It's official. After 232 years in circulation, the humble penny is finally meeting its maker. The Treasury has confirmed it. The penny is being discontinued.

The writing has been on the wall, with Musk's DOGE being on the penny's case pretty much since day one of the new president's inauguration. And on February 9th, President Trump posted this on Truth Social:

Well, I'm all for that last line. Every little bit helps.

Funny enough, I had no idea how much it costs to make a penny. But I felt that, given everything I know about governmental "efficiency," it probably costs more than just 2 cents.

So I went to the United States Mint's website to find out.

Turns out, Trump's numbers were indeed conservative. According to the U.S. Mint's own 2024 Annual Report, it actually costs 3.69 cents to produce a single penny. That's almost four times what it's worth!

Let that sink in. Every time the government mints a penny, taxpayers lose 2.69 cents. It's kind of like a reverse lottery where we're guaranteed to lose money.

In fiscal year 2024 alone, the U.S. Mint cranked out 3.22 billion pennies, torching $85.3 million of taxpayer money in the process.