PANews reported on May 23 that the U.S. Treasury Department has confirmed that it will stop minting pennies . The U.S. Mint has placed an order for the last batch of blank coins, and will stop production after they are exhausted.

The U.S. Treasury Department said there are about 114 billion cents in circulation in the United States, worth $1.14 billion, but utilization of these coins is far lower than expected. The 1-cent coin was one of the first coins minted by the U.S. Mint after it was established in 1792.