YourVoice.Now Summary
Stops minting new pennies — cash purchases would round to the nearest 5 cents — and lets Treasury change the nickel's metal mix too.
The details
The U.S. Mint currently spends more to produce a penny than the coin is worth, and pennies increasingly sit unused in jars and drawers rather than circulating. The Common Cents Act would direct the Treasury Secretary to stop minting new pennies for everyday circulation, though existing pennies would remain legal tender for any debt or payment. It also gives the Treasury Secretary flexibility to adjust the metal composition of the nickel, allowing a zinc-and-nickel blend instead of the current copper-and-nickel mix, to bring down its production cost, since nickels also currently cost more to make than they're worth. Cash-paying customers and retailers would likely need to start rounding purchases to the nearest five cents once pennies stop being minted, though prices paid by credit or debit card would be unaffected.
Congressional Summary
Congress's official summary of this bill still describes an earlier version of the text, so we have left it out here. You can read it on Congress.gov.
Legislative Subjects
Details
- Congress
- 119th
- Chamber
- House
- Status
- summarized
- Action
- Introduced in House
- Action Date
- 2025-04-29
- Date Added
- 2026-07-09
- Source
- Congress.gov →
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