Instead, the U.S. Mint simply stops making them, which puts them into the “extinct” category.
This has happened a lot in the United States over the past 250 or so years, with coins coming and going — sometimes in only a couple of years.
A 2018 blog on the Numismatic Guaranty Company website speculated that all coins might eventually become extinct currencies as digital wallets
The first current U.S. coins that could be headed for extinction are one-cent and five-cent pieces.
This is partly because it costs more to produce them than they’re worth. Even so, it will likely be many years before that happens, if it happens at all.
For now, you can still dig into your pocket or purse and pay for items with coins. The penny, nickel, dime and quarter are the circulating coins in use today.
Half dollar and $1 coins are produced as collectibles, though they still may be ordered by the Federal Reserve for circulation and used as legal tender, according to the U.S. Mint.