Will Elon Musk’s DOGE Get Rid of the Penny?

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President Donald Trump signed an executive order on January 20, 2025 to establish DOGE: the Department of Government Efficiency, led by Elon Musk, with a goal to cut spending.

A pile of pennies

A number of programs, from diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) to Daylight Saving Time to the venerable one-cent piece—yes, the penny—are on the potential chopping block.

In an X post, DOGE wrote that it costs more than 3 cents to make a penny, which cost taxpayers over $179 million through 2023.

It’s true. The cost to make a penny jumped to 3.69 cents, according to the 2024 U.S. Mint annual report. That marks the 19th consecutive year that penny production costs have “remained above face value.” In 2024, the U.S. produced about 3.23 billion new pennies, according to the U.S. Mint. Pennies were the most produced coin in both 2023 and 2024.

In an increasingly cashless world, could Elon Musk be right? Is it time to ditch the penny? Cash usage has been declining due to the prevalence of credit cards, and debit cards, and the rise of mobile payment apps.

But, Americans still carry cash and use it. Forty-four percent of Americans say they use cash for some of their purchases, while 14% say they use it for all their purchases, according to a Pew Research Center study.

3 reasons DOGE may not be able to get rid of the penny

  1. To make change. For those Americans who do pay in cash, the penny is an essential tool to make change. How would you make change for an $11.97 purchase if you pay with a $20 bill without the penny?
  2. Getting rid of the penny could make things more expensive. Canada did away with its penny in the early 2010s—and now purchases there are rounded to the nearest nickel. For example, a $11.83 purchase becomes $11.85 in Canada now.
  3. Congress oversees our money. According to the U.S. Constitution, it is Congress (not DOGE) that is responsible for overseeing our money and coinage.

How much could the U.S. save if it got rid of the penny? Stopping production of the 1-cent piece could save taxpayers up to $100 million annually, according to a 2022 Federal Reserve report. Whether or not DOGE takes action to discontinue it, collectors will always prize and covet many special American 1-cent pieces. Halting future production of the penny could increase numismatic demand for existing rare pennies. Check out Blanchard’s current inventory of small cents here.

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