The Senate passed S. 1525 on Aug. 7 by unanimous consent after adopting a substitute amendment. The bill was received in the House on Aug. 10 and held at the desk. A companion House measure, H.R. 10167, sponsored by House Republican Conference Chairwoman Lisa McClain of Michigan, passed the House by voice vote on Sept. 14. The Senate received that bill the next day and referred it to the Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee. Until one version clears both chambers in identical form, the legislation cannot go to the White House.
The bills respond to a change that has already happened at the Mint. On Nov. 12, 2025, the Philadelphia Mint struck the last circulating pennies, ending a 232-year run. Existing pennies remain legal tender; Treasury has estimated about 300 billion are still in circulation. The Mint continues limited production for collectors, including coins tied to the nation’s 250th anniversary. Officials said each circulating penny had been costing about 3.69 cents to make, and that stopping general production could save roughly $56 million a year.
What the legislation would do is put that halt in statute, set nationwide rules for cash when pennies are scarce, and give Treasury more room to cheapen the nickel.
Under the bills, merchants could round the final total of a cash sale to the nearest five cents. Card and other electronic payments would still be billed to the exact cent. A $19.82 cash ticket could become $19.80; $19.83 could become $19.85. Sponsors say a federal standard is needed because some states and localities restrict rounding, and retailers have been left to improvise as penny stocks thin. Descriptions of the Senate text have also noted that rounding would be structured as a framework for cash, not a change to posted prices or digital totals.
The nickel is the other cost problem. The U.S. Mint’s fiscal 2025 annual report put the cost of producing and distributing a five-cent coin at 13.31 cents — more than 2½ times face value. Both the penny and the nickel had cost more than they were worth for a 20th straight fiscal year. The traditional nickel is mostly copper. Copper averaged about $9,454 a metric ton in fiscal 2025, against about $2,840 for zinc. The Common Cents Act would allow Treasury to test a zinc-core, nickel-clad five-cent coin if testing showed lower costs and limited disruption to vending machines, meters and coin-handling equipment. The bills do not abolish the nickel.
House and Senate versions also direct the Federal Reserve to plan for coin distribution as pennies leave the pipeline and require Treasury to notify Congress before it discontinues any other circulating denomination.
S. 1525 was sponsored by Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., with Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., James Lankford, R-Okla., and Ron Wyden, D-Ore., among its principal backers. McClain has framed the House bill as a small but visible cut in waste. Unanimous Senate passage and a House voice vote stand out in a polarized Congress, though the remaining step is technical: reconciling the two bills so one text can be enrolled.
Until then, the practical picture is already set. New circulating pennies are no longer being struck. Old pennies still spend. Nickels still lose money on every coin. The Common Cents Act would turn that operational shift into statute, give cashiers a uniform rounding rule, and let Treasury try a cheaper five-cent piece without taking the nickel out of American change.
