CORP/BIZ National coin shortage ?

Baja SS

Froze Member
Many of the businesses in northern NY, have signs up asking people to pay with exact change. Or signs asking to buy rolled coins. Every ones claiming a national coin shortage. Are other areas of the country seeing this ?
DW being a waitress. We have lots of rolls. I've offered them to local stores and gas stations at $12 a roll for quarters, $6 a roll for dimes, $2.75 for nickles. ;) Supply and demand.
 

fish hook

Deceased
Many of the businesses in northern NY, have signs up asking people to pay with exact change. Or signs asking to buy rolled coins. Every ones claiming a national coin shortage. Are other areas of the country seeing this ?
DW being a waitress. We have lots of rolls. I've offered them to local stores and gas stations at $12 a roll for quarters, $6 a roll for dimes, $2.75 for nickles. ;) Supply and demand.
Any takers?
 

Baja SS

Froze Member
My thought is total elimination of cash. Step one suddenly there's a coin shortage. Step two CDC declares all paper money covid tainted and must be turned in. What a perfect time to hand you back a debit card. But don't listen to me. I should be committed anyway.
 

Cacheman

Ultra MAGA!
Since Friday I started at home in SC WI, driven as far west as Waterloo IA, went north into SE MN and now back home in SC WI and the entire weekend stopped at many places and never saw anything about coins.

EDIT:
Sign in the door of our local bank in upstate NY asking for coins. Hmmmm; maybe not minting them anymore bc they are going to force everyone to pay digitally? Am I paranoid?

I do remember not long ago reading that people are actually hording cash (coins too?) and are using plastic right now and the cash isn't going into savings accounts at banks, a lot of that stimulus money isn't going into the economy and it's just disappeared. Wish I bookmarked it but it was a very credible site.
 
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mecoastie

Veteran Member
Same in NH. Saw a sign in a grocery that said due to national coin shortage they would not be providing rolled coins to customers. I am assuming for laundry?
 

Millwright

Knuckle Dragger
_______________
:siren: MAJOR FOIL ALERT:siren:

FWIW, and any other disclaimers.

Just something that ran through my head when I saw this.



It has been said that a lightning currency reset would not be able to address small change.

Folding money would be easy enough to convert, but real jingle would hold it's "old value" longer. In that, it would take 10-"old dollars" to make 1-"new dollar", but 4 quarters would make 1-new dollar...or something like that.

Dunno, just something that was mentioned in past discussions, here-n-there.
 
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greysage

On The Level
Banks and businesses don't want to handle coinage any more. And any self serve business that took coins will have to convert to credit card enabled. Credit card companies love that. Pretty sure the car wash I go to no longer takes coins or tokens.
 

shane

Has No Life - Lives on TB
Saw same today for first-time in major Texas grocery chain, HEB.

Panic Early, Beat the Rush!
- Shane
 

TammyinWI

Talk is cheap
It is in my AO, too. Couple places put out requests for exact change if possible. Kwik Trip put out an email, and they have several locations, and another had a laminated sign posted by the cash register, saw it somewhere in my travels.
 

shane

Has No Life - Lives on TB
Another good excuse to exchange more $ into precious metals, especially lead.

Ammo will likely not only hold it's value, but increase, just need to store it right.

Panic Early, Beat the Rush!
- Shane
 
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Bps1691

Veteran Member
My thought is total elimination of cash. Step one suddenly there's a coin shortage. Step two CDC declares all paper money covid tainted and must be turned in. What a perfect time to hand you back a debit card. But don't listen to me. I should be committed anyway.
When a currency changes they devalue it. like a $10 old dollars for 1 new dollar.

They are usually so busy printing the new dollars they don't get around to new coins very fast. Plus all vendor machines require changes to make them work with the new coins and currency. Vending machines take time to be changed over so for at least a brief period of time, vending machines will take the old coins and the old coins are still legal tender IF you can get a store to take them.
 

Baja SS

Froze Member
I would think there would be a huge supply of coinage available. Why ? As the shutdown of America began before the unemployment started flowing. Households ran low on cash. First thing they would do is pull out the rolled coins. Second would be start selling personal belongings. Again folks, these are just thoughts running through a chronic insomniacs head at 4am.
 

Sammy55

Veteran Member
I would think there would be a huge supply of coinage available. Why ? As the shutdown of America began before the unemployment started flowing. Households ran low on cash. First thing they would do is pull out the rolled coins. Second would be start selling personal belongings. Again folks, these are just thoughts running through a chronic insomniacs head at 4am.

Families were doing that. I remember reading that people were finding lots of old coins that were showing up in stores because of people pulling out their long-held stashes of coins collected over years.
 

