EMMA PIRHALA / MANAGING EDITOR

While commonly forgotten in couch cushions, overflowing purses and vending machines, the penny is gaining new light as its minting sunsets. 

The U.S. Mint concluded production of the penny on Nov. 12 after a 232-year run. The copper and nickel-plated currency’s demise came after a decade-long debate into the costs of the production of the cent. Yet, students mourn the loss of the penny as a staple of American life and culture. 

USD    first-year       Jacquie   Stevens     explained      her    perspective.

“I think that’s kind of crazy to me,” Stevens said. “I don’t really use cash or pennies, so it doesn’t really affect my day to day life, but I wonder what’s going to happen next with that.”

The penny  lived  a  long,  storied life — conceived in 1792 and anchored in everyday American commerce. When the cent first entered circulation, buyers could purchase a biscuit or a candle. Over time, the coin devalued to today’s often forgotten status. In the last decade, the cost of producing a penny has more than doubled — soaring from 1.42 cents to 3.69 cents per coin. 

USD first-year McKenna Tang shared what she thought about the demise of the penny.

“I feel like it says a lot that a penny is  worthless   to  the  point that [the  U.S. Mint]  would get rid of it completely,”  Tang said. “We’ve   always  had  the    penny,   and for it to be gone is   kind of strange. What is gonna happen now?”

The United States is said to save more than $56 million per year by pulling the plug on the penny, according to U.S. Treasurer Brandon Beach — a large sum noted by the Trump administration in their war against government spending. 

Not only were pennies costly for the government, but also for businesses. With  an   ongoing   coin shortage, some small businesses were left short-changed and pushed to   round   down final sales. 

This is not the first time the government has eliminated a form of currency. Notes in denominations of greater than $100 were discontinued in 1945, while the last time a coin was canceled was the half-cent in 1857. 

Penny production may be over, but the cent isn’t going anywhere. With over 300 billion pennies in circulation, sellers will still price goods and services to the cent. The Mint will continue to strike limited-edition coins for collectors and historians. 

Although the penny has crossed  the “copper”  bridge,   its legacy   lives  on in  fountains   across campus, the bottom of   communal    dryers   and   in   each and every student’s   junk drawer.