My local Home Depot store had the above signage displayed in multiple locations around the checkout area – apparently they are out of pennies.
They request that cash customers pay with exchange change, and there’s also the option to pay with credit or debit cards, store credit, gift cards, or check.
Retail stores still accept checks? I worked at a supermarket over 2 decades ago, and even then checks were a rarity.
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Looking online, I learned that the US government stopped penny production, and there are now shortages at many retailers.
Some retailers might round up or down, but for now Home Depot is only asking for exact change.
As a reminder, everyone’s two cents are welcome – especially at Home Depot stores these days! – but please avoid politics.
Related to this, does anyone know where I can get a roll or two of 2025 pennies? Apparently the local bank is out of pennies too.
Robert
Seeing this at many brick and cement retailers in town. Economists seem split on if the demise of the penny will cause merchants to drop XX.99 prices.
Stuart
Maybe only in states without sales tax.
Eric
In most countries that drop their equivalent of the penny they round to the nearest usable price for cash sales. Other payment methods still charge the exact price.
BobH
“as a reminder, everyone’s two cents are welcome – especially at Home Depot stores these days! ”
🙂
Matt_T
Checks are still popular with small businesses around here. HD not taking checks would likely loose them some small business customers.
Jason
I’ve seen that argument many, many times, especially when I was in retail management. In the end, no one was ever able to produce any research into how many checks were actually received chain wide, or how many were fraudulent. Everything was based on perception by various store managers. We kept accepting checks and manager kept complaining about bad checks.
In the end, accepting paper checks just isn’t worth it and small businesses need to move into the 21st century and use the debit card their bank gives them.
Matt_T
So your argument is small businesses should change what works for them just so they can do business with a store with terrible service, from a B2B standpoint, and high prices for the most part?
Telling business customers what they “need to do” ain’t gonna work out the way you think it will.
Jason
It’ll have to. Paper checks are a relic and more and more retails just don’t accept them.
Adam
It hasn’t happened in the US yet, but countries are starting to phase out the use of paper checks. I read that Australia (and perhaps NZ) had set a date where the government and large businesses could no longer issue checks and a date about 6 months later that banks could no longer accept them for payment.
It is coming to the US, EU, and others soon.
Don
I’ve never had my church send a check back to me that I drop in the collection plate. So maybe they’ll be the last holdouts.
They’re not picky. I’ll be they take Pennies too.
Eric
Retailers can process the checks instantly these days if they have the equipment.I remember Walmart doing it 20 years ago. They scan the check, use OCR to grab the pertinent info like routing and account numbers, and then they process it similar to a credit or debit card.
Marc
The Treasury Department said it cost 3.7 cents to make each penny…a losing money proposition. So I get why the government would want to stop making pennies.
But even if retailers rounded their items to the nearest 5 cents, sales tax would still create the need to pay with pennies because sales tax is a percentage of the sale.
It also costs the government 13.78 cents to make a nickel. Is that the next to disappear? 🤔
Banks prefer credit and debit cards so they can take a percentage of every sale. Banks want cash transactions to disappear. Are we on our way to a cashless society?
I’d prefer cash so local retailers keep the total sale and to keep prices down. But it is so easy to whip out that old credit card.
blocky
The utility of the penny to the economy is greater than 3.7 cents, as they get used over and over and over and over.
A company like Home Depot, with their massive profit margins, could easily muck 1-4 cents and keep the lines moving – take our money faster, or they could change the prices minutely for different locales to round off evenly more often, and no one would feel it.
S
I think the important question here is “why does sales tax need to be added into the end of the transaction?”
The truth for the most part is that sales outlets want the lowest visible price, and including tax costs in the price tag could make for less sales.
But there’s really no reason for it that I’ve heard beyond that.
Stuart
Sales tax varies by state and sometimes by town where there are special economic zones.
blocky
In other countries, it’s common or mandatory to include tax in the presented price, which of course varies by locale.
S
But it is still a fixed cost for any given location.
Jordan
As it does in most of Europe.
Most countries there have rules where the price on the shelf is the price you pay (VAT/tax included).
It’s really not that hard to calculate, especially in the day and age of computers and RFID e-ink price tags.
