are they discontinuing pennies

Yes. The U.S. is discontinuing new pennies, but existing ones are still usable as normal money.

What’s actually happening

• The U.S. Mint has stopped or is in the process of stopping the production of new one‑cent coins, ending more than 230 years of regular penny minting.

• The Treasury has said that pennies already out there (roughly over 100 billion coins) remain legal tender with full monetary value for the foreseeable future.

• This is described as a “retirement” or phase‑out: once pennies are lost, damaged, or turned in, they won’t be replaced with new ones.

Why they’re discontinuing pennies

• It costs several cents to make a single penny, meaning the government loses money on every coin; recent figures put production at around 3–4 cents per penny.

• Officials project tens of millions of dollars in annual savings by halting penny production, mostly from reduced metal and manufacturing costs.

• Cash use has dropped as card and digital payments rise, so pennies are increasingly underused and tend to sit in jars and drawers instead of circulating.

What it means for your money

• You can still spend, save, roll, or deposit your pennies; banks and retailers can keep accepting them as legal currency indefinitely.

• Over time, more stores are expected to round cash totals to the nearest five cents, while card and digital payments will still be charged to the exact cent.

• Because there are so many pennies still in circulation, they are likely to linger in everyday use for years, even though no new ones are being made.

Quick forum‑style take

“Pennies are disappearing from production, not from your wallet overnight.”

• Some small‑business owners actually welcome a “penniless future” because it simplifies pricing and cash‑drawer management.

• Coin collectors and nostalgic savers see this as the end of an era and are holding on to interesting dates and mint marks.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.