The U.S. is running out of pennies.
President Donald Trump’s decision to stop producing the penny earlier this year is starting to have real implications for the nation’s commerce. Merchants in multiple regions of the country have run out of pennies and are unable to produce exact change. Meanwhile, banks are unable to order fresh pennies and are rationing pennies for their customers.
One convenience store chain, Sheetz, got so desperate for pennies that it briefly ran a promotion offering a free soda to customers who brought in 100 pennies. Another retailer says the lack of pennies will end up costing it millions this year, because of the need to round down to avoid lawsuits.
The penny problem started in late summer and is only getting worse as the country heads into the holiday shopping season.
Troy Richards, president and chief operations officer at Louisiana-based Guaranty Bank & Trust Co., says he’s had to scramble to have enough pennies on hand for his customers since August.
“We got an email announcement from the Federal Reserve that penny shipments would be curtailed. Little did we know that those shipments were already over for us,” Richards says.
