Admit it, Trump haters. Once in a (great) while, he gets something right | Opinion
Finally, President Donald Trump issued a directive we can all get behind.
He told the U.S. Treasury to stop producing pennies.
That makes sense — in fact, it should have been done years ago — and Trump deserves credit for finally acting on the idea. And he did it during the Super Bowl!
Naturally, there is some debate over whether Trump has the power to stop the minting of new pennies, but can we please not quibble about it?
On this, Trump should get his way, because pennies really are a huge and completely unnecessary waste of taxpayer dollars. It costs 3.69 cents to produce just one. That’s almost 4 cents!
And are you sitting down? Nickels are even a bigger waste of money. In 2024, it cost 13.78 cents to mint a single nickel.
That’s ridiculous! If we really want to save money, maybe we should phase out nickels and make pennies the new 5-cent coin. There would have to be a redesign, of course. Maybe put Trump on one side and Elon Musk on the other? With the words “In DOGE We Trust’?
An $85 million loss
Anyway, ceasing production of pennies would translate into substantial savings. In 2024, the U.S. Mint lost $85 million on penny production, which isn’t nothing.
That’s reason enough to stop making one-cent coins, but there are others.
Here’s one: The penny has become irrelevant — so much so that practically every mom-and-pop store has a dish on their counter where customers can deposit their unwanted pennies so they won’t weigh down their purses or their pockets.
That’s how worthless they have become. We are actually giving them away because there is nothing we can buy for a penny anymore.
Penny candies cost at least a quarter.
Good luck trying to find a penny slot machine.
And when’s the last time someone offered you a penny for your thoughts?
They make great tile spacers
Pennies may actually be more valuable as household tools. Here’s a list of their many uses, courtesy of The Farmer’s Bank, a Tennessee financial institution that’s over 100 years old.
- Check your tire tread depth
- Turn screws
- Keep cut flowers fresh for longer
- Add weight to curtains
- Glue them into stacks to stabilize wobbly chairs and tables
- Use as spacers when laying tile
- Make a cold pack.
That last one requires some elaboration from The Farm Bank.
Here it is: “Take an old sock, fill with pennies and pop it into the freezer. The pennies will form around the leg or arm needing a cold pack. They stay cold for a long time and can be used over and over.”
240 billion and counting
There are some pro-penny folks out there who argue against ending production, and it’s not just the good people of Illinois, AKA the Land of Lincoln, where lawmakers have historically resisted the idea.
Here’s one of the strongest arguments for pennies: Ending their production would lead to a greater need for nickels, which are even more costly to produce.
Don’t buy it. Pennies are not going to disappear overnight; untold billions are in existence. (Exact estimates vary, though a New York Times “conservative estimate” of 240 billion seems to be the gold standard.)
Pennies will continue to circulate unless lots of people decide that any old one-cent coin is now a valuable collectible that is worth hoarding.
If you are one of those individuals, I have some Beanie Babies and Pokemon cards I can sell you.
Time to ditch the dollar?
If anything — and I cannot believe I am saying this — Donald Trump did not go far enough.
It’s time to consider phasing out coins altogether. Maybe dollar bills, too, because currency is becoming obsolete.
If you don’t believe it, just hang out with some millennials and/or zoomers. They rarely carry around cash. They use ATM cards or Apple Pay or Venmo or apps I’ve never even heard of because I’m old.
Many of them don’t even carry wallets; they do everything with their phones. No cash — or coins — needed.
But they might want to hang on to a few pennies. Maybe stick them in a jar or a glove compartment or a junk drawer.
After all, you never know when you might want to check your tire tread, lay some tile or make a cold pack.
This story was originally published February 14, 2025 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Admit it, Trump haters. Once in a (great) while, he gets something right | Opinion."
