The federal government made its final order of penny blanks this month — the first step to end the production of the 1-cent coin, a spokesperson for the Treasury Department confirmed to USA TODAY.

Per the latest U.S. Mint report, it costs less than six cents to make a dime ($0.0576). To make a quarter, it costs about 15 cents ($0.1468), and nearly 34 cents for a half-dollar ($0.3397).

Treasury Department will take pennies out of circulation next year. Costly nickels, however, could cancel out savings.

The U.S. Mint took top honors in "Best Circulating Coin" at the 2025 Mint Directors Conference for the work on the Jovita Idár issue in the American Women quarter dollar series.

The U.S. Treasury is discontinuing the penny, finalizing its last order for the coin due to its high production cost. Cash transactions will be rou

The cost of producing a penny has skyrocketed in recent years, reaching 3.69 cents, according to the Treasury Department.

The U.S. government has ordered its final batch of penny blanks and will stop producing the coin when those blanks run out. The Treasury says $56 million will be saved.

That can lead to coins like the 1943 Lincoln bronze cent, which was made out of bronze in error. It should have been made out of zinc-coated steel, with the Mint having stopped using bronze which was needed for the war effort. Around 20 bronze Lincoln cents have been discovered, with the most expensive being sold for $1.7 million.