Here’s a rundown of U.S. Mint production costs from the government’s latest fiscal year. Each penny costs nearly 4 cents — or $0.0369, to be exact — for the U.S. Mint to make and distribute.

Per the latest U.S. Mint report, it costs less than six cents to make a dime ($0.0576). To make a quarter, it costs about 15 cents ($0.1468), and nearly 34 cents for a half-dollar ($0.3397).

The US Mint has made its final order of penny blanks and plans to stop producing the coin when those run out, a Treasury Department official

The cost of producing a single penny has already skyrocketed to about 4 cents, while consumers have mostly shifted to digital payments and cards.

“You can go to your own bank or credit union and not pay any fee,” said Kimberly Palmer, personal finance expert at NerdWallet. Both NerdWallet and Bankrate offer tip sheets on exchanging coins for cash. Most banks will take an account holder's coins for free, Bankrate reports, but not all, and you may need to roll the coins yourself.

But older pennies are worth their weight in copper. Pennies made before 1982 are worth about 3 cents a piece. Although you can sell them to a coin shop, you can’t melt them down. Since pennies are still legal tender, it’s a felony to melt them for profit.

The United States Mint is ready to launch the next $1 coin in its American Innovation series, honoring NASA's retired space shuttle.

The U.S. Mint took top honors in "Best Circulating Coin" at the 2025 Mint Directors Conference for the work on the Jovita Idár issue in the American Women quarter dollar series.