The United States government minted its final penny in November of 2025. This came after fiat money inflation succeeded in depriving pennies of nearly all their value. Pennies are still circulating, but it is increasingly common for stores to round cost totals to avoid giving pennies in change. Also, people seeing that the metal content of their pennies is worth more than the face value are deciding that it is better to store pennies in a jar than to spend them.
Tag: penny
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Whatever Happened to the Penny?
Richard J. Maybury’s book Whatever Happened to Penny Candy? provides a good introduction to government’s destruction over time of the value of money. The “penny candy” mentioned in the book’s title has moved on to higher and higher prices as the value of the penny has continued to decrease. Now pennies themselves are going away with the last new penny having been minted by the United States government on Wednesday.
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The Happy Penny
On Saturday, I received three pennies in change at a store. Looking at the pennies in my hand, one jumped out for its unique color. I was happy to see it — the happy penny.