Macgyver

Has No Life - Lives on TB
Banks aren't open for walk in. You can't send coins through the drive through vacuum tube thing.
So people can't turn them in nor get rolls to go.
 

lakemom

Veteran Member
I ran into this yesterday in Walmart, of all places. My total was $6 & change. As I was digging out the change, the cashier said if I had $1 in quarters, that would be great. I asked if they were running low on change and she said yes. In Walmart. :eek:

So, I don't know if there's an actual change shortage or if people are unable to get to the bank to cash it in, maybe? I know I haven't cashed mine in since this whole Covid mess started. Anyway, just a thought.
 

Meemur

Voice on the Prairie / FJB!
Grimes, IA: sign at the McDonald's was asking people to pay with exact change or use credit/debit cards due to a national coin shortage. (Grimes is a small town, north of the Des Moines Metro).

Note: Mickey Dee's is on my "no go" list, but I took one of the seniors to the new Aldi, and she insisted on getting a cup of coffee first, since she was out of it at home.

[If you see this Packy, it's across the street from the new Grimes Walmart and in front of the Menards. You can see all three stores when nearing the exit on Highway 141.]
 

NoDandy

Has No Life - Lives on TB
:siren: MAJOR FOIL ALERT:siren:

FWIW, and any other disclaimers.

Just something that ran through my head when I saw this.



It has been said that a lightning currency reset would not be able to address small change.

Folding money would be easy enough to convert, but real jingle would hold it's "old value" longer. In that, it would take 10-"old dollars" to make 1-"new dollar", but 4 quarters would make 1-new dollar...or something like that.

Dunno, just something that was mentioned in past discussions, here-n-there.
I have heard others express that theory. Plus, some DGI may mistakenly think coins are like silver coins. I know. But there are people out there who really do not know.
 

NoDandy

Has No Life - Lives on TB
Some retailers may modify prices to cut back on change due.

And yes, some older coins may come out into circulation. Look for pre 1965 silver coins, and some older nickels & pennies.
 

Echo38

Contributing Member
Haven't seen an actual shortage here yet but lady from my bank who is also a customer told me over a week ago that they had gotten notice that there was going to be a probable coin shortage suggested that I stock up extra for the store. I'm in Arkansas
 

West

Senior
I've used copper pennies (made before 1983) and clad dimes, quarters and halves for washers in a pinch and they work great. Would use nickels but my hole punch doesn't like cutting holes in nickel.

I mention this because the cost of large washers that are not just steel but are..

Quote...

Most current U.S. clad coins consist of an inner core of pure copper, with outer layers of a nickel-copper alloy that looks like silver.

From... Clad Coins: What Are They Made Of and Why?

Great washers made like clad coins would cost way more than face if one was going to have some made or had to buy a clad made like a coin washer.

Just a musing...
 

Kathy in FL

Administrator
_______________
No bank I do business with from national to local take "rolls" anymore. Even if you go to the trouble of rolling them they still make you leave the coins and then they run them in the coin counter when they have the chance and then deposit the money into your account. Depending on how busy they are this could take a couple of days.

Many people were taking their coins to CoinStar counters until those machines started jacking up their rates (cost/dollar counted) but the bonus is you can get a voucher and use it in the store right there. Tell the local businesses to complain at the banks for not taking change in bulk very easily anymore and to go to CoinStar.

I've got more than just a couple hundred bucks in coins sitting around my house because we get paid in cash a lot and the bank takes frelling forever to count the stuff. Not even the freaking gas stations take rolled coins these days.

Basically if there is a shortage the banks and businesses need to look at themselves in the mirror. People would be willing to spend it if they had cashiers and tellers that would take the time to count it.
 

jazzy

Advocate Discernment
When a currency changes they devalue it. like a $10 old dollars for 1 new dollar.

They are usually so busy printing the new dollars they don't get around to new coins very fast. Plus all vendor machines require changes to make them work with the new coins and currency. Vending machines take time to be changed over so for at least a brief period of time, vending machines will take the old coins and the old coins are still legal tender IF you can get a store to take them.


ive read similar in history---in tiomes of emergency and devaluation, its the coins that retain face value. the paper is toast. save your coins--check the dates for dates for real content. i recall reading when zimbabwe and some other nations started going under with massive inflation, the shop keepers proffered to do business with people with coins, not paper.

save your coins
 

paul d

Veteran Member
They're blaming it on covid......



A Penny for Your Thoughts Could Be a Lot Harder to Find
Coins have become scarce as virus lockdowns keep people from emptying their coin jars in exchange for paper bills.






