A group of 10 members of Congress recently sent a letter to the Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell asking that the Federal Reserve System take a thoughtful approach to recirculating existing pennies.
The Congress members expressed support for the U.S. Mint to stop producing pennies for circulation, citing the $85 million loss the U.S. Department of Treasury had in 2024 as a result of the penny’s production. They also applauded the Common Cents Act which provided guidance to retailers and banks on how to alleviate penny demand. Guidance is necessary, the letter said, because otherwise retailers increasingly may find accepting cash transactions difficult.
The lawmakers expressed concern over the Federal Reserve’s decision to cease accepting penny deposits or orders at the majority of coin terminal locations across the United States.
“We acknowledge that the Federal Reserve is not ‘shutting down’ these terminals entirely, as private armored carriers may continue to process orders and deposits from the financial institutions’ own accounts,” the letter said. “However, this is not a practical solution, as banks understandably want to preserve their own penny inventories out of concern that additional terminals may no longer be available, leaving them unable to obtain additional pennies in a cost-effective manner.”