-cent coin. This bill cuts costs for the government by simplifying our currency, but it shifts the administrative burden of handling fractional costs onto the private sector and the rounding costs onto the consumer.