It's hard to believe that the era of the “penny” (or “cent,” as the coin is officially known in United States nomenclature) is coming to an end. The denomination was the first coin struck by the United States at its Philadelphia Mint location. It took the Mint three tries to land on a design concept that it could maintain for multiple years' use. The Chain, Wreath, and Liberty Cap Cents of 1793 are iconic designs that represent the aspirations of the newly formed republic. The cent and its little sibling, the half cent, were intended to be the coins of the everyperson. Back then, you could buy things for a cent or its fraction, but over time, the cost of goods rose to the level where the half cent was no longer practical, and the price of copper rose to a level where producing a large one-cent coin was no longer feasible.
In 1857, Congress acted, and the half cent was no more. The large cent gave way to a new small cent – one made out of an alloy of copper and nickel. This copper-nickel small cent composition lasted for eight years through three design changes before giving way to a bronze alloy in 1864. Except for the 1943 “Steel Cent,” our pennies were struck in bronze until 1982, when the costs of production again asserted themselves. After much experimentation, the Mint landed on a copper-plated zinc composition that penny collectors affectionately call the "Zincoln." Our classic bronze cents wear smooth, while the Zincoln deteriorates. There's a word often used when the quality of a good or service declines over time. I will not use it here, but suffice it to say that’s what happened to our beloved cent.
For the past 50 years, there have been conversations about eliminating the cent. These conversations come from collectors, the general public, lobbyists, and elected officials. I can see both sides of the argument. The cent costs nearly 4 cents each to make, has no practical purchasing power, and most are taken out of circulation and are either lost or set aside in jugs or drawers.
Congress should consider wholesale coinage reform to mitigate the impact that the cent's elimination will have on the production costs of the nickel, dime, and quarter. Also, state and local sales tax schemes are based on a monetary system that uses pennies. Given the growing number of Americans who transact primarily in digital payment methods (now estimated at 86%), the inconvenience of not having cents may go largely unnoticed. My local bank no longer orders them, and I’m sure the same is true for most of you.
When the large cent was discontinued in 1857, the Mint opened a redemption counter for the obsolete coins. Millions of cents were exchanged – new for old – and in turn, most of the old coppers were melted down. The transition from old to new had an immediate impact on the coin-collecting hobby: it invigorated it. Wealthy bankers, businesspersons, and day laborers alike recognized that the money of their childhood was set to disappear, and many of them set out to preserve what they could. Within two years, numismatic societies were formed in Philadelphia and New York.
That so many of our early coins survive for collectors to enjoy today happened because of the elimination of the large cent.
For Most Americans, the Lincoln Cent is All They Know
No American living today was born before the Lincoln Wheat Cent debuted in 1909. Victor David Brenner’s portrait of Lincoln has served as the longest design constant in American history – a feat that any other denomination will never match. If you were born in the 1950s, Wheat Cents were no big deal, but seeing the occasional worn Indian Cent in change would have been special. I was born in the nation’s Bicentennial year. The Wheat Cent had already given way 18 years earlier to Frank Gasparro’s Memorial Cent design. Memorial Cents were no big deal to me, but I was always excited to find a Wheat Cent. In fact, my first PCGS coin was a 1958-D Lincoln Cent, graded MS65. It’s as red as the day it was struck, but when PCGS graded it in 1999 or 2000, the company didn’t include the coin’s color attribution on the label; the PCGS number denotes the coin as RD. That coin began my long journey from enthusiastic collector to professional numismatist.
I’d actually thought that the cent might go away after the 2009 “Bicentennial Cents” were issued. Congress sure talked about eliminating the coin then, but instead, in 2010, the Mint introduced the Shield Design. The Shield design features a Union Shield with a scroll draped across it. Artist Lyndall Bass designed the new reverse, and future Chief Engraver Joseph Menna is credited with the sculpt. The Shield Cent was scheduled for a February debut, but submissions to PCGS trickled in as early as December the year before.
The Cent’s Fate was Sealed with a Super Bowl Sunday Social Media Post
The formal end of circulating penny production came not via a Congressional Act or a planned Treasury announcement, but through a social media post. On Super Bowl Sunday, February 9, 2025, President Donald Trump announced on his Truth Social platform that he had instructed the Secretary of the Treasury to immediately cease the minting of new one-cent coins, citing the excessive cost and waste involved.
This directive bypassed Congress’s long-standing inertia over its coinage and marked a chaotic end to a 232-year legacy. While the coin remains legal tender and existing pennies will continue to circulate, at least for now, the presidential order set in motion a series of events that will ultimately eliminate the coin from public life… And likely excite a new generation of coin collectors!
A Numismatic Finale: The Omega Cents Auction
To commemorate the close of this historic era, the U.S. Mint held a final ceremonial strike on November 12, 2025, in Philadelphia, where it struck 232 coins, representing the 232 years of production (fun trivia, no cents are dated 1815). These final coins, which will not enter circulation, bear a distinctive omega (O) privy mark – the last letter of the Greek alphabet, symbolizing the end of the series.
The Mint subsequently announced that the very last "Omega Cents" would be auctioned to the public through Stack’s Bowers Galleries. The auction, scheduled for Thursday, December 11, 2025, will feature 232 three-coin sets (one set for each year of the cent’s production) that include:
- One 2025 Omega-marked cent (Philadelphia Mint)
- One 2025-D Omega-marked cent (Denver Mint)
- One 2025 24-Karat Gold uncirculated cent (Philadelphia Mint)
The final set, number 232, will also include the canceled original dies used to strike the coins. I believe that this historic offering will generate massive collector interest, making the frenzy that surrounded the end of the large cent in 1857 look like a ripple in a pond. At just 232 pieces, the Omega Cents will take their place among the rarest issues in American history, and certainly the highest profile coins of the modern era. I’m personally curious as to how Lincoln Cent collectors will view these privy-marked coins, the gold one, especially.
Time will tell. For now, I’ll have to set my calendar and wait to see like everybody else.