NEW YORK CITY, New York: Across the United States, cash drawers are running low. Banks, retailers, and consumers are feeling the fallout from U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to end penny production, a move that has created a nationwide shortage of the one-cent coin and confusion about how to handle transactions without it.

With no new pennies minted since June, many banks have exhausted their supplies and are now rationing coins to customers. Retailers, unable to make exact change, are rounding down purchases or pleading with customers to pay in precise amounts.

"It's a chunk of change," said Dylan Jeon of the National Retail Federation, warning that rounding down will cost some large retailers millions this year.

Convenience store chain Sheetz even launched a brief promotion offering free sodas to anyone who brought in 100 pennies. Others, like Kwik Trip, are rounding every cash transaction down to the nearest nickel, a move that could cost the company US$3 million this year but helps avoid lawsuits.

The shortage began in late summer and is worsening as the holiday shopping season approaches. While few want the penny back, it costs 3.7 cents to produce, businesses say the abrupt halt left them without guidance.

"We've advocated eliminating the penny for decades," said Jeff Lenard of the National Association of Convenience Stores, "but this is not the way we wanted it to go."

Trump announced the decision in February, calling it a cost-cutting measure. "Let's rip the waste out of our great nation's budget, even if it's a penny at a time," he wrote on Truth Social. The Treasury Department followed through by ending purchases of copper-zinc planchets, the blank discs used to make pennies, and winding down production by June.

Banks quickly began to feel the squeeze. Troy Richards, president of Guaranty Bank & Trust Co. in Louisiana, said his branches ran out of pennies within two weeks. "We got an email from the Federal Reserve that shipments would be curtailed. Little did we know they were already over," he said.

The U.S. Mint issued 3.23 billion pennies in 2024, more than any other coin, but most never reenter circulation. Americans tend to hoard pennies in jars or drawers, creating a constant need for new production. Ending the coin could save the government $56 million annually, according to Treasury estimates.

The shortage has also exposed gaps in the Federal Reserve's coin distribution system. Many coin terminals are closed to penny deposits or withdrawals, preventing surplus coins in one region from reaching another.

Retailers and banks are now united in urging Washington to act. A bill in Congress, the Common Cents Act, proposes rounding all cash transactions to the nearest nickel, up or down, though consumer advocates warn that rounding up could hurt shoppers.

"We don't want the penny back," Lenard said. "We just want clarity from the government because this is only going to get worse."