WASHINGTON — Randy Graham, the chief executive of the First National Bank of Tennessee, was surprised to learn in mid-June that the Federal Reserve would not be filling his entire order of pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters.
The reason: The nation’s coin supply was coming up short.
In the latest indication of how the coronavirus is disrupting life in unexpected ways, the flow of coins has become gummed up as consumers stayed home and avoided touching physical cash. In particular, customers have not been dumping their piggy banks into kiosks at grocery stores in exchange for bills.
As the country has begun to reopen, the supply of coins has failed to keep up with renewed demand for a type of currency that, even in an increasingly digital world, remains essential to business.
“Many businesses are dependent on the coin — they don’t need the disruption,” Mr. Graham said. He was told that his allocation would be cut drastically, to less than half of its usual total. Mr. Graham received about 40 percent of his usual order this week, and expects that to persist into early July.

“If this lasts any length of time, there’s no question that we’ll be looking at our customer base and saying, ‘Sorry, don’t have it,’” he said.
Even as digital payments become more of the norm in America, change remains crucial to some parts of the economy: Parking meters, vending machines, amusement parks and even campground showers have kept coins in regular use.


The U.S. Mint manufactures America’s coins, and the Federal Reserve distributes them across the country. As typical coin circulation has been disrupted by the pandemic, those institutions have had to change their normal practices to solve the problem, with the Fed allocating coins to banks based on their historical order sizes and the Mint ramping up new coin shipments to pump fresh supply into the system.
“What’s happened is that with the partial closure of the economy, the flow of coins through the economy, it has gotten all — it’s kind of stopped,” Jerome H. Powell, the chair of the Fed, told lawmakers while testifying on Capitol Hill last week. “We’ve been aware of it, we’re working with the Mint to increase supply, we’re working with the reserve banks to get the supply to where it needs to be.”
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Tuesday that he believed the shortage would be solved. He noted that the staff at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing worked throughout the lockdown to ensure that cash was delivered to the Federal Reserve so it could be distributed to banks.

“As it relates to coins, so many businesses shut down, a lot of coins got stuck in the system, so we are a little bit far behind on coins,” Mr. Mnuchin said at a virtual investment summit sponsored by Bloomberg. “But I know they are redoubling their efforts and that will work out fine.”
The Fed began to ration its coin supply on June 15, giving banks a portion of their requested change supply depending on what they had historically requested, among other factors, a move that the central bank says is a “temporary measure.”
The strategy will remain in place as long as necessary, a Fed spokeswoman said Wednesday, pointing out that change needs to begin circulating through commerce for things to go back to normal.
“The coin shortage has been mainly caused by coins not re-entering distribution,” Michael White, a spokesman for the Mint, said in an emailed statement. “With businesses opening back up, we expect that the situation will improve as Americans return their coins to banks or recycling machines for redistribution.”
Coin shipments are also ramping up, he said, as the Mint puts safeguards into place so manufacturers can work safely. Facilities in Denver and Philadelphia returned to full production staffing levels on June 15 after reducing employees per shift earlier in the pandemic, he said.
The Mint will ship 1.2 billion coins during June, Mr. White said, and is on track to increase that to 1.35 billion coins every month for the rest of 2020. Typically, the number is close to 1 billion per month.
Still, there’s a risk that the crunch in cold hard cash in the United States could touch off literal penny hoarding as businesses become nervous that they will not get the coins they need to make change for customers.

Mr. Graham in Tennessee said that he had been able to meet all ordinary business requests for change, but that some customers had asked for several months’ worth of coins to protect against a shortfall. He has not filled those requests.
The coin shortage could renew the debate about the fate of the penny, which has faced calls for abolition because its purchasing power has fallen and its cost of production has eclipsed its value.
For now, the disruption is expected to blow over.
“There’s plenty of coin out there. It’s just not making it to the right place at this point,” Jim Gaherity, the chief executive of Coinstar, said on CNBC this week. His company, which has kiosks that take consumers’ coins in exchange for bills, recirculates $2.7 billion worth of coins annually, he said. “We need to get it back into the system.”
Cash in circulation in general has continued to expand in the United States even as digital options become increasingly prevalent. As of June 10, there were $1.91 trillion worth of Federal Reserve notes were in circulation, based on central bank data. That has climbed significantly in recent years, as $100 bills in particular have been in demand.
Precautionary cash hoarding has skyrocketed in some coronavirus-hit economies, including the United States and Italy, the Bank for International Settlements — a financial institution that serves central banks — found in a new report out Wednesday. Even so, the institution suggested that the pandemic, which has also spurred an increase in contactless card transactions, could actually accelerate the shift toward digital payments, and away from paper cash and the newly scarce quarters and pennies.
“The Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted both the progress achieved and the remaining shortcomings in payments,” according to the report. “The crisis has amplified calls for greater access to digital payments by vulnerable groups and for more inclusive, lower-cost payment services going forward.”
 
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