Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is aimed at saving the government cash, and one of his current ides would literally put an end to making some of it. On Tuesday, the DOGE X account posted "The penny costs over 3 cents to make and cost US taxpayers over $179 million in FY2023," adding, "The Mint produced over 4.5 billion pennies in FY2023, around 40% of the 11.4 billion coins for circulation produced."
The penny costs over 3 cents to make and cost US taxpayers over $179 million in FY2023.
— Department of Government Efficiency (@DOGE) January 22, 2025
The Mint produced over 4.5 billion pennies in FY2023, around 40% of the 11.4 billion coins for circulation produced.
Penny (or 3 cents!) for your thoughts.
Sources:https://t.co/Y5LlrpyA62…
Musk has said that his goal is to cut $500 billion in annual federal spending. If my math is correct, $179 million is only 0.0358% of that, but even so, paying three cents to make one seems sort of counterproductive.
According to JM Bullion, "there is a growing call from both members of the public and lawmakers to discontinue the penny as a coin in the US system. Opponents argue that, in addition to the unwieldy production costs, the penny causes wasted time for both merchants and customers to use – and wasted time means lowered productivity within the economy. Some even worry about the health risks presented by exposure to zinc – especially to children and pets." The "penny debate" even has its own Wikipedia page.
But others disagree. They say that "eliminating the penny and rounding transactions up would negatively affect the poor disproportionately. After all, if money is tight, the differences between one cent and five cents (or ten) add up quickly to result in lower purchasing power and a lowered quality of life. Besides – a significant percentage of the American public thinks the penny is an important part of our history."
CBS points out that other nations have eliminated their version of the penny. Canada stopped minting a one-cent coin in 2012 due to production costs of 1.6 cents per coin, which led to consumers paying approximately $3.27 million more for groceries each year. The United Kingdom did away with the halfpenny of the pound sterling in the 1980s, and Sweden, Australia, and New Zealand have since made similar moves.
Business Insider reports that "Despite bipartisan recognition of the penny's costs since at least the 1970s, efforts to phase out or change the coin have repeatedly stalled in Congress, making it an ideal target for DOGE's efficiency campaign." But it points out that DOGE alone couldn't make the decision. It would require Congress to pass a law that would allow the United States Treasury — which will most likely be led by Scott Bissent under Donald Trump — to direct the United States Mint to stop minting the coins.
According to JM Bullion, raw metal prices and inflation are the two major factors that influence the rising cost of minting the penny. Of course, the price of the metal goes up, but the penny is always worth the same amount. Exploring technological advancements in minting, such as 3D printing, is considered the best alternative to doing way with the coin, which has been in circulation since 1793.
So, what say you? Should DOGE attempt to put an end to the penny?
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