The final pennies to be struck at mints across the US have sold for more than $16million at an auction where collectors gathered to get their share of the rare coins.
Stack's Bowers Galleries in California sold 232 three-coin sets on December 12 for a total of $16,744,500.
The most expensive lot of pennies was sold for $800,000 after it was deemed the 'very last' cents struck, which also included the three sets of cancelled dies used to strike the historic series. Mint dies are tools used to press the design into the blank coin material.
Each of the coins were marked with the final Greek letter Omega; however, one of the coins was the first of its kind, a 99.9 percent 24 karat gold 2025 penny, which was struck at the Philadelphia Mint.
After centuries of production, the final coins, which were minted in Philadelphia and Denver, sold for an average of $72,000, with the lowest lot selling for $48,000.
The millions of dollars spent made it the highest-value auction of special coins sold on behalf of the United States Mint, according to Stack's Bowers Galleries.
The final coins were struck on November 12 by United States Treasurer Brandon Beach and United States Mint Acting Director Kristie McNally, who personally operated the presses.
'The Mint is excited to share this opportunity with the American public,' said McNally.
'The penny has withstood 232 years of our nation's history, and we are proud to offer the chance for the public to celebrate this moment into perpetuity by purchasing one of these special sets.
'It is truly an honor to continue Connecting America through Coins.'
A serialized Certificate of Authenticity accompanied each set.
The original auction date was December 11, but the auction house claimed that, due to unprecedented levels of collector interest, the sale was delayed.
'It's an extraordinary honor to again be selected to partner with the United States Mint to offer exciting numismatic rarities to the collecting public,' noted Stack's Bowers Galleries President Brian Kendrella.
'They captured the public imagination like few rare coins we've ever handled.
'Even our staff of expert numismatists, who see the world's most famous and valuable rare coins day in and day out, were excited by the chance to handle the very last pennies struck before the suspension of circulating production.'
The one-cent coins were cancelled as part of a cutdown on public spending.
'For far too long the United States has minted pennies which literally cost us more than 2 cents,' he wrote in a Truth Social post in February.
However, while the phasing out of the penny may save the Treasury some immediate cash, it raises the next currency problem - the nickel.
'If you get rid of the penny, it will increase the amount of nickels,' Rhett Jeppson, a former chief executive of the US Mint, said.
'You lose more on a nickel than you do on a penny,' Jeppson told the New York Times.
Nickels, worth five cents, are also a loss-maker for the treasury, leaving an $18 million hole from their production last year.
The problem could be exacerbated by the end of the penny because demand for nickels is likely to shoot up in its place.
Since the Treasury loses more per coin on nickels - they cost around 14 cents to make - an increase in their production to meet demand could soon outweigh any savings made by axing the penny.
