With no more new pennies, state legislator proposes merchants round to nearest 5 cents

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 18 November 2025 at 3:11 pm

Photo by Tom Rivers: The U.S. Mint has ceased producing pennies as of Nov. 12, 2025.

With the U.S. Mint not making any more pennies, a state legislator has introduced a bill to have merchants round up or down to the nearest 5 cents for cash transactions.

State Senator James Skoufis, a Democrat from Orange County, on Friday introduced the “New Yorkers for Common Cents Act.” It would standardize how cash transactions are handled with no more pennies being produced.

The “Common Cents” proposal wants to reduce circulation of pennies within New York state. The U.S. Mint on Nov. 12 made the final pennies.

Skoufis has proposed the following rounding system:

If 1-2 or 6-7 cents are at the end of the resulting sum, then that amount shall be rounded down to the nearest amount divisible by 5
If 3-4 or 8-9 cents are at the end of the resulting sum, then that amount shall be rounded up to the nearest amount divisible by 5.

“Common Cents” is based on Canada’s federal policy when it abolished the country’s penny in 2013. It would not apply to transactions paid for online or by card, electronic payment or transfer, or money order.

The proposed S8580 is currently in the Senate’s Rules Committee and doesn’t have an Assembly counterpart.