The last circulating pennies ever struck by the United States Mint collectively sold for more than $16.76 million at auction on Dec. 12, Stack’s Bowers Galleries announced.
The California-based auction house sold 232 three-coin sets, each containing a 2025 penny struck at the Philadelphia Mint and a 2025-D penny from the Denver Mint, as well as a historic 2025 penny struck in 24 karat gold at the Philadelphia facility.
Live bidding for all 232 lots began on Dec. 11. The opening set sold for $200,000, and 17 lots went for more than $100,000 each.
The final lot, which included three sets of canceled dies used to strike the historic series, fetched $800,000.
All of the coins sold at auction bore the omega symbol "Ω"—the final letter of the Greek alphabet—signifying the end of the penny's more than 200-year legacy, which began in 1793 with the launch of the first one-cent coins, known as chain cents, authorized under the Coinage Act the previous year.
The last circulating penny was struck by U.S. Treasurer Brandon Beach at a special ceremonial event held at the Philadelphia Mint on Nov. 12.
The penny's culmination came after President Donald Trump announced in February that he had ordered the Treasury to stop minting new pennies, citing high production costs.
"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."
According to the U.S. Mint, the cost of producing a single penny has risen from 1.42 cents to 3.69 cents over the past ten years.
Although production has ended, the coin remains legal tender, with an estimated 300 billion pennies still in circulation today.