End of an Era: America Says Goodbye to the Penny

So long to the 1-cent coin

Daniel Bortz,

Updated November 13, 2025

AARP

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Published February 11, 2025

/ Updated November 13, 2025

Photo Collage: AARP; (Source: Getty Images (2))

Cue the violins for give-a-penny, take-a-penny trays. The U.S. mint produced its last penny ever on Nov. 12, retiring the 232-year-old coin.

The penny’s demise follows a years-long lobbying effort to get the government to stop producing coins that cost more to make than they’re worth. According to the U.S. Treasury Department, the cost of producing a penny more than doubled in the past 10 years, to nearly 4 cents.

Getting rid of the penny has modern-day precedents. Canada eliminated its 1-cent coin more than a decade ago, Australia withdrew its 1-cent coin from circulation in 1992 and New Zealand stopped issuing 1-cent coins in 1990.

However, if you’ve been hoarding pennies, don’t throw them out.

“Although today we say goodbye to our copper 1-cent coin, let me be crystal clear: The penny remains legal tender,” U.S. Treasurer Brandon Beach said in remarks at the Philadelphia Mint, where the first penny was struck more than two centuries ago. “We have over 300 billion pennies that remain in circulation, and we encourage you to use them.”

In honor of the storied coin, let’s take a look at its rich history.

The penny’s big debut

The penny’s history dates back over 1,200 years ago. The first pennies were made in 790 A.D., when its variations across Europe — which included the German “pfennig” and the Swedish “penning” — originally denoted any sort of coin or money.

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The first U.S. penny, however, wasn’t issued until 1793 by the U.S. Mint. It featured the head of an allegorical woman with flowing hair to symbolize liberty on one side of the coin and 15 chain links to symbolize the unity of the states on the other side. The coins were made of pure copper and were five times heavier than today’s penny, which tips the scales at a mere 2.5 grams.

Changing designs

The penny’s design has changed a handful of times over the course of its history.

The first U.S. pennies, with flowing hair, were engraved by hand, a laborious and time-consuming process. Since then the coin has had a number of design iterations: Liberty Cap (1793 – 1796), Draped Bust (1796 – 1807), Classic Head (1808 – 1814), Coronet Head (1816 – 1839), Braided Hair (1839 – 1857), Flying Eagle (1856 – 1858), Indian Head (1859 – 1909), Lincoln Wheat (1909 – 1958), Lincoln Memorial (1959 – 2008), Lincoln Bicentennial and Union Shield (2010 – present).

Notably, no pennies were minted in 1815 due to a copper shortage caused by the War of 1812 with Great Britain. Also, the U.S. Mint switched temporarily to an aluminum cent in 1943, when an urgent need for copper to make munitions for World War II caused copper prices to spike. But a few pennies that year were mistakenly struck in bronze, and those coins are extremely rare — one sold for $1.7 million at auction in 2010. Fun fact: A 16-year-old in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, came across one when he was given change at his high school’s cafeteria in 1947.

The copper curtain falls

The penny’s high production cost ultimately led to its demise. Each new penny cost 3.69 cents to make and distribute. In comparison, each new nickel costs 13.78 cents to make and distribute — more than double the coin’s value — and each new dime costs 5.7 cents.

The U.S. issued more than 3.2 billion pennies during the 2024 fiscal year, according to the U.S. Mint, at a reported loss of around $85.3 million.

By costing too much to keep around, the penny finally proved its worth.

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Daniel Bortz is a personal finance editor at AARP. His work has been published by the New York Times, Washington Post, Consumer Reports, Entrepreneur, Kiplinger, Newsweek, Money and other national publications.

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