Two Cents: What Tulsans think about halting penny production

President Trump announced he's instructed the U.S. Treasury to stop producing new pennies due to the cost.

Can the President Eliminate Penny Production?

While it's still not clear if he can eliminate the coin production without an act of Congress, it's still getting a lot of reaction from people across the country.

The History of the Penny

The first penny was officially minted in the U.S. in 1792 and began circulating in 1793. Since then, there have been many iterations of the one-cent coin.

"Over the years these pennies have gotten smaller and smaller because of the amount of copper in them and now they're really, it costs like 3 cents to make one," said John Davis.

Davis owns Tulsa Gold and Silver near 41st and Sheridan. The business originally started out as a coin shop.

The Cost of Producing Pennies

Last year the U.S. Mint reported losing $83.5 million for the more than 3 billion pennies it produced.

Public Reaction to Ending Penny Production

We asked Tulsans outside the post office near I-244 and Lewis for their "two cents" on the issue. Here's what they said:

"Taking away pennies doesn't make sense to me...but who am I?" said Brenda.

"I don't see why not. If it costs us 2 cents to make them and they're worth a penny it doesn't make much sense but I'm just a country guy," said Mike.

"But I think it would be fine," said Willis.

"Well now they can end up charging you a nickel for whatever instead of whatever because there's no pennies so it's just a ploy to raise the prices on you," said Coach Weaver.

Could This Lead to Inflation?

Surrounded by generations of American currency, Davis says he is worried about possible inflation associated with changing currency production. However, he doesn't think most people will notice the change if it happens.

"I think we'll all get used to it pretty quick. I mean pennies don't mean a whole lot to a lot of people now," said Davis.

Will Pennies Become More Valuable?

Before you go hoarding pennies thinking they could increase in value, Davis says most pennies worth anything are rare and were made before 1930. 

This isn't the first time eliminated pennies have been proposed. Over the years, Congress has attempted to pass legislation to halt production without success.