Hayden Shanafelt | Sports Editor
November 16, 2025
On November 12, 2025 the era of penny making has come to an end. After 230 years of producing pennies, the US has halted this process. This is monumental news, especially for penny collectors. So the question arises: Why are pennies no longer being made?
The number of pennies in circulation is exceeding the actual use of them. Not only are pennies being stored in piggy-banks country wide, but they are also becoming more expensive to make. Their value is now less than the production cost of a penny. This doesn’t mean that pennies are completely gone, but they are towards the road of extermination. So, stores can still accept pennies as a form of currency, it’s just a less common way of paying. The American Bankers Association stated, “There are still an estimated 250 billion pennies in circulation.” Meaning there is no shortage of pennies in the near future, but they are definitely on the decline.
This cut of penny making was made to decrease prices, but that is not entirely the reason for their disappearance. Instead of things being rounded to 0.99 cents things are going to be rounded to nickels. This will ultimately increase the prices of things since the value of a nickel is more. Also, since pennies are still so available and in abundance, they aren’t going to become a collected item anytime soon like how a $1 coin has become a desired collectible.
So what does this mean to San Clemente High School Students? Senior John McClenahan said, “When I drop a penny I don’t even pick it up.” Showing how much pennies have been devalued in today’s society. The lack of care for pennies has been a culture country-wide, with price inflation in the 20th century pennies alone can’t buy much. Another Senior, James Lockwood, claimed “[he] hasn’t seen a penny in years” because we live in “a digital world.”
Overall the shocking news of pennies no longer being made begs the question: Will this increase or decrease prices? Only time will tell as we are able to see these changes in real time with any cash or coin transaction. The saddest part is that we will see less pennies on the sides of the street to pick up and see if it’s facing heads up for good luck.
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