The last penny was stamped at the Philadelphia U.S. Mint during an event on Wednesday, Nov. 12, part of an effort to retire the coin that now costs more to produce than it is worth.

The U.S. Mint punched out the last pennies ever on Wednesday, Nov. 12 – and the public will have a chance to bid for them.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S. Treasurer Brandon Beach were on hand at the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia for the striking of the "final circulating penny" on Nov. 12.

The final pair of pennies to be made were stamped with a special omega mark and will not go into circulation, the Treasury Department said. The government plans to auction the pennies off in the future.

The government has made one-cent U.S. coins since 1793, the Treasury Department said.

What will happen to the last two pennies minted?

The Treasury Department said the last two pennies, which were stamped with a special omega mark, will be auctioned off in the future.

Why did the government decide to quit making pennies?

President Donald Trump ordered the Treasury Department back in February to stop minting pennies, because the coins cost more to mint than they are worth. The U.S. Mint said in its annual report that each penny costs 3.69 cents to make.

Even though the U.S. Mint has stopped making pennies, they won’t go away anytime soon. That’s because there are about 300 billion pennies in circulation, according to the Treasury Department.

However, some retailers – and restaurants such as McDonald's, have begun running short of pennies and have had to start rounding cash transactions up or down to the nearest five cents when customers don’t have exact change.

Mike Snider is a national trending news reporter for USA TODAY. You can follow him on Threads, Bluesky, X and email him at mikegsnider & @mikegsnider.bsky.social & @mikesnider & msnider@usatoday.com

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: The last pennies were minted. The special coins will be auctioned in the future.

Reporting by Mike Snider and Phaedra Trethan, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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