Pennies running out for American businesses

Admin

November 3, 2025
3 min read

Pennies running out for American businesses

Since minting of American pennies was ended by Donald Trump earlier this year, one-cent coins in circulation have become harder to locate, with many stores rounding their cash down to the nearest five cents. They say that there have been no federal guidelines advising them on what to do.

In February, US President Donald Trump said that minting pennies was too expensive and wasteful, posting on social media to “rip the waste out of our great nation’s budget, even if it’s a penny at a time.” The US Mint stopped making one-cent coins in May with the Treasury Department estimating shortages to begin early in 2026.

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But this shortage has hit much earlier, with banks being unable to get them from the federal government and businesses being unable to get them from banks. This has left shopkeepers unsure about what to do when they need change in pennies for a cash purchase.

The temporary solution for many has been to round up or down to the nearest five cents, allowing customers to use a nickel, America’s next lowest value coin. But a number of cities, including New York, require retailers to provide exact change, while others do not allow cash payments to differ from card payments for the same item. To avoid lawsuits and further complaints, many have chosen to round down.

Some stores even urge their customers to pay in exact change, while others are hosting promotions to encourage customers to bring in extra pennies that they have at home.

This is not the first time that America has discontinued coins, having previously retired the half-cent, three-cent, and 20 cent coins in the 19^th Century.

The penny costs nearly four cents to make, being made of zinc and copper, but some say that keeping the coins in circulation helps many low-income people who mainly pay in cash.

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