The last US pennies produced before the government stopped making the one-cent coin sold for a stunning $16.76 million at auction. The US Mint released 232 special three-cent sets at an auction held by Stack’s Bowers Galleries last Thursday. The final set, containing the last three pennies ever made, sold for $800,000. The winning buyer also received the three dies used to strike these Lincoln cents. John Kraljevich, director of numismatic Americana at Stack’s Bowers, said, “I’ve been going to coin auctions for 40 years, and I can tell you, I’ve never seen anything like this, because there’s never been anything like this.” Stack’s Bowers president Brian Kendrella added, “They captured the public imagination like few rare coins we’ve ever handled.” The penny began in 1793 and once held real buying power, able to purchase items like candy. Though many pennies ended up forgotten in jars, collectors see them as important historic items. Each auction set included 2025 pennies made at the Philadelphia and Denver Mints and a 24-carat gold penny marking the end of the coin's circulation. Each penny also had a unique Omega symbol. The Mint released 232 sets to represent every year the penny was used in American currency. Kraljevich said, “American culture has incorporated the penny into our lexicon, into our pop culture, into all of this stuff. And I think for a lot of people, the ending of production of cents for circulation is an item of nostalgia.”