But one penny has been hard to come by: the 2025 penny. “Everybody found out that the production is stopped, so everybody ran into the banks and started buying them,” Raines said.

In fiscal year 2024, it took 3.7 cents to produce and distribute one penny, according to the 2024 U.S. Mint report. The 2024 cost was up by 20% from the previous year, according to the report.

The penny has been used for almost as long as the United States has been a country. According to the U.S. Mint , pennies were first introduced in 1793 and were made out of copper back then.