FARGO — If we stop to pick them up, they’re supposed to give us good luck, but someday, there may be fewer of them to do so.

The federal government has stopped minting the one-cent coin, or penny, ending 232 years of its production in the United States.

The Philadelphia Mint struck the final five circulating one-cent coins in mid-November, months after President Donald Trump ordered an end to penny production.

The Treasury said changing consumer habits and technology, along with rising production costs, have made minting pennies no longer feasible, noting each penny costs 3.69 cents to make, up from 1.42 cents a decade ago, Reuters reported.

Local coin collectors and dealers aren’t surprised by the news.

Bill O’Brien, owner of Northern Plains Coins in south Fargo, has been collectin

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