When will "The Last U.S. Penny" hype die out?

P.S. It's a CENT... not a penny... but I digress...

(And the P.S. was for "pre-script" in this case ;-) )

When they announced they were stopping production of U.S. Cents, I was both happy and sad.

Then I waited too long, and now 2025-S proof cents are going for, shall we say "ridiculous" prices on eBay.

It *should* die out eventually... right? I mean... after Christmas... maybe a few months after...?

At this point, I'd pay $25-$50, but no way am I paying $200...

 

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Next year when they're still included in sets, and maybe even minted to sell in rolls at a premium like dollars are.

 

Without looking it up, how many people know what year* half dollars stopped being minted for circulation?

Now, how many care?

* yes, it's a bit of a trick question. They've stopped more than once.

 

I loved fifty cent pieces when I was a kid. Most folks would throw them at you on collection day on the paper route (30 cents per week). Nearly accomplished a full set of Franklins. Admitably, I did have to engage a dealer or two to complete the set....still got it!

 

Wasn't that 2006?

 

I am not worrying about the cent nor the games that the mint is playing. Except for Kroger, I am getting cents on nearly every other transaction. I get that nickel more often than usual also.

 

Not soon enough to suit me.

 

From memory, none were struck for circulation in 1970 (and prices for mint sets from that year spiked heavily in the early 1970s). They resumed in 1971.

None were struck with the date 1975, but 1776-1976 Bicentennial halves were struck in 1975 and 1976.

No halves were struck for circulation in 1987.

I had to look up the more recent figures, because I wasn't paying enough attention to remember. Looks like they were struck only for collectors from 2002 until 2019, and the Fed started shipping them for circulation again in 2020, although it took a year or two for the mintages to come back up. I'm not sure why the Fed started issuing them again; I've certainly never gotten one in change without explicitly requesting it, except of course at coin shows. Nobody wants to use them. And as far as I know, there wasn't ever a single bit of a premium for 1986 halves, or 2001 halves, or... you get the picture.

 

Cent, penny, copper, zinc, Bah-Hum-Bug!