Washington, Jan 25, (V7N) - The Department of Government Efficiency, led by Elon Musk, has set a new goal: to reduce the cost of producing U.S. pennies at any cost. A unique approach has been found to achieve this.

In a post, the Department shared that it costs more than 3 cents to make each penny. In the 2023 fiscal year, U.S. taxpayers spent over $179 million on pennies.

The U.S. Mint Bureau produced nearly 45 billion pennies in 2023, sending 41 billion of them into circulation. The annual report for the 2024 fiscal year noted that it now costs 3.7 cents to produce and distribute each penny, a 20% increase from previous years. The rising costs of metals, especially zinc and copper, are the main reasons for this increase.

CNN reported that discussions about eliminating pennies in the U.S. have been ongoing for years. Pennies are rarely used in transactions and often accumulate in people’s homes. Furthermore, since the COVID-19 pandemic, more consumers have turned to online shopping and digital payments, reducing the use of coins and paper currency.

A recent article in The New York Times Magazine also argued for the elimination of pennies, stating, “The need to eliminate pennies has been clear for a long time, but our failure to implement it has become a symbol of our administrative weakness.”

Experts argue that removing pennies would save time in business transactions. Jeff Leonard, Vice President of the National Association of Convenience Stores, said that their stores handle about 52 million cash transactions daily. He pointed out that saving just 2 seconds per customer could save 104 million seconds daily—equivalent to about 1,203 days.

The debate over the necessity of pennies has been ongoing in the U.S. In 2001, a popular episode of the TV show The West Wing featured a fictional character, Sam Seaborn, who strongly criticized the need for pennies.

Musk is now working closely with the new Trump administration. President Donald Trump signed an executive order this week to establish the Department of Government Efficiency. Vivek Ramaswamy, who was appointed as the department's deputy head alongside Musk, has reportedly been removed from the position, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Rising costs for penny production and the changing economic landscape suggest that pennies may soon be eliminated. However, this will require both administrative and social agreement.

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