Congress just voted the penny out of your pocket and into the history books—without touching its legal value.
Story Snapshot
- House and Senate passed the Common Cents Act to end general penny minting.
- Treasury must stop making pennies for circulation within one year of enactment.
- Existing pennies stay legal tender; collectors can still buy new ones as numismatic items.
- Cash totals can be rounded to the nearest five cents under set rules.
What Congress Passed And What It Means
Congress approved the Common Cents Act, which orders the Treasury to stop minting pennies for day-to-day use and sets cash-rounding rules to the nearest five cents. The Senate cleared its version by unanimous consent on August 7, 2026, after the House passed a companion bill in July. The Senate text allows the Mint to keep making one-cent coins for collectors, even as general production ends. The House version directs Treasury to complete the shutdown within one year of enactment.
The heart of the policy is simple: one-cent coins stop entering registers and change drawers, but the penny keeps its legal-tender status. That means you can still spend, save, or roll the pennies you have, and banks can still accept them. Cash purchases may be rounded to five-cent intervals under clear digit rules in the House text, which aims to make the checkout line faster and cut the cost of handling low-value coins. Electronic payments are not affected.
How Rounding Works At The Register
The House bill lays out exact rounding rules keyed to the last cent digit of the final bill total. Totals ending in 1, 2, 6, or 7 cents round down; totals ending in 3, 4, 8, or 9 cents round up; and totals ending in 0 or 5 cents stay the same. The rounding happens on the final amount after taxes and discounts, not on item prices. The Senate language and outside summaries describe the same core move to nearest five cents while preserving flexibility for non-cash payments.
Real-world impact will feel familiar to anyone who has shopped in Canada since 2012. Canada removed its penny from circulation, kept it legal, and told merchants to round cash totals up or down to the nearest five cents. The rollout was routine, and the upside was less hassle at the till for consumers and stores alike.
Why Lawmakers Pulled The Plug On The Penny
The penny costs time and money that no one gets back. Lawmakers framed the bill as common sense: stop making a coin that costs more to handle than its worth, reduce delays at checkout, and free the Mint to focus on useful change. The House summary highlights that the penny stays legal, so no one loses value in jars, drawers, or charity bins. The Senate’s unanimous-consent passage shows broad agreement that the phase-out is overdue, while keeping coin collecting alive through numismatic sales.
Researchers often find the price effects of cash rounding to be tiny in aggregate. Banking trade press briefings on the bill noted the narrow scope—cash rounding only, nearest five cents, symmetric rules—and pointed to industry readiness to adapt with simple point-of-sale updates. That squares with the practical lesson from Canada: rounding happens at the end, is neutral over time, and fades into the background once pennies stop showing up in change.
What Changes For Shoppers, Sellers, And Savers
Shoppers who pay cash will see totals rounded at the counter. Some days you gain two cents, other days you lose two. Over many transactions, the rule’s symmetry should wash out. Card, app, and online payments keep charging exact cents, so no rounding applies there. Small businesses get shorter lines and fewer coin runs. Banks and armored carriers handle less weight. The Mint reduces low-value output while still serving collectors through special issues.
Congress Passed the 'Common Cents' Act Moving the Penny Into Numismatic and Linguistic History https://t.co/fqZFRIjBQf
— Becca Lower (@BeccaJLower) September 15, 2026
Pennies in jars do not expire. You can keep using them, deposit them, or donate them. The bill’s one-year window gives the Treasury time to wind down production and for retailers to update point-of-sale systems. One caveat remains in the public materials: the House and Senate texts are not identical in every detail, and Senate passage came with an amendment. Final enrolled text will set the exact operative language once it is completed and signed.
Bottom Line For A Country That Hates Waiting In Line
Congress took the penny off the assembly line and left its buying power intact. That trade respects people’s money while cutting waste—an approach that lines up with conservative priorities on efficiency and limited government overhead. The shift moves coins out of our way, not value out of our wallets. Expect life to look almost the same, just a little faster at the counter and a lot lighter in the cash drawer.
Sources:
congress.gov, yahoo.com, libdcms.nida.ac.th
