President Donald Trump's Department of Government Efficiency is investigating whether production of the penny can be halted to save taxpayers money.
In a post on
That cost taxpayers as much as $179 million in fiscal year 2023, the post said.
DOGE has been tasked with coming up with recommendations on how to cut federal spending.
It is unclear whether it would recommend killing the penny permanently, or simply ceasing or curtailing production of the penny.
The US Mint has already reduced production of the cent by almost 29 percent between 2023 and 2024.
According to CoinNews.net, 2024 US Mint data shows a fourth straight year of declining coin production.
The article also pointed out that the Federal Reserve typically orders more pennies to be minted than any other denomination.
President Donald Trump's Department of Government Efficiency is exploring whether to halt production of the penny to save taxpayers money
The DOGE bill on
Other countries have begun destroying their one-cent coins, including America's neighbor to the north of Canada.
Canada stopped producing 1-cent coins in 2012.
However, a 2018 analysis by the Atlantic Economic Journal found that because most supermarket prices end in 9, Canadians spend about $3.27 million more in Canadian dollars at supermarkets, with prices rounded up to the nearest nickel .
Although Trump has promised to save taxpayers money with initiatives like DOGE, his main mandate from voters has been to lower food and gas prices.
Voters did not believe President Joe Biden was not doing enough to restore the economy after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Trump has had a hand in money matters before.
During his first term, he opposed the push to put abolitionist leader Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill, which is emblazoned with President Andrew Jackson, who signed the Indian Removal Act into law in 1830, opening the door for the ' Trail of Tears'. '
The redesigned $20 was originally scheduled to be unveiled in 2020, but Trump's Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said that would be delayed due to “counterfeiting issues.”
Trump had said replacing Jackson with Tubman was “pure political correctness.”
Trump had a portrait of Jackson hanging in his Oval Office during the first term – which was immediately removed by Biden.
The president created DOGE on Monday, hours after being sworn in.
DOGE has already cut its leadership in half, with former 2024 Republican hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy deciding not to take on the co-leadership role with Musk that Trump assigned him.
Ramaswamy will instead focus on a governorship in Ohio in 2026.
