The Obama administration says the U.S. Mint will stop production of the presidential $1 coins for circulation.

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden announced the decision Tuesday during a Cabinet meeting on cutting waste and eliminating misspent dollars across the federal government.

A White House statement said nearly 1.4 billion surplus dollar coins are sitting in Federal Reserve vaults due to a lack of demand. The statement said that by halting “this unnecessary production,” the Obama administration will save taxpayers at least $50 million per year in production and storage costs.

Officials also say the administration still will be required by law to produce a small number of the coins for collectors.

In 2005, the U.S. Congress enacted the Presidential $1 Coin Act, which mandated that the U.S. Mint issue the coins containing the likeness of every deceased president. The statement, however, said more than 40 percent of the coins have been returned to the Federal Reserve because nobody wants to use them.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner says putting a stop to the minting of surplus $1 coins represents a significant opportunity to reduce costs and improve efficiency.