The U.S. Mint has made its final order of penny blanks and plans to stop producing the coin when those run out, a Treasury Department official confirmed Thursday. This move comes as the cost of making pennies has increased markedly, by upward of 20% in 2024, according to the Treasury.

By stopping the penny’s production, the Treasury expects an immediate annual savings of $56 million in reduced material costs, according to the official, who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity to preview the news.

Unpopular opinion here: The dollar needs to be revalued. I made this argument in a college column, but given the recent (and ongoing) inflationary environment, it holds even more true.

An ounce of gold was $34 until Nixon took us off the gold standard. I inherited a small amount of gold in the '90s and got $289 per ounce. It’s now north of $3,000.

That’s two orders of magnitude, just in 50-some years. Of course the penny makes no sense, but it’s because the currency in aggregate has been so severely devalued.