November 21, 2025 • 9 mins
He ended the penny. The nickel is on its final cycle. U.S. Treasurer Brandon Beach talked coinage with Terry Meiners on WHAS Radio.
Dimes and quarters are safe but don't waste your time socking away pennies with the hope that they'll rise in value.
Treasurer Beach has been inside the gold depository at Fort Knox and has plenty to report.
LISTEN for more insights on the Trump Team financial outlook for the coming three years.
Dimes and quarters are safe but don't waste your time socking away pennies with the hope that they'll rise in value.
Treasurer Beach has been inside the gold depository at Fort Knox and has plenty to report.
LISTEN for more insights on the Trump Team financial outlook for the coming three years.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
We're going to welcome in the United States, Treasure Brandon Beach. Welcome,
mister Treasure.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Welcome well, Terry, thank you for having me on your show.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
You're always welcome here. First, let's talk about our farewell
to the penny. I think a lot of people are like, really,
we have to We had to end it, though, didn't
we It was costing too much to make.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Well, it was costing. It was costing four cents to
make a penny. And also the demand was down. Pre
COVID we did nine billion a year and it went
down to two billion last year. So the demand was down,
the cost was up. And you know, this is part
of President Trump's common sense agenda, is to really look
at things and say, is this really feasible to do?
(00:44):
And we're going to save the taxpayers fifty six million
dollars in production costs alone on an annual basis. So
it was the right thing to do. And I was
honored to be able to strike the last penny last
Wednesday after two hundred and thirty two years. It was
quite an honor to strike that penny.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
Okay, So naturally we jump to how long will the
nickel last? It doesn't buy much either. Are we wasting
time making nickels?
Speaker 2 (01:08):
Well, we are addressing the nickel right now. The nickel
costs thirteen point eight cents to manufacture, and that doesn't
make sense either. But we do have a bill in
Congress to go to a different alloy, a zinc alloy
that will cost less than four and a half cents,
and that way it would be profitable to make. We
do not want to lose money on anything. We don't
(01:31):
think it's the prudent thing to do right now to
get rid of the penny and the nickel. So we
decided to just do away with the penny now and
then we will look at the nickel on a ladder basis.
But right now that's what we're doing. We're going to
make sure it's economical. The diamond, the quarter already economical
to produce.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
I got jam. A quarter is still going to get
you something. Should people hold on to those old pennies
they have in that jarge in case there's a week
in there. One of those rare minted pennies that are
that is already worth more than people realize. But I
mean as time goes by, their value would increase, wouldn't it.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
Well, let me be crystal clear. The penny is still
legal tender. It's still in circulation. We encourage people to
use their pennies and get it back in circulation. There's
three hundred billion pennies in circulation now, so we should
not run out of pennies for years. But we're just
not going to manufacture anymore. But again, I want to
(02:33):
be crystal clear, it is still legal tender and it
is still in circulation, so we want to encourage people
to use the penny. And so hopefully we won't have
any shortages anytime soon with three hundred billion in circulation.
Speaker 1 (02:47):
Right, And we can't predict the future, but we don't
know if somewhere down the road, some future administration will
say we're no longer acknowledging the penny.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
Right, Well, that could happen, I mean down the road,
but there's still some there's still a lot of penny.
He's out there and we're not Again, we're not eliminating
the penny. We're discontinuing the production of the penny. And
so it's still legal tender, all right.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
So we're talking to the US Treasurer. It's name's Brandon Beach.
You've got a lot of responsibilities. Obviously you talked to
mister best sense a cents all the time. And so
which of you is in charge of Fort Knox. That's
not too far from where I'm seated, and what is
inside there that we know is verified as true?
Speaker 2 (03:32):
Well, I got some good news for you. I'm in
charge of Fort Knox and I have been there to
visit it a few months ago. And the gold is there.
It is stacked to the ceiling, it is been marked,
it's got markings on the gold, it's been audited. It
is all there. It's trillions of dollars of gold. It's
(03:53):
the most amazing thing I've ever seen. But it is there,
and it's in Kentucky.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
Kno, exactly. We have bad actors around the world. They're
always looking for ways. And I'm not talking about a
James Bond movie here. I've just in real life we
know there are always people looking to hurt us. Is
that place safe enough or has there been consideration of
changing the location of that gold to move it to
a nondescript place so no one knows where it is.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
No, it's on an army base and it is very safe.
