No More Pennies: What That Means For Arizona’s Copper Industry

In days gone by, it wasn't uncommon for many common products to only cost a few cents. As such, change was a vital part of our financial ecosystem. With rising costs and the introduction of Credit/Debit Cards, coins were slowly phased out of normal American life.

Now, a major change is coming to the U.S. economy, and it marks the end for coins here in America.

Goodbye Penny

Recently, the United States government made a landmark decision: they would halt the production of pennies at the end of 2025. This comes after the Department of Government Efficiency and Donald Trump called the coin "Wasteful", as a standard penny costs around 3.69 cents to make.

Because of this change, retailers will need to round all prices to the nearest five cents, so products that were originally $19.99 will now be rounded to either $20 flat or $19.95. This removal does raise some issues for Arizona, however, who's pride and joy is their Copper industry.

The Federal Government Just Ignored Arizona Voters

Get our free mobile app

Is Arizona Copper Out of a Job?

Pennies are one of the most noticeable things in daily life made from copper, and and copper is Arizona's bread and butter. As such, is Arizona's copper industry in trouble?

Well, good news! It's not even remotely! Since 1982, almost every penny has been made of Zinc, not copper. Even more so, since pennies are more expensive than their worth to make, this likely helps Arizona's copper industry more than it hurts it. So get ready to say goodbye to the Penny, Arizona, it's had a good run, but their services simply aren't needed anymore.

[The Hill][Cronkite News]