The last pennies for general circulation were minted last year, but a newly passed bipartisan bill to formally sunset the 1-cent coin includes a single clause that keeps the penny alive, even if it’s just as a collectible.
On September 28, the Senate voted to pass the Common Cents Act by unanimous consent, and the bill now heads to President Donald Trump’s desk.
The legislation formally asks the Treasury secretary to cease minting pennies and sets rules for price rounding: In any transaction where exact change cannot be provided, people and financial institutions should round down to the nearest nickel if the price ends in 1, 2, 6, or 7 cents, and round up to the nearest nickel if the price ends in 3, 4, 8, or 9 cents.
The legislation states that pennies produced before the Common Cents Act becomes law remain legal tender, but otherwise it prohibits the U.S. Mint from making more pennies—with one exception. Tucked into the legislation is wording that says the Treasury secretary “may continue to produce and issue one-cent coins for sale as numismatic items,” or collectible currency.
The Mint did not immediately return a request for comment about whether any commemorative pennies are now in the works. The Trump administration killed the currency last year citing costs, since a 1-cent coin costs nearly 4 cents to produce. Thanks to the provision in the bill, though, the coin can live on.
In addition to the legal tender the Mint produces for general circulation (think dollar bills and quarters), it also creates and sells commemorative coins and medals in limited quantities. The medals aren’t money, but the commemorative coins technically are legal tender, even if they’re mostly collected rather than used as everyday change. Priced with a surcharge, they raise funds for a variety of for causes, memorials, museums, and more.
The first-ever commemorative coin was the 1892 Columbian Exposition half-dollar showing Christopher Columbus on one side and his ship the Santa Maria on the other. The modern version of the federal government’s commemorative coin program began in 1982. The Mint says it has raised more than $500 million since, for projects such as restoring George Washington’s home, preserving the Vietnam War Memorial, and sponsoring Olympic programs.
The Mint has put out plenty of silver dollars and $5 coins through the commemorative program, but not pennies. Any special-edition 1-cent coins going back to 1909 have all been themed around Abraham Lincoln, like 2009’s Bicentennial One Cent Program to mark 200 years since Lincoln’s birth in a cabin in the Kentucky backwoods in 1809.
The Common Cents Act could turn the humble, discontinued penny into new ground for collectible coinage.