The Last Pennies on Campus

Recently, I learned UC Davis is down to its last $6 in pennies. While I knew that the Treasury Department had decided to discontinue producing pennies back in 2025, it never dawned on me that there could be implications at UC Davis. 

After all, like many people, I rarely think about pennies anymore. Most of us tap a phone, swipe a card or pay online without giving it much thought. And yet, somewhere between a bowling game at the Memorial Union, a purchase at the Bookstore, a visit to the ARC or a payment at the Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital, pennies have been quietly circulating through campus life. 

Bank of America notified the university earlier this year that pennies would only be available until existing supplies ran out. Since then, departments have been adapting in small ways. Some shifted away from total sales prices ending in .01. Others moved to rounding up to nickels instead. 

What stayed with me, though, was not really the operational side of it. It was the realization that something once so ordinary may soon disappear from everyday campus life without most of us even noticing. 

Even in an increasingly digital world, some members of our community still prefer to pay in cash, a reminder that habits and needs do not always change as quickly or uniformly as we might expect. 

It also made me wonder who will eventually get the last penny on campus — and whether anyone will realize it at the time. 

On a campus as large and constantly evolving as UC Davis, change does not always arrive through big moments. Sometimes it happens through small shifts that slowly become part of everyday life. 

And apparently, sometimes it happens one penny at a time.