This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
The U.S. Treasury has announced that it will end the production of pennies for use in America's cash markets, following President Donald Trump's call for that move on the money-losing process.
It costs more than 2 cents for the government to make each penny.
The end of production will mean that cash transactions will have to be rounded up or down to the nearest nickel's worth, while online purchases and card purchases still will be able to be defined by the penny.
A report from the Daily Express said the penny has been in production for 200 years, but now is being phased out.
But, the report said, the penny phaseout likely will mean a surge in the demand for nickels, which also lose the government money, costing 14 cents for production of each coin.
The report explained, "The move to cease penny production follows years of bipartisan efforts to ban the coins. Former President Barack Obama criticized the penny during his time in the White House. In a social media post this February, President Trump called on the Treasury to stop producing pennies, labeling them 'wasteful.'"
He said, "For far too long, the United States has minted pennies which literally cost us more than 2 cents. Let's rip the waste out of our great nation's budget, even if it's a penny at a time."
Treasury explained in a statement that the round-up or round-down process now will be needed for cash transactions.
Reports confirmed the final order of blank templates needed to make pennies was placed this month.
After that, minting will stop and the final pennies will be moved into circulation.
Further, the problems created by the demands of state sales taxes, which sometimes must be rounded to the "nearest cent." will have to be addressed.
The government predicts millions of dollars will be saved by ending the penny production.
