Federal status of the penny

Penny production has stopped

The Treasury decided in 2025 to stop making pennies because each one cost more than a cent to produce. The U.S. Mint held a ceremonial strike of the final circulating one-cent coins at the Philadelphia Mint on November 12, 2025. The Mint can still make pennies for collectors, but none are made for circulation. With no new coins, banks and stores have struggled to get pennies, which is why states began passing rounding laws in early 2026.

Pennies are still legal tender

Federal law makes United States coins and currency legal tender for all debts, public charges, taxes and dues (31 U.S.C. § 5103). Ending production did not change that, and the pennies in circulation keep their value. Legal tender does not mean every store must take them: the Federal Reserve notes that no federal statute requires a private business to accept cash or coins, unless a state law says otherwise. Georgia’s rounding law, for example, requires merchants to accept exact payment including pennies.

The Common Cents Act (H.R. 10167)

The House and Senate first passed different versions (H.R. 3074 and S. 1525). To resolve that, the Senate text was reintroduced as H.R. 10167, which the House passed by voice vote on September 14, 2026 and the Senate passed without amendment by unanimous consent on September 28, 2026. As of October 30, 2026 we have found no record that the President has signed it, so it is not yet law. A bill becomes law if signed, or if the President does not act within 10 days (Sundays excepted) of receiving it while Congress is in session.

What the enrolled bill says

• Production: the Treasury must stop producing one-cent coins for general circulation (collector coins are still allowed).
• Legal tender: pennies issued before enactment stay legal tender for all debts, public charges, taxes and dues.
• Rounding is optional: if exact change cannot be provided, a cash total may be rounded symmetrically to the nearest 5¢ (1, 2, 6, 7 down; 3, 4, 8, 9 up). Totals of 1¢ or 2¢ may be rounded up to 5¢. Nothing in the bill requires anyone to round.
• Customer-favorable rounding is always allowed: down when the customer pays cash, up when the business pays out cash.
• Employers that round cash wages must round up to the next 5¢.
• What is rounded: the total transaction amount including taxes, or the change due.
• Not rounded: checks and other negotiable instruments, electronic fund transfers, gift cards, money orders, credit cards and similar methods.
• Safe harbor: a seller following the bill’s rounding rules is not in violation of any federal, state, tribal or local requirement because of that rounding, though the bill does not excuse noncompliance with laws such as minimum wage and overtime.
• Reports: the Federal Reserve must publish a penny distribution plan within 90 days of enactment, and the Treasury must assess effects on low-income, older and unbanked consumers.

How it would fit with state laws

The federal rule matches the symmetric method used by most states, so a business following a typical state law would also satisfy the federal bill. The differences are at the edges: Arizona and Georgia require rounding, Indiana allows always-up rounding, and Vermont requires a posted notice. The federal safe harbor could shield sellers who follow the federal method even where a state rule differs; how courts would read that against mandatory state laws is untested. Until the bill is law, follow your state’s rule.