Collectors were in for a penny, in for hundreds of thousands at a recent coin auction in California.

The final pennies to ever be minted in the U.S. sold for a record sum at Stack’s Bowers Galleries on December 11, with 696 one-cent coins collectively hammering down for more than $16 million. The U.S. Mint in Philadelphia struck the last pennies in November after President Trump instructed U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to stop producing one-cent coins in 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,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social media account.

Included in the sale were 232 three-coin sets featuring one of the 2025 pennies struck at the Philadelphia Mint, the 2025-D penny struck at the Denver Mint, and a special 2025 penny struck in 24-karat gold at the Philadelphia Mint. Each one carries a small Omega symbol, with the last letter in the Greek alphabet symbolizing the end of the coin’s 232-year production run. The penny was officially introduced in 1793 by the newly established U.S. Mint, with the first circulating set comprising 11,178 copper coins.

Stack’s Bowers says the auction attracted “unprecedented levels of collector interest,” with “tremendous excitement” across nearly four hours of competitive bidding. The first lot of the sale (Set #1) fetched $200,000, setting a rather high benchmark for subsequent sets. The final lot (Set #232), which included the very last circulating penny intended for issuance struck at Philadelphia and Denver, along with the final Omega penny in gold, sold for a record $800,000. The set now ranks as the most valuable modern U.S. numismatic item, eclipsing the prior record of $550,000 set by a space-flown Sacagawea dollar in September 2025. 

The average lot price was over $72,000—nearly 80 times the total combined gold melt value of around $210,000 at the time of the sale. In total, 17 sets sold for more than $100,000, underscoring the demand for the soon-to-be-defunct coin. The sale pulled in a total of $16.76 million, becoming the highest value auction of special coins sold on behalf of the U.S. Mint. It also ranks among the most valuable single-owner auction sessions held by Stack’s Bowers. 

“It’s an extraordinary honor to again be selected to partner with the United States Mint to offer exciting numismatic rarities to the collecting public,” Stack’s Bowers Galleries president Brian Kendrella said in a statement. “They captured the public imagination like few rare coins we’ve ever handled. Even our staff of expert numismatists, who see the world’s most famous and valuable rare coins day in and day out, were excited by the chance to handle the very last pennies struck before the suspension of circulating production.”

Existing pennies will remain in circulation, but will eventually disappear from everyday use.