（内斯塔）——周一，参议院通过了一项法案，该法案可能正式宣告一分钱硬币（penny）成为历史、改变五分钱硬币（nickel），并重塑您的现金交易。在没有异议的情况下，编号为H.R. 10167、又称《常规分币法案》（Common Cents Act）的法案在参议院获得通过，目前正送交唐纳德·特朗普总统签署。
(NEXSTAR) – The Senate on Monday passed a bill that could formally mark the end of the penny, change the nickel and alter your cash transactions. Without objection, H.R. 10167, otherwise known as the Common Cents Act, made it through the Senate and is now en route to President Donald Trump's desk.
整个夏天，国会两院一直在推进类似立法。本月早些时候，众议院通过口头表决通过了《常规分币法案》。该法案的一个相同版本已于8月在参议院获得一致同意通过。周一通过的法案与今年早些时候在众议院通过并送交参议院的另一个版本的《常规分币法案》略有不同。虽然那个版本指示财政部停止铸造一分钱，但它并未明确概述某种硬币的停产。
Through the summer, both chambers were working on similar legislation. Earlier this month, the House passed the Common Cents Act by a voice vote. An identical version of the bill passed in the Senate with unanimous consent in August. The bill passed Monday varies slightly from another version of the Common Cents Act that made its way through the House and to the Senate earlier this year. While that version instructs the Treasury to stop minting the penny, it did not explicitly outline the discontinuation of a coin.
这项现已在参议院和众议院获得通过的立法可能会对您的零钱产生重大影响。以下是您需要了解的内容。
The legislation that has now passed through the House and Senate may have a big impact on your change. Here's what to know.
尽管今年为了庆祝美国建国250周年发行了收藏版一分钱，但自去年秋天以来，就没有再生产用于流通的新一分钱。《常规分币法案》可能标志着一分钱的正式停产，但它仍然允许铸造“作为钱币收藏品出售”的一分钱硬币。如果该立法得以颁布，一分钱仍然是法定货币，仍可用于支付“所有公共债务、费用、税款和应付款项”。
While collectible pennies were released this year for America's 250th anniversary, there hasn't been a new penny produced for circulation since last fall. The Common Cents Act may mark the formal discontinuation of the penny, but it will still allow for one-cent coins "for sale as numismatic items" to be minted. Pennies remain legal tender and can still be used to pay "all debts, public charges, taxes, and dues," should the legislation be enacted.
自从零售商和企业从去年夏天开始报告一分钱短缺以来，使用现金支付一直变得很麻烦。一些零售商将交易金额四舍五入；另一些则提供礼品卡和促销活动来换取一分钱。据估计，目前有超过3000亿枚一分钱，相当于每个美国公民拥有价值8美元的一分钱，但它们最近并没有流入收银机。
Since retailers and businesses began reporting penny shortages last summer, paying with cash has been clunky. Some retailers rounded transactions; others offered gift cards and promos in exchange for pennies. Estimates suggest there are more than 300 billion pennies, or $8 worth per U.S. citizen, but they haven't been finding their way to tills as of late.
如果《常规分币法案》获得特朗普的签署，这种情况也不会改变。不过，企业将被允许将现金交易金额四舍五入到最近的五分钱。
That won't change should the Common Cents Act receive Trump's signature. However, businesses would be permitted to round cash transactions to the nearest nickel.
听起来很简单，但一些州和地方政府却通过法律禁止这种做法。支持者认为，《美分统一法案》可以消除由此造成的混乱。美国全国零售联合会和全美便利店协会分别发表声明，对参议院通过《美分统一法案》表示支持，重点提到法案中关于现金交易取整的指导规定。如果特朗普签署该法案，停止使用一美分硬币和现金交易取整似乎基本已成定局，但《美分统一法案》可能对五美分硬币产生何种影响仍不清楚。
As simple as it sounds, some states and localities have laws prohibiting the practice. Advocates believe the Common Cents Act could iron out that confusion. In separate statements, the National Retail Federation and the National Association of Convenience Stores applauded the Senate's passing of the Common Cents Act, focusing specifically on this guidance on transaction rounding. While the shelving of the penny and the rounding of cash transactions seem relatively certain to happen should Trump sign the bill, what is less clear about the Common Cents Act is its possible impact on the nickel.
作为美国最新推出的最低面额硬币，自一美分硬币出现短缺以来，五美分硬币很可能一直备受关注。然而，与一美分硬币一样，五美分硬币的制造成本也极其高昂。2025财年，铸造一枚五美分硬币的成本超过13美分，略低于上一年的13.78美分。《美分统一法案》并未直接废除五美分硬币，不过至少有一位专家认为，对美国而言，弃用五美分硬币本会比弃用一美分硬币更容易。
As the nation's newest lowest denomination, the nickel has likely been in the limelight since the penny shortage began. However, like the penny, the nickel is extremely expensive to produce. In fiscal year 2025, it cost more than 13 cents to produce a single nickel. That's down slightly from 13.78 cents in the previous year.
该法案确实允许财政部长测试和评估五美分硬币的材质组合，并在新材质能够“降低生产成本”且“对硬币接收机器产生的不利影响极小”的情况下，提出新的材质方案。新材质可能包括以锌为主体、外层覆镍。目前只有一美分硬币和1美元硬币采用锌。根据铸币局的数据，去年锌的价格每吨近7000美元，比铜便宜。不过，更改硬币材质可能十分困难。
The Common Cents Act does not outright get rid of the nickel (though at least one expert has argued it would have been easier for the U.S. to ditch it instead of the penny). It does, however, permit the Treasury Secretary to test and evaluate compositions of the coin and suggest a new make-up for the nickel if it "reduces the cost" of production and "has a minimal adverse impact on machines designed to accept coins." That may include making the nickel out of zinc, with an outer layer of nickel. Only the penny and the $1 coin currently use zinc, which was nearly $7,000 per tonne cheaper than copper last year, the Mint reports. Changing a coin's composition can be difficult, though.
例如，降低一美分硬币制造成本的尝试就未能成功。《美分统一法案》仍需由特朗普签署后才能生效。不过，去年早些时候，特朗普已要求财政部停止铸造新的一美分硬币，并称这种一美分硬币“浪费”。
Attempts to make the penny cheaper, for example, failed. The Common Cents Act still needs to be signed by Trump before it can take effect. He did, however, call on the Treasury to stop minting new pennies early last year, describing the one-cent coins as "wasteful."