It costs the US more than 1 cent to produce... a 1 cent coin.
The Hill newspaper on February 10 quoted US President Donald Trump as saying that he had directed the Treasury Department to stop producing 1 cent coins, because he thought this was wasteful.
Writing on his social media site Truth Social, he said he had directed Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to stop minting these low-value coins featuring the late President Abraham Lincoln.
"For too long, the United States has been minting pennies that cost more than two cents. This is too wasteful. I have directed the Secretary of the Treasury to stop minting new pennies. Eliminate waste from the budget of this country, even if it is only one cent at a time," according to the White House owner.
In fiscal year 2024, the cost to mint a penny is 3.7 cents, and the cost has exceeded the face value of the coin for 19 consecutive years, according to the U.S. Mint's annual report.
The penny was made of copper before 1962 and is now made primarily of copper-plated zinc. Lincoln has been on the penny since 1909. According to the U.S. Treasury, this is the first penny produced by the U.S. Mint.
Billionaire Elon Musk, who has been tasked by President Trump with cutting waste in the US, mentioned the coin in a post on social network X last month.
"The cost of producing a penny is just over 3 cents and will cost US taxpayers more than $179 million in fiscal year 2023. The US Mint has produced more than 4.5 billion pennies in fiscal year 2023, representing about 40% of the 11.4 billion pennies in circulation. A penny (or 3 cents) for your thought," said Mr. Musk's DOGE.
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/ong-trump-chi-dao-dung-duc-dong-1-xu-de-tranh-lang-phi-185250210142313211.htm
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