The average cost to make one penny rose to 3.69 cents in the last fiscal year, marking the 19th consecutive year the coin has “remained above face value,” per the latest U.S. Mint report.

That's how much it cost the U.S. Mint to make a one-cent coin last year, up from 2.1 cents in 2021. In fact, the agency lost $85.3 million last year on the pennies it produced. But scrapping them could have downsides,