DOGE Takes Aim At U.S. Coin, Says It Cost Taxpayers “Over $179 Million”

Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has placed the U.S. penny in its crosshairs, noting the cost of manufacturing the coin.

“The penny costs over 3 cents to make and cost US taxpayers over $179 million in FY2023. The Mint produced over 4.5 billion pennies in FY2023, around 40% of the 11.4 billion coins for circulation produced,” DOGE wrote.

“Penny (or 3 cents!) for your thoughts,” it added.

The penny costs over 3 cents to make and cost US taxpayers over $179 million in FY2023.

The Mint produced over 4.5 billion pennies in FY2023, around 40% of the 11.4 billion coins for circulation produced.

Penny (or 3 cents!) for your thoughts.

Sources:https://t.co/Y5LlrpyA62…

— Department of Government Efficiency (@DOGE) January 22, 2025

Per CBS News:

In pointing out the penny’s costliness, DOGE is taking aim at an issue that has sparked debate for years, although the price of manufacturing the cent has only grown over the past several years. In 2016, for instance, the U.S. was spending about 1.5 cents to mint each penny, or less than half of its current manufacturing cost.

Still, the cent’s $179 million in costs represents mere metaphorical pennies when it comes to DOGE’s mandate to cut federal spending. President Donald Trump has said DOGE will provide recommendations to “slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures and restructure federal agencies.” Musk has said the group will aim to trim $500 billion in annual federal spending.

The Department of Government Efficiency may get rid of the US penny, per NYP.

Is this a good idea?

— unusual_whales (@unusual_whales) January 23, 2025

Elon Musk’s DOGE is taking aim at the U.S. penny, pointing out that it costs more to manufacture than it’s worth. https://t.co/Pxvh7r2LBh

— CBS News (@CBSNews) January 22, 2025

Daily Mail reports:

DOGE has been tasked with coming up with recommendations on how to cut federal spending.

It’s unclear if it would advise permanently killing off the penny, or just halting or trimming the penny’s production.

The U.S. Mint already decreased the production of the penny between 2023 and 2024 by nearly 29 percent.

U.S. Mint data from 2024 showed a fourth straight year of declining coin production, according to CoinNews.net.

The article also pointed out that the Federal Reserve typically orders more pennies to be minted than any other denomination.

Other countries have started killing off their one cent coins, including the U.S.’s neighbor to the north Canada.

Canada stopped producing 1 cent coins in 2012.

However a 2018 analysis from the Atlantic Economic Journal found that because most grocery store prices end in 9, Canadians spent about $3.27 million more in Canadian dollars at grocery stores with prices being rounded up to the nearest nickel.

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This is a Guest Post from our friends over at 100 Percent Fed Up.

View the original article here.