No More Pennies: New Act Ends 1-Cent Coin Production, But Your Existing Change is Still Good

The “Make Sense Not Cents Act” is exactly what it sounds like: a bill focused on ending the production of the one-cent coin. This legislation immediately stops the U.S. Mint from creating or issuing any new pennies. It’s a straightforward, operational change that aims to cut costs—after all, it costs more than one cent to make a penny.

The End of the Line for New Pennies

Section 3 of the Act is the core provision, simply barring the Secretary of the Treasury from minting any new one-cent coins. This isn't a slow phase-out; it’s an immediate stop on the assembly line. For everyday folks, this means the supply of new pennies entering circulation dries up right away. If you work a register, run a small shop, or just deal with cash, this change will eventually affect how you make change, even if the transition isn't immediate.

This change also triggers a massive administrative cleanup. Because the penny has been part of the U.S. monetary system for so long, it is referenced in countless federal laws, including the U.S. Code and the Internal Revenue Code. The Act mandates that all these technical references be updated—striking out specific paragraphs related to the one-cent coin and renumbering sections across the board. This is a huge, detailed task for government staff, who now have to comb through dense legal text to make sure everything lines up.

Your Jar of Pennies is Safe: Legal Tender Status Unchanged

Here’s the critical part that keeps things from getting messy: Section 4 explicitly states that this Act has no effect on the legal tender status of existing one-cent coins. If you have a jar full of pennies, they are still completely valid money. They must be accepted for any payment, including debts, taxes, public fees, and private bills. So, if you’re a contractor settling a debt or a student paying for a textbook, no one can refuse your existing pennies just because the Mint stopped making new ones. This provision prevents immediate chaos in cash transactions and keeps the value of the coins already in circulation stable.

The Bigger Picture: Congressional Control Over Currency

The bill also includes a “Sense of Congress” section (Section 2) that asserts that only Congress has the power to create money and control what counts as legal currency in the U.S. While this might sound like standard boilerplate, it’s a clear statement reinforcing federal authority. For anyone interested in alternative payment systems or state-level monetary innovations—like state-backed digital currencies—this section serves as a reminder that Congress views currency control as its exclusive domain. It sets the stage for potentially challenging any future state efforts to define or create their own forms of money. The primary impact for most people, however, is simply the slow, eventual disappearance of new pennies from circulation.