It's hard to get in there, there's no windows. It
is very secure. I feel very secure with our goal
being at Fort Knox on an army base.
Speaker 1 (04:37):
Well, we all feel that way too. We were hoping
that's the truth. But it's just you know when nowadays
you just wonder about whether you've seen something is legit
or not. Because of AI, we all see fake imagery.
So it was like, is there really golden there? But
you went in, you put your hands on it.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
I went I saw it with my own eyes.
Speaker 1 (04:56):
It's there, all right, very good. So now that we
have the a big, beautiful bill in place, what are
some of the benefits that have been brought forth? Because
there was so much pushback against that, and we were
told he is going to be the end of the
world at that past and now you know, we haven't
had a financial collapse, So what do you think.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
We're not gonna Let me tell you. During the Trump administration,
let me say this about President Trump. He loves our country.
He loves law enforcement and the military, and respects law
enforcement and the military. But what he really loves is capitalism.
He wants you, your kids, and your grandkids to be
able to pursue the American dream. And he doesn't believe
government creates shops. He believes the private sector creation shops.
(05:39):
But what he does believe is we can create a
conducive environment through fair trade, the tariffs, through low taxes,
less regulation, and educated workforce, and infrastructure investment, both roads,
bridges and twenty first century infrastructure, making sure we have
the right fiber satellites, etc. And if we do those
things and get out of the way, the private sector
(06:01):
will flourish, and you'll see costs come down, you'll see
the economy flourish. And the other thing the President is
very attentive too, and that's energy policy. I believe that
we don't only want to be energy independent, we want
to be energy dominant. And when you have energy dominance,
you've have lower prices. And when you have lower prices
(06:23):
and gas and fuel and energy, then you can get
cost of goods to the stores and groceries to the
grocery store in a cheaper manner. That will reduced costs.
So we have a game plan, we're going to implement it,
and we feel very confident that next year is going
to be a great year. And I tell you what
(06:43):
else is going to be great about next year. It's
our two hundred and fifty years celebration, and you're going
to hear President Trump and our administration talking about American exceptionalism,
American pride, and American spirit and how lucky we are
to live in this country. And then you put on
top of that, we got World Cup FIFA, which is
all over the country. That's going to really showcase the
United States and what a great place it is here.
(07:06):
And we're going to continue to grow our economy and
it's we got a good game plan and I think
you're going to see it come to fruition.
Speaker 1 (07:13):
Okay, let's go back to energy dominance. Are we able
to get all the fields open that President Trump promised
when he was campaigning, the pipelines, all the other things
that have been roadblocked by various courts. Do we have
green light?
Speaker 2 (07:29):
We have a green light. He is through Lee's Elden
reducing regulations so we can start producing oil and gas
in a much quicker speed. He's got Secretary Doug Bergham
at an Interior working with Secretary Chris Wright and Energy.
We're looking at being able to drill on some federal lands,
and we're looking at every possibility to where we can
(07:52):
have natural gas and oil production, so we can be
energy dominant, and again we want to lower energy cost
I think you're going to see, you know, lower lower
few costs in the very very near future, which is
good for the American people and good for cost of
goods to get to market. And that's what we want
to do.
Speaker 1 (08:11):
But some of our so called friends are doing a
lot of business with Russia, and I thought we were
going to get that, get them to turn back and
spend money with the United States. Are we seeing any
movement there?
Speaker 2 (08:22):
Yes, we are. We're going to see movement, and that's
what Secretary Betson's working on a lot of those deals
on the international front.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
Okay, well, I'm glad you were able to assure us
that Fort Knox is safe and we can't take the
kids over there and go throw the gold bricks around
like on a Sunday picnic.
Speaker 2 (08:39):
No, now that place. Nobody goes in Fort Knox. You know,
the last American president was FDR back nineteen thirty four.
So I'm hopeful that President Trump will want to take
a visit to Fort Knox and be the first president
since nineteen thirty four to visit Fort Knox.
Speaker 1 (08:56):
Well, I want to make that hitch. If that happens,
I want to go along because I need an in
the gram photo of that, because there's so few people
have that chance. Hey, treasure Treasurer Beach, it's great speaking
with you today, and let's do it again somewhere down
the road.
