The US has officially ended production of the one-cent coin as digitisation and rising costs undercut the case for the penny after 230 years.
The last coin was printed at the US Mint in Philadelphia on Wednesday following the US Treasury’s decision to phase out the denomination, whose production costs have risen to almost four times its value.
US treasurer Brandon Beach, speaking at the Mint, said: “Given the rapid modernisation of the American wallet, the Department of the Treasury and President [Donald] Trump no longer believe the continued production of the penny is fiscally responsible or necessary to meet the demands of the American public.”