In November 2025 the U.S. Mint struck the last circulating penny and stopped making new ones. Each one had come to cost about 3.7 cents to make. (U.S. Mint, Treasury)
But it is not being recalled. The penny is still legal tender, and more than 100 billion are still out there, mostly in jars. (Richmond Fed)
It did not lose its value. It lost its job.
So what do you do with the jar? Here is the honest list, ending with the one option no bank's website will give you.
First, check the jar before you cash it in
Two minutes here can actually pay off. Before any penny hits a coin machine, look at the dates:
- Pre-1982 pennies are 95% copper, worth two to three cents in metal. The catch: melting them is illegal (federal law, 31 CFR 82.1, fines up to 10,000 dollars), so the only legal way to capture that is selling them as coins.
- A few dates are worth real money to collectors: a 1909-S VDB, a 1914-D, a genuine 1943 copper cent, certain error coins.
- Most of the jar is worth exactly one cent. That is fine. Just glance before you dump.
That glance is the one move the bank blogs leave out.
The ordinary options
Once you have pulled anything interesting, the rest has a few honest homes:
- Spend them. Still legal tender, still accepted.
- Bank them. Banks still take pennies, rolled or loose. No fee, a little effort. (St. Louis Fed)
- Coin kiosk. Fast, but it takes a cut unless you pick a gift card over cash.
- Donate them. Coin drives will gladly take the weight.
All fine. All the same idea: get rid of them. There is one more, and it is the only one that asks you to keep some.
Keep a handful and play
Penny Drop is a wooden dice game our founder, Dave Janelle, invented in 2015. (The company goes back to 2003. The game came later.) Roll a die, drop pennies into numbered slots, race to empty your hand. One round to learn, an hour at the table.
It is also the perfect home for a pile of coins that has nowhere to be. Game night, a porch, a bar, a holiday afternoon: drop a penny, pass the die, keep going. The coin that was about to be dead weight turns out to be the one thing the game needs.
Do you have to keep buying pennies? No. A game reuses the same coins forever, and you already own more than enough. It takes any penny-sized token if you run short. (Nickels do not fit the penny editions. For those we make Nickel Drop.)
The original, from the family that invented it
If it isn't Creative Crafthouse, it isn't Penny Drop.U.S. registered trademark, Reg. No. 5,480,890
Penny Drop is invented by Dave and made by our family in Florida. There are lookalikes. There is one original. Every edition is handmade and can be engraved with a name or date, which turns a game into a gift someone keeps.
- The Classic Penny Drop, pick your version. Five sizes, Mini to Premium. Start here.
- The Original Penny Drop, Premium. Handmade in cherry, sliding lid. The flagship.
- Penny Drop Giant. Scaled up for poker chips.
The penny stops being something you spend and becomes something you play with. Not a goodbye. A second life, on the kitchen table instead of in a coin machine.
If you have a jar, you already own half the game. More screen-free games are here.
Ready to learn it? Read How to Play Penny Drop, the official rules.
Questions people ask
Is the penny really going away?
The U.S. Mint struck the last circulating penny in November 2025 and stopped minting new ones, mainly because each penny cost about 3.7 cents to make. Existing pennies are not being recalled. They remain legal tender, and more than 100 billion are still in circulation.
Are any of my old pennies worth more than a cent?
A few are. Pennies made before 1982 are 95 percent copper, worth about two to three cents in metal, though melting them is illegal under federal law, so the only legal way to capture that value is selling them as coins. Certain key dates and error coins (such as a 1909-S VDB or a genuine 1943 copper cent) are worth far more to collectors. Check dates and mint marks before you cash a jar in. Most pennies, though, are worth exactly one cent.
Do banks still take pennies?
Yes. Pennies are still legal tender, and banks still accept them, rolled or loose depending on the branch. Coin-counting kiosks also work, but they take a percentage unless you choose a gift card instead of cash.
Can I still play Penny Drop if no new pennies are made?
Yes. A game of Penny Drop reuses the same coins every time, and pennies you already own stay valid. One jar will outlast the game itself, and it takes any penny-sized token if you run short.
What is Penny Drop?
Penny Drop is a wooden dice game invented by Dave Janelle of Creative Crafthouse in 2015. Two or more players take turns rolling a die and dropping pennies into numbered slots, racing to empty their hands first. It plays in minutes and suits all ages.
Who makes the original Penny Drop?
Creative Crafthouse, a family workshop in Hudson, Florida, invented Penny Drop and holds the registered trademark (U.S. Reg. No. 5,480,890). Each edition is handmade and can be personalized. Other coin-drop games exist, but the original comes from Creative Crafthouse.
