Retiring the Penny

The plan to cease production:

The U.S. Treasury has announced that it will stop minting new penny coins sometime in early 2026.

This decision responds to the fact that each penny now costs about 3.7 cents to produce – nearly four times its face value.

While new pennies will not be minted for general circulation, existing pennies will remain legal tender. That is, you can still use or deposit them.

How Retiring the Penny Is Causing a Coin Shortage:

Although the transition has not fully happened, the news of penny retirement has already contributed to a shortage of pennies in circulation.

The Federal Reserve distributes coins to banks, and as existing penny stocks dwindle, some distribution centers are no longer filling penny orders in certain locations.

What Our Bank Is Doing and How We’ll Help You

Enhanced coin recirculation

We’ll continue to accept pennies, coin rolls, and loose change for deposit or exchange.

Monitoring coin inventory closely

We’re coordinating with the Federal Reserve’s coin distribution system to understand supply trends.

When penny stock is limited in specific areas, we may restrict the quantity of pennies customers can receive.

What You Can Do to Help Make the Transition Easier

Bring in your spare pennies – every coin helps support circulation.

Use digital or card payments when possible – these are unaffected and reduce dependence on coins.

Be patient and kind with businesses adapting to new policies on cash transactions.

Pay attention to notices from your bank and local merchants on how they’ll handle rounding and coin limitations.

What the Penny Retirement and Shortage Could Mean for Consumers

Potential Impact	What You Might See	Notes
Rounding of cash totals	Your $10.02 purchase might be rounded down to $10.00, or a $10.04 purchase might round up to $10.05.	Rounding applies only to the cent portion in cash transactions. Card, check, or digital payments should stay exact.
Difficulty making exact change	Stores may ask for exact change, decline to make change involving pennies, or use “no-cent-change” policies.	Many small businesses will adapt with rounding or require card use in low-change situations.
Fewer pennies in ATMs or cashier stations	You might see “pennies out of stock” signs or unavailability of small change.	Over time, there will be fewer pennies, and larger coins (nickels, dimes, and quarters) will be used more widely.