The penny is officially retiring. Last November, the U.S. Mint stopped making them. These little copper coins have been around since 1857 (when they replaced the half-cent), but their days of cluttering up your car's cup holder are coming to an end.

What's changing at Savage Liquor
Starting in February 2026, when you pay in cash at our liquor stores, your total will be rounded to the nearest nickel. Here's how it works:

• Your total ends in 1¢, 2¢, 6¢, or 7¢? Round down! Example: $3.02 becomes $3.00
• Your total ends in 3¢, 4¢, 8¢, or 9¢? Round up! Example: $4.03 becomes $4.05
• Your total ends in 0¢ or 5¢? No change needed!

The important part: This only affects cash
Paying with a debit card or a credit card? Nothing changes. Those transactions will still charge you the exact amount down to the penny. This rounding only happens when you hand over actual bills and coins.

Why we're doing this
As a retail operation, our liquor stores go through a lot of pennies. With the Mint no longer producing them, we may not be able to get enough from the bank to keep making change. Rather than run out mid-transaction, we're getting ahead of it with a simple rounding system built into our point-of-sale.

It's a small change (pun intended), but it keeps things running smoothly while we say goodbye to a coin that's been losing its usefulness for years.