The End of the Penny: What HR 4459 (MINT Act) Means for Collectors

A 232-Year Run Comes to a Close

The penny — the most familiar coin in American commerce — is on its way out. The Treasury placed its final order for penny blanks in May 2025, and the Mint struck its last circulating cents in Philadelphia on November 12, 2025. Now, HR 4459, the Modernize and Improve our National Tender Act of 2025 (MINT Act), seeks to make it official by ending production of the one-cent coin in law.

The bill was referred to the House Financial Services Committee when it was introduced in July 2025 and has not moved since. A similar bill, the Common Cents Act (HR 3074), cleared that committee in July 2025 and later passed the House (it reached the Senate in July 2026).

Update (October 2026): A later version of the Common Cents Act, HR 10167, which ends penny production and rounds cash transactions to the nearest 5 cents, passed the House on September 14, 2026 and the Senate on September 28, 2026. As of October 27, 2026, it had not been signed into law.

The Lincoln Cent — produced since 1909, this design series spans over a century of American coinage. View Lincoln Wheat Cents in the NumisDex catalog.

What the MINT Act Does

HR 4459 contains two major provisions:

1. Ceases production of one-cent coins. The Mint may continue to produce pennies for sale as numismatic items (proof sets, collector editions), but no new pennies will enter general commerce.
2. Authorizes a new composition for the five-cent coin. The bill allows a nickel made of a zinc core under an outer nickel layer, weighing 4 to 6 grams, with the exact mix set by the Treasury once testing shows it lowers the cost of making the coin.

Existing pennies remain legal tender. Every cent minted and issued before the law takes effect is still valid for all debts, public charges, taxes, and dues.

The Economics Behind the Decision

The penny has cost more to produce than its face value for years. In fiscal 2024, each cent cost the Mint about 3.69 cents to make and distribute, up from 3.07 cents the year before — a net loss on every coin produced. With billions of pennies minted annually, the cumulative cost to taxpayers has been substantial.

The nickel faces a similar problem, costing about 13.78 cents per coin in fiscal 2024. The MINT Act's provision for alternative nickel compositions addresses this by allowing the Mint to switch to a cheaper zinc-and-nickel coin.

What This Means for Collectors

For numismatists, the end of the penny is a historic moment:

• Final-year pennies will become collectible by date and mint mark. The last circulation cents are dated 2025, from Philadelphia and Denver; the Mint still makes cents for its collector sets.
• Error and variety collectors should pay close attention to late-production runs, which historically have yielded interesting die states as tooling wears down.
• Roll and bag collectors may want to set aside original bank-wrapped rolls from the final production months.
• The entire Lincoln Cent series gains a natural endpoint for circulation strikes.

The penny's 232-year history includes many well-known coins — the 1909-S VDB, the 1943 copper cent, the 1955 Doubled Die Obverse, and the 1969-S DDO among them. The series is deeply woven into American numismatics, and its conclusion marks the end of an era.

Nickel Composition Changes

The bill's second provision — authorizing new nickel alloys — is worth watching for variety and error collectors. Any composition change creates the potential for transitional errors (coins struck on the wrong planchet type) during the changeover period. Collectors who remember the 1965 silver-to-clad transition know the transitional pieces that came out of it.

Share Your Thoughts

The penny's elimination has been debated for decades. Now that it's happening, we want to hear from you:

• Are you setting aside final-year pennies? What dates and mint marks are you watching?
• Do you think the end of production will change interest in key-date Lincoln Cents?
• What are your thoughts on changing the nickel's composition? Should the Mint prioritize cost savings or tradition?
• How do you feel about losing the penny from everyday commerce?

Reply below and share your perspective. We'll update this thread as the bill progresses.