Representative Andy Biggs (R-AZ) has introduced legislation to pause the minting of new pennies for ten years.
Rep. Biggs's bill is named the "Currency Optimization, Innovation, and National Savings" (COINS) Act of 2025, which was first introduced by the late Senator John McCain (R-AZ) in 2017, the year before his passing.
Last week, President Donald Trump suggested halting production after a report from the US Mint revealed that it costs approximately 3 cents to produce a single penny.
The Mint produced approximately 3.2 billion pennies in Fiscal Year 2024, which has a face value of $32 million. Making all those coins cost roughly $118 million, an $85 million loss.
As a result, President Trump denounced the wasteful production in a Truth Social post, saying, "This is so wasteful! I have instructed my Secretary of the US Treasury to stop producing new pennies."
Rep. Biggs echoed Trump's sentiment in his press release: "85 million taxpayer dollars were spent on the production of new pennies in 2024, and no one even batted an eye."
The Arizona Congressman cited the continued efforts of Trump and Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to cut back on government spending, adding, "President Trump and the Department of Government Efficiency have spent weeks rooting out government waste and fraud. Congress must support their efforts by codifying President Trump's America First priorities—like his move to stop minting new pennies. At more than $36 trillion in debt, every single cent counts."
AZPM noted that halting the minting of new pennies would have little effect on Arizona's copper mining industry, as pennies have mostly been made of zinc since 1982.
Besides, most sit in your change jar, piggy bank, or some hidden part of your house, like within the couch.
"The penny is kind of an American institution, and it's special in Arizona because we mine 70% of American copper," AZPM quoted the University of Arizona's Department of Mining and Geological Engineering head, Kray Luxbacher.
Even if the penny was phased out of production completely, Luxbacher said it would not affect the price of copper since, of the $32 million worth of pennies produced in fiscal year 2024, less than $2 million worth of copper is in all 32 billion pennies combined.