Speaker 2 (09:12):
Well, let's do it. And if you're ever in DC,
please stop by the Treasury Building. We'd love to host
and show you around.
Speaker 1 (09:18):
I've been there before. Thanks, brother, appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
All right, thank you.
Speaker 1 (09:22):
That is the United States Treasurer Brandon Beach, live from Washington.
Back in a minute on news radio. Wait forty wha
s
We're going to welcome in the United States, Treasure Brandon Beach. Welcome,
mister Treasure.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Welcome well, Terry, thank you for having me on your show.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
You're always welcome here. First, let's talk about our farewell
to the penny. I think a lot of people are like, really,
we have to We had to end it, though, didn't
we It was costing too much to make.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Well, it was costing. It was costing four cents to
make a penny. And also the demand was down. Pre
COVID we did nine billion a year and it went
down to two billion last year. So the demand was down,
the cost was up. And you know, this is part
of President Trump's common sense agenda, is to really look
at things and say, is this really feasible to do?
(00:44):
And we're going to save the taxpayers fifty six million
dollars in production costs alone on an annual basis. So
it was the right thing to do. And I was
honored to be able to strike the last penny last
Wednesday after two hundred and thirty two years. It was
quite an honor to strike that penny.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
Okay, So naturally we jump to how long will the
nickel last? It doesn't buy much either. Are we wasting
time making nickels?
Speaker 2 (01:08):
Well, we are addressing the nickel right now. The nickel
costs thirteen point eight cents to manufacture, and that doesn't
make sense either. But we do have a bill in
Congress to go to a different alloy, a zinc alloy
that will cost less than four and a half cents,
and that way it would be profitable to make. We
do not want to lose money on anything. We don't
(01:31):
think it's the prudent thing to do right now to
get rid of the penny and the nickel. So we
decided to just do away with the penny now and
then we will look at the nickel on a ladder basis.
But right now that's what we're doing. We're going to
make sure it's economical. The diamond, the quarter already economical
to produce.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
I got jam. A quarter is still going to get
you something. Should people hold on to those old pennies
they have in that jarge in case there's a week
in there. One of those rare minted pennies that are
that is already worth more than people realize. But I
mean as time goes by, their value would increase, wouldn't it.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
Well, let me be crystal clear. The penny is still
legal tender. It's still in circulation. We encourage people to
use their pennies and get it back in circulation. There's
three hundred billion pennies in circulation now, so we should
not run out of pennies for years. But we're just
not going to manufacture anymore. But again, I want to
(02:33):
be crystal clear, it is still legal tender and it
is still in circulation, so we want to encourage people
to use the penny. And so hopefully we won't have
any shortages anytime soon with three hundred billion in circulation.
Speaker 1 (02:47):
Right, And we can't predict the future, but we don't
know if somewhere down the road, some future administration will
say we're no longer acknowledging the penny.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
Right, Well, that could happen, I mean down the road,
but there's still some there's still a lot of penny.
He's out there and we're not Again, we're not eliminating
the penny. We're discontinuing the production of the penny. And
so it's still legal tender, all right.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
So we're talking to the US Treasurer. It's name's Brandon Beach.
You've got a lot of responsibilities. Obviously you talked to
mister best sense a cents all the time. And so
which of you is in charge of Fort Knox. That's
not too far from where I'm seated, and what is
inside there that we know is verified as true?
Speaker 2 (03:32):
Well, I got some good news for you. I'm in
charge of Fort Knox and I have been there to
visit it a few months ago. And the gold is there.
It is stacked to the ceiling, it is been marked,
it's got markings on the gold, it's been audited. It
is all there. It's trillions of dollars of gold. It's
(03:53):
the most amazing thing I've ever seen. But it is there,
and it's in Kentucky.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
Kno, exactly. We have bad actors around the world. They're
always looking for ways. And I'm not talking about a
James Bond movie here. I've just in real life we
know there are always people looking to hurt us. Is
that place safe enough or has there been consideration of
changing the location of that gold to move it to
a nondescript place so no one knows where it is.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
No, it's on an army base and it is very safe.
It's hard to get in there, there's no windows. It
is very secure. I feel very secure with our goal
being at Fort Knox on an army base.
Speaker 1 (04:37):
Well, we all feel that way too. We were hoping
that's the truth. But it's just you know when nowadays
you just wonder about whether you've seen something is legit
or not. Because of AI, we all see fake imagery.
