ODDS AND ENDS

(AP) Auction bidders spent top dollar for some of the final pennies to be circulated in the U.S. before the government ended the cent’s production. The U.S. Mint sold 232 three-cent sets for a whopping sum of $16.76 million last Thursday. One of those sets contained the last three pennies ever to be made. It sold for $800,000. Each set comprised 2025 pennies struck in Philadelphia and Denver, along with a 24-karat gold Lincoln cent. Each penny also bore a unique Omega symbol. The auction caps off the final chapter in the penny’s era after the U.S. government ended the coin’s production.