The U.S. Mint is pressing its last penny today, ending production that cost taxpayers $85 million last year, with each penny costing almost four cents to produce.

Cato policy analyst Tad DeHaven explains in this blog post how special interest lobbying kept this money-losing coin in circulation for decades despite bipartisan efforts to eliminate it. He’s available to discuss why this matters and what should come next.

If you’d like to speak with DeHaven, please reach out to Madison: mmiller@​cato.​org.