By Cheryl Winokur Munk

Wondering what to do with piles of pennies now that they are gradually going out of circulation? The U.S. Mint ceased production of one-cent coins in late 2025. Since then, change is getting harder to spend. More businesses have started to round purchases to the nearest nickel, telling customers they won't give pennies as change. Some merchants are requesting exact change or another form of payment to avoid the problem of returning exact change, which can be a headache for consumers who prefer to pay with cash.

If you or your clients are sitting on piles of pennies, here are six suggestions for what to do with them:

See if you're sitting on a cash cow. Until 1981, pennies were made with copper, so if you have a penny that predates 1981, that coin is worth more than a penny, says Wyatt McDonald, president of Coinfully, a coin appraising and buying service in Charlotte, N.C. How much more depends on factors such as how many coins were in the original run, where the coin was produced, how many of its kind still exist, and how close the coin is to its original mint state.

Different designs and dates have different worth, ranging from a few cents to thousands of dollars, so it pays to sift through your pocket change because there's always a chance something valuable will materialize, McDonald says. For example, Indian Cents from 1864 to 1908 with the dates: 1877, 1908-S, 1909-S are considered "big winners" and could be worth hundreds to thousands of dollars, depending on the condition and other factors.

If you've been handed down a bag of pennies that's been in a closet for 40 years, it's worth checking out. "When you're doing nothing or have the TV on, start sorting by decades," McDonald says. And if you think you have something rare, consult a collector; in some cases, you can even do it online and get an answer the same day. "The awareness that you could be sitting on a gold mine in your closet should be out there," he says.

Find stores that will offer perks for your pennies. Some stores are facing a penny shortage and asking customers to help solve the problem.

Late last year, supermarket chain Giant Eagle held a one-day event across 200-plus locations, where customers could exchange their pennies for a Giant Eagle gift card equal to twice the value of the pennies exchanged. Another retailer, Ocean State Job, invited customers to bring in their rolled coins in exchange for a gift card worth 40% more. Another merchant, WinCo in Roseville, Calif., offered $3 of cash and a new reusable WinCo bag to customers who brought 300 pennies into customer service.

Roll them up. If you've determined you've got nothing of value, and you have enough pennies, consider rolling them up and bringing them to a bank to deposit or to exchange for another denomination. One Facebook poster found a stockpile of pennies her father had hoarded. They filled a case about the size of a small suitcase. The bank gave her bags to fill in $50 increments.

Consumers can also insert loose change into a Coinstar kiosk, where available. But it might cost more than a penny to do this. Free coin counting is available at most U.S. locations if you cash in your coins for an eGift Card, according to Coinstar. If you decide to turn your coins in for cash, there is a service fee of up to 12.9% plus 99 cents per transaction. Fees may vary by location.

Even so, for most people, it isn't worth taking $5 of pennies and feeding them into a Coinstar machine, says Robert Whaples, a professor in the Wake Forest University department of economics in Winston-Salem, N.C. "The money's not worth their time."

Wait for Congress to potentially allow the melting of pennies. It's illegal to melt pennies for the metal value, but that could change at some point, according to Whaples, the Wake Forest University professor. The metal in most pennies is worth less than a penny, but if zinc values rise, there might be more push to change the law. For fun, people can determine the value of the metal in their coins by visiting the website Coinflation, he says.

Find creative ways to use pennies. Some creative types make penny floors, tabletops, coasters, or wall art by arranging pennies in patterns and sealing them with epoxy, according to Deidre Popovich, associate professor of marketing and supply chain management at Texas Tech University's Rawls College of Business in Lubbock, Texas. "It's labor-intensive, but it turns 'dead change' into a conversation piece," she wrote in an email.

Angelo DeCandia, professor of business and accounting at Touro University, uses a penny when he needs to change the battery on a clock that's otherwise hard to open. He also knows someone who balanced unstable furniture by putting pennies underneath.

Other out-of-the-box options. Schools and community groups run "penny wars," friendly competitions where participants bring in spare change to raise money, often for school or charitable activities, Popovich says. Pennies are typically positive points, while dimes, nickels, and quarters subtract points. So, for example, kids can sabotage rival classes by dropping in quarters, she adds.

Pressed-penny souvenirs are another option. Several tourist attractions have penny-press machines where you can feed in a penny and get a flattened souvenir with a stamped design, Popovich notes. "Fun uses of pennies work because they convert 'worthless' change into meaning, souvenir value, aesthetic value, or social value through fund-raising."

This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

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March 06, 2026 08:35 ET (13:35 GMT)

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