QUINCY, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — Locals are having mixed reactions after President Trump ordered the U.S. Treasury to stop minting new pennies.
The announcement came from a Truth Social post on Sunday, where Trump said “For far too long the United States has minted pennies which literally cost us more than 2 cents. This is so wasteful! I have instructed my Secretary of the US Treasury to stop producing new pennies. Let's rip the waste out of our great nations budget, even if it's a penny at a time.”
Though credit cards and mobile pay options are becoming more common, there are still some penny-lovers out there. Still, many others are looking forward to the stoppage, including some business owners in Massachusetts.
“If there are no taxes, then we could… price our goods at let’s say $1.05, $1.10, or $1.25,” Sarwar, a convenience store owner in Quincy, tells WBZ NewsRadio. “But since there are taxes we have to include, most of the prices usually winds up with, let’s say $1.06, $1.07.”
Sarwar isn’t alone either, as other Quincy business owners could also do without pennies.
“They pay me all pennies…” Annie, a cashier at another Quincy convenience store, tells WBZ NewsRadio. “Sometimes it takes forever and then I have a line out (the door).”
While nothing will immediately change and pennies will still be accepted, nickels are next up as the lowest value coin to be produced, but they are almost four times more expensive to make compared to pennies.
However, the decision falls into the lap of The Congress, as Article 1, Section 8, Clause 5 of the Constitution states “The Congress shall have power… to coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights and measures…”
If this all sounds familiar, former President Barack Obama was in favor of eliminating the penny during his time in the White House, and Canada already stopped the production of pennies since 2013, though they still are legal to use as payment.
WBZ NewsRadio’s Jim MacKay (@JimMacKayOnAir) reports.
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