NEW YORK (AP) — The impending “death” of the U.S. penny has spotlighted the coin's own price tag — nearly 4 cents to make and distribute each, or quadruple its value.
Months after President Donald Trump called on his administration to cease penny production, the U.S. Mint announced this week that it had made its final order of penny blanks — and plans to stop making new 1 cent coins after those run out.
Coin production costs vary thanks to different raw metals used, complexity of their designs, labor needed and more. Many of those expenses have been on the rise — and the penny isn't the only coin entering our wallets today that costs more to make than it's worth (enter the nickel debate).
Here's a rundown of U.S. Mint production costs from the government's latest fiscal year.
Each penny costs nearly 4 cents — or $0.0369, to be exact — for the U.S. Mint to make and distribute.
In total, America's coin manufacturer said it shipped more than 3.17 billion pennies throughout its 2024 fiscal year. That's notably less pennies than it sent the year prior (when nearly 4.14 billion 1-cent pieces went out) — but circulating shipment for all coins was down about 44% overall. The Mint often changes its new circulation based on public demand and seasonal trends.
At the same time, the penny's “unit cost” has gone up in recent years. The nearly 4 cent price tag is up 20.2% from the Mint's 2023 report, when a penny cost just over 3 cents.
Each nickel costs nearly 14 cents ($0.1378) to make and distribute. That price tag is nearly triple the five-cent coin’s buying power today.
The unit costs for both the penny and the nickel have remained above face value for 19 consecutive years, the Mint noted in its latest annual report. And, like the penny, the nickel has also seen recent price jumps — with the latest 14 cent cost up 19.4% from the 2023 fiscal year, when its cost sat under 12 cents.
U.S. Mint reported shipping 202 million nickels over its 2024 fiscal year, down from nearly 1.42 billion sent out the year prior.
Each dime costs nearly 6 cents ($0.0576) to make and distribute.
That represents more than half of the 10 cent coin's buying power. And the cost of producing and distributing the dime increased 8.7% over the last year.
In total, the U.S. Mint reported shipping 840 million dimes for its 2024 fiscal year — down from nearly 2.67 billion the year beforehand.
The quarter costs nearly 15 cents ($0.1468) to make and distribute.
That's also more than half of the 25 cent coin's buying power today. The quarter's unit cost has increased by 26.2% since the Mint's 2023 report, when its price tag was closer to 12 cents.
U.S. Mint said it shipped more than 1.6 billion quarters in the 2024 fiscal year, down from about 2.27 billion the year prior.
The half-dollar coin costs nearly 34 cents ($0.3397) to make and distribute.
That represents nearly two-thirds of the 50 cent piece's buying power. And its price has increased by more than 30% since the 2023 fiscal year, when the coin's production cost was just under 26 cents.
U.S. Mint said it shipped 52 million half-dollar coins in its 2024 fiscal year, up from 18 million coins shipped in the 2023 period.
Coins aren't the only form of physical money that vary in production costs. Dollar bills also see differences due to paper and ink used, labor and other expenses.
Here are the latest printing costs for U.S. paper notes, according to the Federal Reserve:
FILE - A lone penny is illuminated in a bin of completed pennies at the U.S. Mint in Denver on Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2007. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)
SINGAPORE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan 13, 2026--
Ant International supported over 2 billion digital cross-border transactions in 2025 for merchants in its core emerging markets including Southeast Asia (SEA), South Asia, the Middle East and Latin America (LATAM), as the company builds out a broader range of AI-powered digital financial and commerce solutions tailored to these regions’ diverse needs.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260113850175/en/
Ant International is focused on improving access to payments, credit, digital banking and cross-border connectivity in fast-growing but fragmented digital economies. The company currently serves more than 150 million merchants globally, 90% of which are SMEs.
“In the world’s fastest growing emerging markets, real-world, trusted and scalable adoption of AI and other new technologies can unlock entirely new growth opportunities for businesses big and small,” said Douglas Feagin, President of Ant International. “It is time for fintech innovators to convert access into real growth momentum. We will work even harder to put AI-powered digital payments, financing, commerce and cross-border solutions on the ground for entrepreneurs and communities with ever lower cost and ever stronger safety and security guardrails.”
Digital Inclusion multiplies growth
Payment digitalisation and integration is crucial for business success in emerging markets:
Access to banking and financing remains a key challenge for SMEs:
Putting ontheGround Effective and Trusted Innovation
Ant International is laser-focused on building trusted FinAI technologies. In 2025, Ant international open-sourced its proprietary Falcon Time-Series Transformer (TST) AI model, which enhanced AirAsia’s FX risk management and reduced its hedging costs by up to 40%.
While investing in cutting-edge fintech innovations, Ant International is also focused on supporting effective, safe, and controlled adoption of AI in commerce to help merchants achieve measurable and scalable results.
Adoption of AI has to be premised on a strong security foundation. Ant International's SHIELD 3-in-1 risk management transformer model integrates graph, sequence and tabular modalities in protecting our clients and our businesses. It has achieved 95% precision in identifying high-risk transactions, and boosted payment success rates by as much as 13.5%.
Interoperability and Real-Time Payment (RTP)EfficiencyunlocksFuture of Commerce
Cross-border interoperability across diverse modes of payments, remains a key driver of trade, tourism and economic growth. Alipay+ currently connects more than 1.8 billion user accounts across 40 international payment partners to merchants across more than 100 markets. It is the world’s largest cross-border mobile payment public-private partnership, collaborating with 11 national QR networks globally. Through a partnership with Mastercard, Alipay+ partners – AlipayHK, GCash and Kakao Pay – can tap-to-pay via NFC across Mastercard-enabled merchants.
Ant International’s Platform Tech enables highly efficient cross-border fund transfers by processing over US$600 billion via blockchain, operating 24/7 with more than 95 percent completed on the same day. In addition, Ant International and SWIFT recently pioneered the first bank-to-wallet payment, opening the opportunity for global bank customers to send funds directly to mobile wallets.
Southeast Asia Champions Inclusive Fintech Success
In SEA, where Ant International has worked with local partners for more than a decade, SMEs have seen measurable impact to their businesses.
Regional FinAI Development:
Interoperability:
Trade and Commerce:
Inclusive Finance:
“As digital economies across Southeast Asia and other developing markets continue to scale, Ant International remains focused on enabling access and fostering shared prosperity. We work with partners, governments and businesses to promote growth that is inclusive, sustainable and globally connected,” Feagin said.
Note: All data are year-on-year comparisons for 2025 vs 2024
About Ant International
With headquarters in Singapore and main operations across Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Latin America, Ant International is a leading global digital payment, digitisation and financial technology provider. Through collaboration across the private and public sectors, our unified techfin platform supports financial institutions and merchants of all sizes to achieve inclusive growth through a comprehensive range of cutting-edge digital payment and financial services solutions. To learn more, please visit https://www.ant-intl.com/
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