So it was like, is there really golden there? But
you went in, you put your hands on it.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
I went I saw it with my own eyes.
Speaker 1 (04:56):
It's there, all right, very good. So now that we
have the a big, beautiful bill in place, what are
some of the benefits that have been brought forth? Because
there was so much pushback against that, and we were
told he is going to be the end of the
world at that past and now you know, we haven't
had a financial collapse, So what do you think.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
We're not gonna Let me tell you. During the Trump administration,
let me say this about President Trump. He loves our country.
He loves law enforcement and the military, and respects law
enforcement and the military. But what he really loves is capitalism.
He wants you, your kids, and your grandkids to be
able to pursue the American dream. And he doesn't believe
government creates shops. He believes the private sector creation shops.
(05:39):
But what he does believe is we can create a
conducive environment through fair trade, the tariffs, through low taxes,
less regulation, and educated workforce, and infrastructure investment, both roads,
bridges and twenty first century infrastructure, making sure we have
the right fiber satellites, etc. And if we do those
things and get out of the way, the private sector
(06:01):
will flourish, and you'll see costs come down, you'll see
the economy flourish. And the other thing the President is
very attentive too, and that's energy policy. I believe that
we don't only want to be energy independent, we want
to be energy dominant. And when you have energy dominance,
you've have lower prices. And when you have lower prices
(06:23):
and gas and fuel and energy, then you can get
cost of goods to the stores and groceries to the
grocery store in a cheaper manner. That will reduced costs.
So we have a game plan, we're going to implement it,
and we feel very confident that next year is going
to be a great year. And I tell you what
(06:43):
else is going to be great about next year. It's
our two hundred and fifty years celebration, and you're going
to hear President Trump and our administration talking about American exceptionalism,
American pride, and American spirit and how lucky we are
to live in this country. And then you put on
top of that, we got World Cup FIFA, which is
all over the country. That's going to really showcase the
United States and what a great place it is here.
(07:06):
And we're going to continue to grow our economy and
it's we got a good game plan and I think
you're going to see it come to fruition.
Speaker 1 (07:13):
Okay, let's go back to energy dominance. Are we able
to get all the fields open that President Trump promised
when he was campaigning, the pipelines, all the other things
that have been roadblocked by various courts. Do we have
green light?
Speaker 2 (07:29):
We have a green light. He is through Lee's Elden
reducing regulations so we can start producing oil and gas
in a much quicker speed. He's got Secretary Doug Bergham
at an Interior working with Secretary Chris Wright and Energy.
We're looking at being able to drill on some federal lands,
and we're looking at every possibility to where we can
(07:52):
have natural gas and oil production, so we can be
energy dominant, and again we want to lower energy cost
I think you're going to see, you know, lower lower
few costs in the very very near future, which is
good for the American people and good for cost of
goods to get to market. And that's what we want
to do.
Speaker 1 (08:11):
But some of our so called friends are doing a
lot of business with Russia, and I thought we were
going to get that, get them to turn back and
spend money with the United States. Are we seeing any
movement there?
Speaker 2 (08:22):
Yes, we are. We're going to see movement, and that's
what Secretary Betson's working on a lot of those deals
on the international front.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
Okay, well, I'm glad you were able to assure us
that Fort Knox is safe and we can't take the
kids over there and go throw the gold bricks around
like on a Sunday picnic.
Speaker 2 (08:39):
No, now that place. Nobody goes in Fort Knox. You know,
the last American president was FDR back nineteen thirty four.
So I'm hopeful that President Trump will want to take
a visit to Fort Knox and be the first president
since nineteen thirty four to visit Fort Knox.
Speaker 1 (08:56):
Well, I want to make that hitch. If that happens,
I want to go along because I need an in
the gram photo of that, because there's so few people
have that chance. Hey, treasure Treasurer Beach, it's great speaking
with you today, and let's do it again somewhere down
the road.
Speaker 2 (09:12):
Well, let's do it. And if you're ever in DC,
please stop by the Treasury Building. We'd love to host
and show you around.
Speaker 1 (09:18):
I've been there before. Thanks, brother, appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
All right, thank you.
Speaker 1 (09:22):
That is the United States Treasurer Brandon Beach, live from Washington.
Back in a minute on news radio. Wait forty wha
s
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