Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent struck the final five pennies on Wednesday — each bearing a rare omega mark — ending U.S. penny production and creating collectors’ items that could fetch millions at auction.
The penny, first authorized under the Coinage Act of 1792, was recently discontinued due to rising production costs over the last decade. The tiny coin now costs nearly four cents to make but is only worth one cent.
While experts estimated the auction value of the final copper-colored tokens between $2 million and $5 million, according to USA Today, other coin collectors said the estimates seem unrealistic.
Philadelphia-area numismatist Richard Weaver, owner of Broomall’s Delaware Valley Rare Coin Company, told phillymag.com when U.S. Treasurer Brandon Beach posed for a photo holding one of the final pennies, he may have damaged it.
“If you look at that photo, he is holding the penny with his fingers on the coin,” Weaver told the outlet. “You just don’t do that. Copper is very reactive to sweat and the oils of the skin, and any serious collector is going to take this photo into consideration.”