did they discontinue the penny

The U.S. penny has been discontinued in the sense that the government has stopped making new ones, but existing pennies are still legal to use and will remain in circulation for years.

What actually changed?

• The U.S. Mint struck its last batch of pennies in November 2025, ending more than two centuries of continuous production.

• The Treasury has halted manufacturing new pennies but is still recirculating the huge stock already out there through the banking system.

Can you still use pennies?

• Pennies remain legal for everyday transactions; stores and banks can still accept and give them as change.

• Over time, as people hoard, lose, or turn them in, the total number of pennies in circulation will slowly shrink.

Why did they discontinue the penny?

• Each penny cost around 3.7 cents to make, meaning the government lost money (“negative seigniorage”) on every single coin.

• The Treasury cited rising metal costs, low purchasing power of one cent, and the growth of cashless payments as reasons the penny was no longer fiscally responsible to produce.

What happens to prices and change?

• Cash transactions are generally rounded to the nearest 5 cents when pennies are not available, similar to what other countries have done.

• Electronic payments (cards, apps) are usually still charged to the exact cent, so rounding mostly affects physical cash payments.

Quick TL;DR

• “Did they discontinue the penny?”
  • New pennies: yes, production has stopped.

* Old pennies: no, they’re still valid money and will linger in circulation for a long time.

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