Coin shortage?

I had posted in another forum, but I live in the New Haven, CT area and there now is a posted shortage of coins. Banks have limited my roll purchases and stores have Exact Change signs up. I have also encountered the blank looks just from handing over an older $10 or $20 bill. The 18 year old clerk looks at me like I am handing them a fake bill because they have never seen paper money without all the blue stripes, etc. Forget about the dollar coin, JFK or $2 bill - seems like intergalactic money to them !

 

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Our Dutch Bros coffee businesses in town has "no cash transactions please" signs out in front.

 

I haven't used a coin in upteen years. I can't remember the last time. Never even use bills. I'm a credit card kind of guy! I do pay it off every month, though. Never been in debt.

 

The Wal-Mart's in the St Louis area have self checkout machines which accept half dollars.

 

About 9 years ago a man came into the post office. He bought a $.03, yes a three cent stamp and he paid for it with a credit card. I asked him if he had a nickel in the car and he replied that he never uses cash, only credit.

 

Sounds like me! LOL. Nah, not quite that exaggerated.

 

So that leaves the minimum cash purchase, without exact change, is one dollar. That can of beans is priced eighty cents, but you will have to pay $1.00 if you're paying with a bill. Nice.

 

Here's One Weird Hack for that dystopian future: make a list of things you'll need, and then buy them all in one trip through the checkout, rather than making a separate trip for each can of beans. It isn't as painful when your $57.80 total gets rounded up to $58. Saves you on gas/ride fare, too!

 

Has anyone in MA or close to Fall River MA come across a shortage of coins yet?
I haven't..

 

...the idiot WalMarts here in Conway Arkansas have turned off cash and coin sales through their scan-and-go self checkouts. Now, even if you wanted to use coins you can’t. To use coins now I would be forced to use a regular checkout and the attendant would count the coins. I think I will save up about $30 in coins and use one of the busiest ones at the worst time of day (lunch or drive time)...but that would be an exercise in futility and just make me angry...all over again. Like Yogi Berra said: “It’s like Deja Vu all over again”

...I mean, I don’t keep any extra coinage longer than a week, for goodness sakes! Last night I bought a bag of ice at my local gas station using all coins...and the attendant thanked me!…Spark

 

I heard about these thin plastic card like things that work for buying stuff.

 

Wonder if that was more due to the virus than an actual shortage.

 

That's what they want scared people to think and people are forced to go cashless, touchless.

 

My wife and I have found that it is easier to pay with a credit card than paying with cash or a check. My wife taught high school English for 35 years. She told me that the school was having to have a business class to teach students how to make change, write a check, and use a credit card. They discontinued the credit card because they kids already knew how to use them. I went to McDonalds and had to tell the cashier how to give me my change. Children are hampered these days because they don't know the basics of money. Oh yeah, I went to one store on my way home from work and my purchase was not an even currency and I was due change. There was no sign or anything else telling customers to "even up" to the whole dollar. I was ticked and walked out with my purchases on the counter.

 

Really hope that doesn't become a reality. Cashless America. NO way!

 

It hit small town Idaho two weeks ago. It still kind of amazes me when billions of coins are minted yearly. Wish I knew what is going on...

 

Keeping the sheep in line...

 

When are we going to realize for the part we are responsible for the actions of our children. Give more to each generation the more they expect and the more irresponsible they become. We as parents bare the loss through the lack of communication and direction. If it's going to be a matter of survival we better have an alternative to cash or they won't keep America great as it has always been!!! My opinion only I do not mean to offend anyone.

 

USA Today
Fact check: Yes, there's a national coin shortage. Here's why
As the spreading coronavirus and resulting business closures crippled economic activity in the United States, the circulation of coins dropped off significantly. The U.S. Mint, which manufactures the nation's coin supply, also decreased staffing in response to the pandemic.

As the nation's businesses have reopened, demand for coins has exceeded the available supply.

The Fed, in a June 30 news release, further explained the issue, saying that as of April 2020, the U.S. Treasury estimated the total value of coins circulating was $47.8 billion, up $400 million from the same time last year, according to the release. The "slowed pace of circulation" of coins, not the number of coins in the economy, was the issue, according to the release.

The Fed on June 30 announced the creation of the U.S. Coin Task Force, a group tasked to address the "disruptions to normal coin circulation." Members of the task force were announced on July 10. The task force is expected to create an initial set of recommendations by the end of the month.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news...rica-midst-national-coin-shortage/5439455002/

Forbes
Yiming Ma, assistant professor in the finance division of the Columbia Business School, says describing the current coin circulation disruption as a coin shortage isn’t entirely accurate.

“A disruption is a better way to describe it,” Ma says. “It’s reflecting the fact that, once circulation is resumed, these disruptions will ease out.”

Ma says businesses that primarily take coins, such as laundromats, vending machines and car washes, likely stopped operating during the pandemic due to social distancing and stay-at-home measures. These businesses are usually key components in getting coins back to banks to redistribute back into the economy. Since they weren’t receiving coins, the flow of them back into the economy has been significantly reduced.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/advisor/2020/07/20/is-there-really-a-coin-shortage/#448a6f54f0a3

 

I posted on another thread I think they are overlooking the affect of bank lobbies being shut down is having on this. I know I have my jar full I usually fill up before taking to the bank. Since I have to schedule an appointment in advance, I have not taken them in, and just started another jar. Take this times millions of Americans and you get a coin shortage. Not rocket science.