EBT
True. And like NJ, the tax rate is also set to reduce over years.
But stores set prices and they can calculate at checkout, why not just calculate the price of the item?
(because stores don’t want to, don’t want to invest in e-ink price tags, and leave it to the customer as some could be non-tax … like institutions, churches, etc).
Penny for your thoughts? Nope…
Andy
Because a significant number of sales transactions are tax-exempt. Purchases by various charities for instance.
David
“But even if retailers rounded their items to the nearest 5 cents, sales tax would still create the need to pay with pennies because sales tax is a percentage of the sale.”
The rounding would most likely be on the total owed, not the pre-tax total.
TomD
Kwik Trip rounds everything down to the nickel now if paying with cash.
Adam
This sounds like it could be a Kramer pop can deposit escapade in some way. Someone buys all their gas $.09 at a time
fred
There are some in government and elsewhere that would like to get rid of the cash economy. That’s more than a 2-edged sword. It may prevent some of the finagling and cheating on taxes that can come with cash transactions – but it is a hardship for the poor who have neither checking accounts nor credit cards. Folks who are using cash as a way to stay away from credit card debt would also be at a disadvantage. I’ve run into establishments (perhaps because of crime in their area) that will only take credit cards – not wanting to have cash to attract robbers. I find that I now seldom use cash or checks – paying most everything via EFT or credit card – reserving the cash for my landscapers and tips – with checks for things like tax bills and others who only take them as a form of payment.
When I worked – our salesmen/field reps. across all of our businesses were often asked if there was a cash discount. While we would offer to work with customers to reduce costs by changing work-scopes or selection of materials – we never offered a discount for cash – and preferred checks as the form of payment. I guess in today’s economy – my ex-compatriots take payment via services like Venmo
S
There’s a lot of smaller businesses now that charge the 3.5% fee for swiping plastic on top of the transaction now. So the cash only price can be cheaper.
It’s funny, because a previous employer I worked for always did this for the past 20 years, and I was endlessly berated by customers for having to do it. But now that I no longer work there, it’s become commonplace in small business.
David
I think the cash price question was referring to a discount for the transaction being off the books.
fred
Yep
Other related questions we sometimes got were:
“Why do you (or I) need to file for permits?”
What is this capital improvement form you want me to sign”
or alternatively – why are you charging me sales tax?
What is the clause in the contract about existing plumbing and electrical work – part of the job – that if found to be deficient will be brought up to code?
David
“but it is a hardship for the poor who have neither checking accounts nor credit cards.”
Some countries offer basic banking through post offices, providing bank accounts and debit cards.
fred
The USPS – starting in the Taft era – was the savings bank of choice for many Americans. The system contributed helping many rural folks, made some money for USPS – but was hated by the for-profit banking industry. Lobbying finally got rid of it in 1967. I’m not sure how this loss contributed to the financial woes that the USPS has suffered since.
Josh
We use the cash envelope system for budgeting and have for years.
King soopers was the first place we saw this at, I pay to the nearest nickel then run my card for 4 cents or less.
It seems pretty rich to me that a government that pays hundreds for a hammer at the pentagon is bent up over 3 cents to make a penny. 10 minutes with a red pen and I could save 10x the penny budget and the American people would never know. But instead we get this. Need to abolish all sales tax and retailers can come up one cent on most items and life would be good.
Thinking about it I guess I would be willing to trade 8.3% sales tax for a penniless society!!
Nathan
Recycled plastic penny.
Or
Do as Europe did and forced direct inflation by tax and everything is . 00 no sub dollar denominations.
I’d rather have recycled plastic money.
It’s not surprising. That or we go cashless and I don’t like that either.
Vards Uzvards
“Do as Europe did and forced direct inflation by tax and everything is . 00 no sub dollar denominations.”
This is not how things work over there, in Europe. Prices are not rounded, and some customers prefer to pay with plastic cards (many use debit cards, not credit), but others much more prefer to pay with cash (counting all the cents while doing so).
Recently I spent more than a month in one of the Baltic states. It’s part of the European Union, and rules are all the same across the whole block of countries. Mine is not tourist’s experience – I’m still considered local there, I have the passport, speak local languages, more or less, and stay at my own apartment while there, not at a hotel.
