Can I Still Use My Pennies?
If you have seen headlines about the U.S. Mint winding down penny production, you might be wondering what that means for your wallet and your change jar at home. Let’s clear things up.
Yes, You Can Still Use Your Pennies
Even though the U.S. Mint will stop producing new pennies in 2026, the coins already in circulation will remain legal tender. That means you can spend, deposit, or save them just like before.
No recall is planned, and businesses can continue to accept them indefinitely. So if you have a jar or coffee can full of pennies, don’t worry—they are still worth one cent each.
How This Will Affect Your Transactions
For most people, not much will change.
Digital payments: Nothing changes. Every cent still counts the same.
Cash transactions: When pennies become scarce, some stores may round totals to the nearest five cents.
Totals ending in 1 or 2 cents may round down.
Totals ending in 3 or 4 cents may round up.
This rounding applies only to the final total when paying with cash, not to individual item prices. You’ll still see prices like $1.99, and displays won’t suddenly jump to $2.00.
How Members are Impacted
We will not be getting any new inventory of pennies. Once our current supply is gone, we will not be able to get more.
For our members, any cash back less than 5 cents will be deposited into your account. For non-members, we cannot provide exact change.
What You Can Do
If you have extra pennies at home, you can:
Spend them in cash transactions
Roll them and deposit or exchange them
Save them as part of your coin collection
Every penny still holds value, and you can continue to use them just like any other coin.
Change is a regular part of how money works, and we’re here to help you understand what’s ahead. If you have questions about cash handling, rounding, or deposits, please get in touch with us.
City of Firsts Community Federal Credit Union | Proudly serving Kokomo / Howard County with practical guidance, friendly service, and financial tools built for members like you.