Nov. 12 (UPI) -- The last penny will be minted Wednesday in Philadelphia, ending a 238-year run for the one-cent piece.
President Donald Trump in February ordered the Treasury Department to stop minting the coin, calling it wasteful.
"For too long the United States has minted pennies which literally cost us more than 2 cents. This is wasteful!" he said in a post on Truth Social. "Let's rip the waste out of our great nations budget, even if it's a penny at a time."
While stopping the creation of new pennies will likely save the government money, in the long run it could cost more. If the Mint has to produce more nickels, that would raise costs even higher. In 2024, the cost of minting a nickel was 13.8 cents, CNN reported.
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