Now that the US has stopped minting Pennies (Cents) what will you do with your Pennies?

[AviatorTom]

After more than a hundred years of minting the Lincoln head cent, the US mint has stopped minting pennies in 2026. It makes economic sense to stop since it cost the mint almost 3 cents to produce a coin valued at 1 cent. Other countries stopped minting cents years ago, Australia and New Zealand in the 1990s and Canada in 2012.

2025 is the last regular mint year you will see, though special 250th Anniversary pennies (American Independence was declared in 1776) are planned to be minted in limited quantities for collectors in 2026, not for general circulation.

So... the question must be asked...

What will you do with the pennies that you have?

Please vote in the poll.

Spend them, they're still legal currency

Save them as collector's items

Melt them down for their copper content

Turn them into the bank for larger coins an/or paper money

Give them out at Halloween instead of candy

Throw them in the trash, they're useless

Something else - please tell

[Kelley1]

The US should also discontinue printing nickels and half-dollars. The dollar has so little remaining value that change for less than 10 cents is not needed. If the smallest denomination is 10 cents, then either quarters or half-dollars are not needed.

I only have 7 pennies. Since I normally use a credit card, that is not enough to bother with. However, since I have a few dollars and other change, I may spend some and donate any remaining, since many fast food places have a container for pennies.

[RavVid]

You've pointed a few times that other countries like Australia got rid of cent coins. I'm pretty sure cent coins mostly went out in the trash because they were so useless it wasn't worth doing anything with them.

Supermarkets were the main users of cent coins because of pricing things at $X.99. At the same time they were about the only place you could spend them as well.

The Australian cent was 2.6 grams. So a hundred of the little buggars was 260 g - more than a quarter kilograms. Are you really going to carry a 1/4 kilogram of change around or just bin them?

Our cents were technically a bronze but still 97% copper but yours are zinc so melting them down for the copper is forlorn.

[RavVid]

Thanks for a MHO. Have a had a later thought. For those with a lot of cent coins and a bag of some sort, they could make a useful door stop.

[NaultD]

Somehow give less of a fuck about penny's that I thought could not go lower 20 years ago.

Could we please start the process of the last metal coin $1 right now? Cents have been meaningless entire life. It's been worse in the last couple years. 5 Cents is already outdated now when we are just sunset the penny's. 10 cent in an accord number to the quarter 25 Cents. We do have to pull the bandaid off and make a metal dollar and thats it.

[NaultD]

With gas prices doing another. 99 of another 99 of another cent held back amarican edition by 100 years after 2020 to be honest.

[cherrytreeblossom]

some class mates sometimes throw pennies out the windows of moving buses at people directly or just in their general direction bc they want to see them move their heads over mere pennies. pretty pathetic, but i could totally see a large part of them just ending up on the streets, in our fields, in bodies of water or water treatment facilities.

[NoDecision]

They are still legal tender. They would have to be a "turn in" like they did with gold or Silver Certificates. After such and such date they could not longer be turned in for silver. So, as in pennies case, after such and such date pennies would no longer be legal tender.

[KostasKouvalis]

This is big news. How did I not hear about this?

I accidently voted Option. D, but basically YES. Except I just take my coins to the local coin star. I put a couple pennies with a different design into my collection. If they're disappearing from the market, I might save a couple. In 50 years, if I'm still alive, they might be valuable collectors items. I think it's still illegal to scrap them for the raw materials, although if you did it yourself, who will know?

[msc545]

I don't have any pennies at all because I don't save them but if I did had have some I guess I just spend them like I've always done and when I didn't get anymore I'd be out of them that would be it. I'm sorry to say this but I don't really care very much about them.

[Chazmatazz269]

Sort through them for anything of particular value; including any 2025s. Those may be significant someday. I’ll deposit the rest into my bank accounts. Maybe i’ll hold onto a few for wishing wells and pools.

[strawberryapple]

Spend them at stores that have self-service checkouts. If I knew how to melt them down I might triple my money. 👏

[katiesmuff]

Turn them in for cash if I don't use them up checking out at groceery store.

[purplepoppy]

If you need to blind bake a pastry case fill it with pennies

[loveslongnails]

I will melt them down and turn them into projectiles to aim at... well, one never knows, does one?

[888theGreat]

Well I keep the copper ones and still spend the zinc ones , but Zinc is really going up in price , so I might start keeping those too. Just spend dimes and Quarters

[Dargil]

I routinely bring my change down to the local change machine to convert them into folding money.

[exitseven]

I imagine i will save some of them and take the rest to the bank and turn them in

[douride2]

Up here in Canada when they quit making the penny I rolled what ever I had & cashed then in.

[NoDecision]

So, all the Canadian pennies I have gotten from sales that I have in my till are worthless? 😯

[douride2]

@NoDecision I am sure you can still use them. They just quit making them.

[beefcakebradybatson]

No more pennies, another manifestation of America's losing its SENSE, I mean, CENTS !!!

[WonderingManII]

Spend them, they're still legal currency.

[Iron_Man]

Give them to you a favor