What to do with pennies before they disappear: Ideas for changing those coins into cash

Trump ordered the US Mint to stop making US pennies in February and after nine months that will finally come to fruition. He wasn’t alone in this desire, both Democrats and Republicans have pushed to get rid of the once popular copper-plated coin.

While they won’t be pulled out of circulation directly, the average Americans pretty much does that by themselves for the government. That’s because although Americans don’t typically pay with pennies, they still expect to get them as change when they pay with cash.

Go into just about any house in the United States and you’ll most likely stumble across a coin jar packed full of coins, and they’ll probably be for the most part pennies. That then leads to the problem that since they end up in a coin jar and don’t go back into circulation.

So, down the road the one-cent coins will become more and more rare, but they will still be legal tender. This will create a bit of a headache for retailers unless the government puts into action some kind of plan to help smooth the transition away from pennies.

Your humble pennies have actual value

While many Americans treat them like worthless junk, not paying much heed if they get lost or sucked up by a vacuum, just letting them vanish could be a serious mistake. They are after all legal tender.

Even if it seems that nobody else wants them, there are a few that may. Winter is coming and you may have some time on your hands to go through your coin jars to see if any of them are actually worth more than their face value.

Numismatists, coin collectors, might be willing to take them off your hands if they have something special about them.

If you want to offload your whole stock in one go, you can take them to your bank or credit union. Most will take them for free, but you may want to check ahead of time to see if you will have to wrap them yourself first.

You can also take them to a Coinstar coin-cashing machine which are found in supermarkets. The company charges a small fee, but it is another way to get rid of them in one go and get hard cash. Coinstar CEO Kevin McColly told USA TODAY that the company usually waives the fee if customers take a retail gift card instead of cash.

“People underestimate the value of their jar by about half,” McColly shared with the media outlet. A typical coin jar contains around $58 according to the company.

“It’s a wonderfully pleasurable experience. People have this sensation of found money,” he added.

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