Down to the last penny: US Mint closes the books on producing one

After more than two centuries, the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia has put in its final two cents — sort of.

On Wednesday, at an event that included Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Treasurer Brandon Beach, the mint stamped the last two U.S. pennies that will ever be made after production costs and the rise in digital financial transactions made the one-cent coins wasteful and impractical.

'Let's rip the waste out of our great nation[']s budget, even if it's a penny at a time.'

Those lucky two pennies have been marked with what USA Today described as a "special omega mark" and will not enter into circulation.

The Philadelphia Mint first began stamping pennies in 1793, a year after Congress passed the Coinage Act. According to the New York Post, at the time, items that could be purcha