Nathan
Funny you mention that but I’ve been a number of times. Last was Belgium in 22. And I do sort of wonder but I was never charged anything but an even euro with the exception of my gasoline and a plane ticket.
Aram
“I’d rather have recycled plastic money.”
Australian bills are a weird plastic, and honestly they’re pretty nifty. Nearly indestructible too.
Steve
Except don’t demonstrate indestructibility by holding bill between the thumb and forefinger of each hand and snapping it a few times. It’ll split down the middle:
Source: me. I stapled it back together and a store accepted it without question.
Jason
Canada eliminated their penny years ago. Cash is simply rounded to the nearest $.05 denomination. Sometimes you gain a few cents, sometimes you lose a few. It all washes out in the end, so it’s really no big deal.
I do tax returns every year and we’ve been rounding to the nearest dollar, per the IRS, for I don’t know how many years. Entering the pennies just isn’t worth it to any one, and none of our clients has ever noticed.
I expect we in the US could go the nearest $.10 denomination, eliminating the nickel as well. That would take legislation to make it legal though, and some lobbyist will argue how it will hurt whichever industry they represent, or how much it’ll cost to set registers to do the rounding.
JJ
I think that’s likely because a nickel costs more to procure than two nickels are worth
CMF
This is true about Canada, anything ending in 6 or 7 cents goes back to “5” and 8 or 9 go to “0”. But this is strictly for cash transactions. For debit or credit, you pay whatever the exact amount is.
Robert
We have cashless businesses here. I don’t understand how they can legally insist on it since the currency says “This note is legal tender for all debts, public and private.” I hope there is a lawsuit that bursts the cashless mandate.
Berg
Paying off a debt is different than paying up front at a store to buy things. A bank would be required to accept cash when you’re paying debt on a loan and the government would be required to accept it for taxes or fines because those are payments you are required to make.
A store that doesn’t want to take cash can just turn down the sale, and if you don’t like their terms you can go somewhere else. You’re not obligated to buy from them like you would be to pay off a debt so they’re not obligated to accept your cash.
Robert
Berg, interesting interpretation of debt. But if true why would the treasury use such a limited interpretation on every currency bill? Why leave purchase transactions out of the meaning? Loan debt tends to be in higher value but less often compared to transactions, so cash would be more often used for transactions.
Yes, I could take my business elsewhere, but it’s hassle, and plastic IS less secure in the modern internet vipers den.
Stuart
Tradition. Keep in mind that a lot of cash concepts and verbiage come from a time of ledgers and promissory notes. There were no retail chains, let alone credit cards.
Why do we still use Phillips screws when better options exist? Feet, miles, and gallons instead of metric units?
Cornell Law (https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/legal_tender): Nonetheless, federal statutes do not require a seller to accept cash as a form of legal tender for payment of goods or services that were rendered. Thus, businesses may establish their own policies regarding whether they will accept cash as legal tender.
And: Although the original creditor who is owed money is not necessarily obligated to accept the tendered payment, the specific act of tendering the payment absolves the debt.
A debt is monies owed. A transaction is an exchange of goods or services for immediate payment.
Even with credit cards, the payment is (effectively) immediate, and you enter into a debt arrangement with the 3rd party bank or loan provider.
Jason T.
Stuart, that’s an excellent topic, why DO we still use the Phillips when better options exist? Future blog post?
Stuart
Moving away from Phillips screws will require impetus.
Consider a bowl of marbles. The marbles would be better off in a sealed jar, which you have somewhere. Many people will only transfer the marbles from the open bowl to a sealed jar once they accidentally knock everything over. Without that or other impetus, it’ll take work to pick out and transfer the marbles.
If you have to, you have to. But if you don’t, then you’re not going to bother.
People keep buying Phillips screws, and so companies keep making them. Because companies keep making them, people keep buying them.
Jordan
It honestly depends on the state for the specifics.
Remember, we’re not one country — but an amalgamation of 50 smaller ones, with even more disparity with counties, cities, and economic areas.
Some states have language where “all retail transactions must allow cash as a method of payment”. Someone wanted to pay cash for physical therapy — but nope, since medical services are excluded specifically since they’re not considered “retail”.
