Sponsor
Frank D. Lucas
Representative · R-OK
The bill trades stopping penny production and a cheaper 5-cent composition (saving Mint costs and avoiding immediate legal-disruption) against widespread rounding effects, equipment transition costs, and the risk that net taxpayer savings will be limited.
Taxpayers and the federal government: stopping penny production and switching the 5-cent coin composition reduces Mint production and administrative expenses, potentially lowering costs borne by taxpayers over time.
Consumers, businesses, and banks: preserving the legal-tender status of existing pennies avoids immediate disruption to everyday commerce, contracts, and cash-handling processes.
Collectors and small sellers: allowing sale of pennies as numismatic items preserves the collector market and continued small revenue opportunities for the Mint and numismatic businesses.
All cash users: routine cash transactions may be rounded (up or down) when pennies are removed from circulation, producing small but widespread gains or losses for consumers.
Taxpayers and the Mint: if the cost savings from the new nickel composition are smaller than projected, taxpayers may not realize meaningful savings while transition costs are still incurred.
Vending machine operators, banks, and coin-handling services: changing coin composition could require retrofit, recalibration, or replacement of coin-accepting and sorting equipment, creating infrastructure and upgrade costs.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Allows a zinc‑inner/nickel‑outer 5¢ coin with adjusted weight ranges and directs the Treasury to stop minting pennies for circulation while keeping them legal tender.
Representative · R-OK
Changes federal coin specifications for the 5-cent coin to allow alternative weights and a new zinc‑inner/nickel‑outer composition and directs the Treasury to stop producing circulating one-cent coins (pennies), while preserving their legal‑tender status and allowing the Mint to sell pennies as numismatic items. The bill lets the Secretary of the Treasury set exact zinc/nickel composition after testing demonstrates cost savings and adjusts weight ranges for nickel coins to accommodate the new materials.
Official title: To amend title 31 to permit an alternative composition of the 5-cent coin and to eliminate the one-cent coin, and for other purposes.
Introduced July 16, 2025 by Frank D. Lucas · Last progress July 16, 2025