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The federal government will stop producing pennies next year, ending a more than 200-year run for the nation鈥檚 lowest coin denomination. The penny鈥檚 mark on sa国际传媒官网网页入口 is small but not insignificant 鈥� retailers say they鈥檒l probably just have to change prices to multiples of five.

鈥淚鈥檓 glad that pennies are going away. I wish all coin change would go away,鈥� said Mike Phillips, owner of Keller鈥檚 Farm Stores, a pair of local sa国际传媒官网网页入口 markets.

Phillips said the discontinuation of the one-cent piece will affect business 鈥渁 little bit,鈥� and that they鈥檒l have to decide to round transactions up or down. The business uses pennies and quarters more than any other coin, he said.

鈥淚t鈥檇 be nice to not have to deal with them,鈥� Phillips said.

For businesses and the federal government alike, the penny may often be more trouble than it鈥檚 worth. For the , it cost the government more than one cent to make a penny. Last year, the spent 3.7 cents to produce each penny for a total gross cost of about $117 million.

Since the , Congress has been considering legislation to eliminate the penny due to cost concerns. Canada, New Zealand, Australia and the Bahamas have all eliminated their penny equivalents in the last four decades.

sa国际传媒官网网页入口鈥檚 Little Bear Coffee, which has four locations across the city, processes 鈥渁 fair amount of cash transactions,鈥� said co-owner Jacob Fox, so the business hasn鈥檛 yet decided if they鈥檒l be rounding prices up or down.

鈥淚t logistically changes some things about how we鈥檙e going to be able to accept payment from customers,鈥� Fox said. 鈥淏ut I don鈥檛 know that I see it as being an inherently bad or good thing. It鈥檚 just a little bit different.鈥�

Even when pennies go extinct from the U.S. Mint, they remain legal tender, and businesses will still accept them as payment, said Eric Harrison, spokesperson for Nusenda Credit Union.

Harrison said current guidance to credit unions from the Federal Reserve has been limited, but Nusenda will continue to have pennies available for customers and doesn鈥檛 anticipate any shortages in the foreseeable future.

Sunward Federal Credit Union receives coin deliveries from the Federal Reserve and the U.S. Treasury, and hasn鈥檛 seen any indications of a potential penny shortage thus far, said Sunward鈥檚 Chief Experience Officer Matthew Reidy.

鈥淲e don鈥檛 have any concerns as of today with maintaining appropriate levels for our coins. But the reality is that they will continue to phase out, and they will be seen less and less in circulation,鈥� Reidy said.

Smith鈥檚 24 New Mexico grocery stores will continue to accept pennies, said Tina Murray, spokesperson for Kroger, Smith鈥檚 parent company.

鈥淚f using cash for payment, we kindly ask customers to consider providing exact change,鈥� Murray said.