U.S. President Donald Trump announced that he has ordered the Department of the Treasury to stop producing new 1-cent coins, citing the rising production costs as the primary reason.
“For a long time, the United States has been producing 1-cent coins that literally cost us over 2 cents. This is pointless!” Trump wrote in a post on the Truth Social platform.
“I have instructed the U.S. Treasury Secretary to stop producing them,” emphasized the President.
This move by Trump is part of a series of actions by his new administration aimed at implementing fundamental changes through executive orders in various areas, from immigration policies and gender and diversity issues to renaming the Gulf of Mexico.
According to the Associated Press, Trump had not mentioned during his election campaign his intention to eliminate the 1-cent coin.
However, Elon Musk’s ministry, aiming to improve efficiency in the U.S. government, proposed the idea in a post on X last month, highlighting the cost of producing this particular coin.
The U.S. Mint recorded a loss of $85.3 million in fiscal year 2024, producing about 3.2 billion 1-cent coins. Each of them cost nearly $0.037 to make, while last year the cost was $0.031.
Losses have also been reported in the production of the 5-cent coin, as each coin costs about $0.14 to produce. As noted by the U.S. Agency, it is unclear whether Trump has the authority to unilaterally abolish the production of the 1-cent coin.
