House votes to retire the penny; rounding rules and costs drive the change

The U.S. House moved this week to end production of the penny, passing the Common Cents Act without a recorded vote, Cronkite News reported. The measure now heads to the Senate.

If enacted, the change would leave existing pennies as legal tender while shifting cash purchases to rounding to the nearest five cents when exact change is not available. Electronic transactions would still run to the exact cent. The Mint could continue making pennies as collector items. Those are the operative rules that will matter at Arizona cash registers and banks.

Supporters are leaning on cost and statutory clarity. The U.S. Mint reported that each penny cost 3.69 cents to produce in 2024, and production costs have exceeded face value for 19 straight years, according to Cronkite News’ review of Mint data. In February 2025, President Donald Trump instructed the Treasury Department to stop producing pennies; a statute would replace executive direction with explicit congressional authority.

Rep. French Hill of Arkansas, who managed the floor debate, framed the bill as modernizing currency and saving taxpayer dollars. Cronkite News noted Hill misstated the unit cost as “$3.69” rather than 3.69 cents, but his point was cost control: “We have to be practical.” The House’s use of a voice vote signals little organized opposition on that side of the Capitol.

Cronkite News underscored the historical wrinkle: Illinois lawmakers have long resisted eliminating the Lincoln cent, first issued in 1909 as the initial U.S. coin to bear a president’s image. Adjusted for today’s prices, it would take about 37 cents to equal a 1909 penny’s buying power, highlighting how inflation has eroded the coin’s utility. Canada ended its penny in 2012, a reference point for implementation and rounding norms.

For Arizona, where roughly 70% of U.S. copper is mined, the direct economic stakes appear limited. As Cronkite News reported, since 1982 pennies have been mostly zinc with only about 2.5% copper by weight and represent a small fraction of U.S. copper demand. That composition shift, coupled with global markets, explains why discontinuing the penny is reported to have had little impact on copper prices or the state’s mining sector.

The nickel is the next cost pressure point. The Mint put the 2024 cost to produce a nickel at 13.78 cents. Hill said the bill authorizes Treasury to adopt a lower-cost, zinc-based nickel to prevent increased nickel demand from erasing penny-related savings. As Hill put it, “Nickels aren’t exactly a bargain either.”

On the implementation side, the bill preserves legal tender status for existing coins and instructs rounding only when exact cash change is unavailable. That channel-specific rule matters for consumers and retailers who reconcile tills daily. The American Bankers Association backed the legislation, according to Cronkite News, signaling that financial institutions see the transition as operationally manageable.

The legal posture is straightforward: Congress sets coinage policy, Treasury executes it, and the Mint reports costs. A statute would align authority and remedy with the fiscal outcome lawmakers want, rather than relying on executive direction alone. The Senate’s decision is the remaining gate, and any technical details about rounding practices or collector issues would flow from Treasury under the law’s parameters.

On balance, the record cited by Cronkite News, including the Congress.gov listing for the Common Cents Act and U.S. Mint cost data, points to a narrow reform aimed at eliminating a coin that has not penciled out for nearly two decades. For Arizona readers, the practical change is at the checkout counter, not in the copper pit.

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