The U.S. Mint has made its final order of penny blanks and plans to stop producing the coin when those run out, a Treasury Department official confirmed Thursday.

By stopping the one-cent coin’s production, one official says the Treasury expects an immediate annual savings of $56 million in reduced material costs.

"Confirming the WSJ story, the Treasury has made its final order of penny blanks this month and the United States Mint will continue to manufacture pennies while an inventory of penny blanks exists," a Treasury spokesperson said.

The cost of producing a penny skyrocketed in recent years, reaching 3.69 cents, according to the Treasury Department.

The United States has imposed sanctions on two members of the Mexican drug trafficking organization Cartel del Noreste, the Northeast Cartel, which was formerly known as Los Zetas.

A federal judge has rejected a bid by the U.S. Treasury Department to cancel a union contract covering tens of thousands of IRS staff, an early blow to President Donald Trump's efforts to eliminate collective bargaining rights for many federal workers.