Trump Killed the Penny and Now the U.S. Mint Is Quietly Preparing to Do It Again

Trump killed the penny because the government was hemorrhaging money pressing a coin worth less than the metal it was made from.

Now economists are pointing at the nickel — and the numbers are actually worse.

What they just found out about the nickel's production costs should make every American demand Trump finish what he started – auditing Fort Knox.

The Nickel Costs 14 Cents to Make and Washington Has Known for Years

The penny cost 3.69 cents to make in 2024.

The nickel costs 13.78 cents.

That's nearly nine cents lost on every single nickel the Mint stamps out — and Washington pressed 113 million of them last year while you weren't looking.

When production ran over a billion coins a year, as it did in 2022 and 2023, taxpayers absorbed losses of $78 million and $92 million respectively just to keep the nickel alive.

David Smith, an economist at Pepperdine University, confirmed what anyone with a calculator already knows: the nickel "costs more to produce – quite a bit more, actually – than its face value."

Why is it so expensive? It's bigger than a penny and made of 75% copper and 25% actual nickel — a composition Washington hasn't bothered to change since 1866.

Your government has been pressing a 19th-century coin at a 21st-century loss for decades and calling it currency policy.

Every Country That Eliminated Its Nickel Did It Within 20 Years of Killing the Penny

Canada eliminated its penny in 2013.

Australia pulled its 1-cent and 2-cent coins in 1992.

New Zealand eliminated its 5-cent coin in 2006 after the same math played out — the coin cost more to make than it was worth.

Robert Whaples, an economist at Wake Forest University who spent years calling for penny elimination, confirmed the obvious: "We've got rid of the penny, and I think we should have."

But here's what the mainstream media isn't telling you — Trump's penny decision created a new problem that lands directly on the nickel.

Without a penny, the nickel is now the least valuable coin in your pocket.

Retailers who used to round to the nearest cent now have to round to the nearest nickel, which means the Mint will press significantly more of them going forward.

Those losses are about to get bigger — on your dime.

Congress Already Introduced a Bill to Kill the Nickel But Far Bigger Savings Are Elsewhere

H.R. 1270, introduced in the 119th Congress, would suspend production of both the penny and the nickel simultaneously.

It's sitting in committee collecting dust while the losses mount.

Here is a coin bleeding nearly nine cents per unit that hasn't been worth a phone call since 1951.

Whaples says the nickel's demise is inevitable: "At some point it's inevitable. But not necessarily any time soon."

"Not any time soon" is the answer you get from economists who trust Washington to fix things on its own timeline.

Trump doesn't operate on Washington's timeline.

He eliminated the penny the same way he approaches every inefficient government program — quickly, decisively, and over the protests of people who thought inertia was a policy.

The nickel is losing nearly nine cents of your money on every coin pressed.

The only question is why not cut where the biggest cost savings are.

Here’s a hint: like a nickel the number five is associated with it – but it’d be sides not cents.

Sources:

• Daniel de Visé, Jennifer Borresen, and George Petras, "Will Mint stop making nickels? US loses $85M annually pressing nickels," USA TODAY, April 21, 2026.
• "Penny Elimination: Canada's 2013 Coin Phase-Out and Lessons for the United States," Royal Canadian Mint Annual Report, 2013.
• Reserve Bank of New Zealand, "Coin Rounding and the 2006 5-Cent Coin Elimination," RBNZ Currency Operations Report, 2006.
• United States Mint, "Biennial Report to the Congress on the Current Status of Coins," U.S. Department of the Treasury, 2024.
• H.R. 1270, 119th Congress, "Saving Taxpayers Money by Suspending Production of the Penny and Nickel," Congress.gov, 2025.