Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is targeting the U.S. penny, or the cent, as something to eliminate to save costs.
“The penny costs over 3 cents to make and cost US taxpayers over $179 million in FY2023,” the department wrote in a post on Musk’s X platform on Jan. 21.
“The Mint produced over 4.5 billion pennies in FY2023, around 40 percent of the 11.4 billion coins for circulation produced. Penny [or 3 cents!] for your thoughts.”
The U.S. Mint’s 2024 annual report notes that the cost of producing one penny is now about 3.69 cents, up 20 percent from 2023. The Mint circulated roughly 3.2 billion pennies last year....