Other states give businesses even more leeway — allowing them to only take whatever form of payment they want. Credit only? Cash only? No $2 bills, pennies, or Susan B Anthony coins? They can deny you service otherwise.
Want to change that? Unless you get congress to pass a nation-wide law, you must go through the state’s legal system. What you’d have to do is be affected by their decision, file a lawsuit, and get a really good lawyer + around 10 years of your time and money. And you still might lose. Or win, but good luck having the law enforced. Seems that it doesn’t carry as much weight as it used to anymore.
fred
In my state, there are protections afforded to individuals who have incurred medical debt. But if you pay your hospital or doctor bill (copay etc.) via credit card you forego those protections.
Scotty.
Someone will become very wealthy when they develop a pricing algorithm that rounds up 51% of all transactions.
Adam
Sounds similar to Office Space 🤣
Plain+Grainy
I think collectors are probably saving pennies,. Pre 1982 for their copper content( even though it’s illegal to melt them). Also the end of pennies being minted. They claim they will mint special 250th birthday pennies in 2026. Not sure if it will be a small amount dedicated to coin collectors. Or a large amount for commerce. Don’t take any wooden nickels! Lol!
Tony
I haven’t seen that sign at my local Home Depot (yet). We’re forced to pay at one of those self-checkout machines every time at my local HD. I’m not sure how we would pay in pennies anyway.
But I have seen signs like those at a local Grocery store.
Samuel V.
These type of signs have been around at various retailers off-and-on for the past few years. The rounding appears to be new this year with McDonald’s being one of the first I read about.
You can still get two pennies from the mint in the following product: https://www.usmint.gov/uncirculated-coin-set-2025-25RJ.html
2026 will be the last year the penny will be minted as the last penny blanks were ordered for the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Keep an eye out for releases as scalpers will likely be looking for 2026 pennies and other coins.
Stuart
Thanks, I’ll keep that set in mind!
Fast food places had “coin shortage” signs a few years ago during the pandemic and immediately after, but this is the first I’ve seen of a penny shortage.
Plain+Grainy
I don’t think the 2025 penny will be rare. So I haven’t concentrated on them.Just my opinion.
John Fleisher
I may have contributed to the penny shortage, I have a 5 gallon glass jug (carboy) full of pennies in my stash. I think they should eliminate the nickel and dime as well, make everything round to .25 increments. Boom! Now you only need quarters. lol.
Jack D
That’s one of the main issues with pennies. Everyone “hoards” them in jars, drawers, boxes, etc. Aside from the minting costs, there is a distinct drop in circulated coins each year they remain in circulation. I’m pretty much the same with all coinage…but I cash it in around the holidays…
928'er
Good. Maybe this will end the asinine $9.99 pricing. $9.99 Is $10 bucks – no one is fooled – except the fools.
Rounding the sales tax up or down as someone above suggested will make little difference. Although I, personally, hate sales taxes as they are the most regressive form of taxation. A regressive tax takes a larger percentage of income from low-income individuals than from high-income individuals.
A very trumpian concept.
His tariffs are, simply put, a rational sales tax paid for by the American consumer or by the American importer – who will then then either eat the charge or pass it on. The country of origin doesn’t pay tariffs – we do – one way or the other….
S
This won’t do anything for the ‘penny under’ pricing schemes.
Have you seen the fat electrician video on ‘buy now pay later’? It really punts the stupidity of the average consumer to a whole other planet. The movie “Idiocracy” kind of planet.
https://youtu.be/FTnNGGP9vCw?si=1t31ivECXjkIgFAa
For every person the ‘penny under’ method doesn’t fool, there’s another 1000 it does. Sales teams don’t do it because it sorta kinda works sometimes. They do it because it absolutely works.
Another Bob
We used to pay for many things with a check for an elder relative. Lower risk of fraud. Added bonus, companies could not auto debit/charge a checking account for late fee’s. Cell and cable were the worst at pushing charges on a card but were not able to do it to a checking account. They made it as inconvenient as possible. My guess is it cost them more money and limited ability to collect on their ridiculous overage fees.
Tony
“The last-ever penny will be minted today in Philadelphia”
https://www.cnn.com/2025/11/12/business/last-penny-minted