Stores No Longer Give Pennies In Change, Start Rounding As Supplies Run Short

The anticipated penny shortage has arrived in earnest, and some retail stores are no longer accepting the copper-colored one-cent pieces.

They’re rounding up or down to the nickel, doing so without enabling legislation retail stores say they need to remain in compliance with things like SNAP and avoid running afoul of “pro-cash” state and local laws that conflict with rounding policies.

In February, President Donald Trump cited the high manufacturing cost of pennies — it cost about 3.7 cents to produce a single penny in 2024 — and called for its demise, ending the penny’s 233-year reign as the cornerstone of U.S. currency.

The Federal Reserve made its final distribution of pennies to banks and distribution centers in August.

Pennies remain legal tender, but businesses are not legally required to accept them for commercial transactions, according to the Federal Reserve Board. Some businesses have already gone “penniless” as the supply dries up, including some locations of convenience store chains such as Kwik Trip and Love’s Travel Stops.

$1 Million Price Tag

In cash transactions, businesses may either round up or down to the nearest nickel. But some are setting their own policies.

Kwik Trip said in an Oct. 2 statement that its stores are no longer accepting pennies.

“As stores run out of pennies by location, and since the Government has not provided guidance on how to proceed, all cash purchases at Kwik Trip and Kwik Star locations will be rounded down to the nearest five cents, ensuring a guest-friendly approach,” the chain said.

Kwik Trip said it would continue that approach “until a permanent legislation solution has been enacted.” The chain’s updated register systems will automatically apply the rounding rules to cash purchases.

Kwik Trip expects the penny rounding policy to result in an initial additional expense of at least over a million dollars, though they are treating it as a necessary cost for their customers, according to WKBT News.

“The reality is with a company of our size, with over 900 stores, that’s going to amount to a lot of additional expense — over a million dollars minimally right away — but it’s the right thing to do for customers,” John McHugh, vice president of external relations at the La Crosse, Wisconsin-based convenience store chain told the news outlet.

Digital and card-based transactions will remain unaffected and continue to be processed at the exact purchase amount.

Love’s Penny Vaults Emptying

Love’s stores are also rounding cash transactions to the nearest nickel. Most have a week’s supply of pennies on hand, according to KFOR, an Oklahoma City NBC affiliate.

The chain said its vaults are running short of pennies far ahead of the expected date in mid- to late-2026. Only about 50 of the network of 660 stores in 42 states are affected, but Love’s expects the number to grow.

More retailers are expected to adopt similar policies.

“We’re anticipating that a lot of other companies will probably have to make similar decisions, because again, this impacts every retailer that’s having cash transactions. It’s not limited to just Kwik Trip,” McHugh told Wisconsin Public Radio. “I think we’ll see a lot of this coming in the next couple weeks.”

Why Congress Needs To Act

The National Association of Convenience Stores expects supply shortages to increase and has urged Congress and the Trump administration to pass legislation permitting the rounding of cash transactions.

Legislation is necessary because some states and local jurisdictions have cash laws that prohibit such rounding, according to the industry trade group. This legislation must also ensure that such rounding does not conflict with the terms of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and facilitates check-cashing services at retail locations.

“Without federal legislation, businesses are left in the impossible position of trying to figure out what to do and at risk of being out of compliance with other laws. We urgently need Congress to act,” Anna Ready Blom, strategic advisor of the government relations team at NACS, said in a statement.

In a Sept. 30 letter to members of Congress, the industry trade group said Federal Reserve monitoring already shows some distribution sites are out of pennies.

“Many more will run out soon in the coming days that will impact every congressional district. Main Street businesses do not have the insight into where pennies will stop being available next and how soon that will occur,” the letter said.

What Phase-Out May Cost Consumers

U.S. consumers could pay as much as $6.06 million more a year when rounding to the nearest nickel is fully implemented, according to the Federal Reserve.

The projection is based on a common rounding rule: If the final digit of a purchase ends in 3, 4, 8 or 9 cents, the total will be rounded up; if it ends in 1, 2, 6 or 7 cents, it will be rounded down (transactions ending in 0 or 5 cents are not rounded).

At first glance, the overall impact of rounding may seem neutral. This assumption relies on the idea that the final digits of transaction totals are uniformly distributed and that the gains from rounding down will balance out the losses from rounding up.

“However, if transaction amounts are skewed toward values that round up, consumers end up consistently paying more, creating what’s referred to as a rounding tax,” the analysis concluded.

Will 2025 Pennies Become Rare?

Experts say it’s unlikely that most 2025 pennies will become more valuable than their face value, despite the potential for hoarding as the last ever produced by the U.S. Mint.

“There’s nothing, statistically, that says they should become valuable” John Feigenbaum, publisher of the rare coin price guide Greysheet told USA Today in June.

He compared 2025 pennies to 1976 bicentennial coins. People collected them, and it became increasingly uncommon to get one in change from a dollar. “Now, people have plastic bags full of them, and they’re still worth 25 cents,” he said.

Pennies minted in 2025 could have value as an entry point to collectors as a “last year of production” coin, according to Feigenbaum, who is also the executive director of the Professional Numismatists Guild, a nonprofit organization composed of many of the nation’s rare coin experts.

“This would surely spike demand … in other Lincoln pennies, like the ones that go all the way back to 1909,” Feigenbaum said, adding that the Lincoln penny, which first featured the 16th president in that year, has had “quite a run.”

What To Do With Your Pennies

The Treasury Department estimated earlier this year that there were about 114 billion pennies in circulation, but said the penny is “severely underutilized.” Other estimates put the number closer to 250 billion when the number collected in jars and junk drawers in U.S. households is taken into account.

Experts advise spending the pennies while you still can.
Although they’re not legally required to, some retailers may continue to accept pennies as long as the supply lasts.

Pennies can be deposited into accounts at banks or credit unions. Coin-exchange kiosks can convert them into cash, but a fee may be attached.

But there’s no reason to immediately empty the jars of pennies, and bank or spend them.

One thing that hasn’t changed: 100 pennies still make up a dollar.

• Related: In A Big Change, The Culturally Significant Penny Is Going Away