The United States House of Representatives has taken a decisive legislative step toward permanently retiring the one-cent coin. Lawmakers approved a bipartisan measure aimed at bringing a definitive statutory close to the production of the nation’s lowest-denomination currency, moving the long-debated transition closer to completion.
The measure, officially titled the Common Cents Act, passed the House on Monday, Sept. 14. Under its provisions, the Department of the Treasury is formally prohibited from manufacturing any additional circulating pennies going forward. The legislation carves out a narrow exception exclusively for the minting of specialized collector coins, ensuring standard circulating issues are brought to an end.
In addition to halting output at federal minting facilities, the legislation lays out specific nationwide instructions for everyday commerce. To maintain smooth daily operations at retail checkout counters, the bill establishes a practical framework requiring cash transactions to be rounded to the nearest nickel whenever exact physical change cannot be provided to a customer.
For consumers holding jars, rolls, or pockets full of one-cent pieces, the measure offers clear reassurances regarding the coin's standing. Existing pennies will not lose their validity; rather, they are designated to remain official legal tender throughout the United States, allowing consumers to continue spending them freely across the commercial landscape.
Beyond addressing the one-cent piece, the congressional legislation also takes aim at the broader costs associated with producing small-denomination coinage. The statutory language grants the Treasury Department the authority to transition the five-cent coin to a lower-cost material composition, providing federal officials with another avenue to reduce minting expenses.
The legislative push was spearheaded across party lines by House Republican Conference Chair Rep. Lisa McClain of Michigan and Democratic Rep. Robert Garcia of California. The bipartisan sponsorship underscores a shared congressional interest in curtailing administrative expenses and revamping outdated government currency operations.
In a formal statement released following the bill's passage on Monday, McClain emphasized the fiscal necessity of eliminating the costly coin. She pointed out the obvious financial contradiction of the government spending nearly four cents to manufacture a coin that carries a face value of only one cent, arguing that the imbalance demonstrated a broken system.
McClain framed the vote as a clear victory for governmental efficiency, stating that lawmakers were demonstrating how common sense can prevail in federal governance. She highlighted that eliminating unnecessary coin manufacturing was an effective way to trim wasteful federal spending and ensure better protection for taxpayer funds.
With the House having completed its vote, the Common Cents Act now heads to the Senate for further deliberation. Should the upper chamber approve the legislation without alterations, the bill will advance to the desk of President Donald Trump for his final signature into law.
The legislative action builds directly upon prior administrative moves that had already placed the coin on life support. The U.S. Mint had previously halted the active production of pennies in November 2025, meaning physical output had already been brought to a standstill nearly a year prior to the House’s permanent legislative ban.
That initial production halt was driven primarily by the severe economic inefficiency of manufacturing the coin. Over its final years of production, the actual cost to fabricate and distribute each one-cent coin had escalated to roughly 3.69 cents, rendering the denomination an ongoing financial liability for the federal government.
Federal financial authorities had grown increasingly vocal about the mounting costs of continuing to press one-cent coins into service. At the time production was halted, Treasurer Brandon Beach stated that the American taxpayer had been repeatedly shortchanged for more than a decade as the gulf between production expenses and face value widened.
By officially moving away from one-cent coin production, the U.S. Mint projected meaningful financial relief for federal coffers. Agency officials estimated that terminating the manufacturing process for pennies would generate approximately $56 million in taxpayer savings each year.
The economic landscape has also shifted dramatically away from small physical change in recent years. Beach observed that the rapid modernization of the American wallet had significantly reduced the practical utility of the penny within a modern 21st-century economy, where electronic payments and altered spending habits dominate.
Furthermore, federal officials noted that the country is already saturated with small coinage from past manufacturing runs. At the time the coin was originally retired from regular production, Treasury Department estimates indicated there were roughly 300 billion pennies circulating nationwide—a volume recognized as far exceeding the actual demands of domestic commerce.
As the Common Cents Act now awaits Senate action, lawmakers hope to permanently codify the retirement of the penny into federal law, ensuring the costly coin is permanently removed from the government's manufacturing line.
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