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Why do U.S. coins seem to be in short supply?

federalreserve.gov

11–20 of 222 posts

Re: Why do U.S. coins seem to be in short supply?

#11
post #2

What does a shortage of coins look like today? Difficulty paying for a parking space or a gumball? Is it just difficulty giving change in a cash transaction? Wouldn't stores have access to banks that arent closed to be able to give change? What's the role that coins play today that would be noticeable?

Every walmart in Albuquerque has limited cash transactions to about half their registers.

Re: Why do U.S. coins seem to be in short supply?

#13
post #4

Nobody uses them.

In college, I was one of the people dependent on coin-operated laundry. If I couldn't have gotten coins, I would've been forced to drive several blocks at a minimum and spend more time and money on laundry. Inconvenient for me, but especially bad for the old lady downstairs without a car.

Re: Why do U.S. coins seem to be in short supply?

#15
post #7
post #2

What does a shortage of coins look like today? Difficulty paying for a parking space or a gumball? Is it just difficulty giving change in a cash transaction? Wouldn't stores have access to banks that arent closed to be able to give change? What's the role that coins play today that would be noticeable?

Stores are unable to handle cash transactions because they can't make change, because they can't get enough from their banks, because the banks aren't getting enough supply, apparently.

At my grocery store today there was a large sign at the checkout informing you they don’t have coins to make change, please use electronic payment.

If you pay cash and don’t have the exact amount the total will be rounded up and the excess donated to a charity.

Re: Why do U.S. coins seem to be in short supply?

#16
post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There’s some businesses like laundromats serving areas where many folks don’t have washer/dryer in unit that are still coin operated. It’s a real impact for those since people now need to go further to wash/dry or find friends or family who will help out.

A lot of apartment complexes also have on-site laundromats that are coin operated. I've never understood why the cost of that isn't included in the rent, landlords can't be taking that much of a cut from it.

It's to subsidize the cost of the machines and the electricity and water.

The machines are commercial grade, depending on the amount of tenants they will have high wear and will cost to purchase $3000 each. Minimum of a set is 2 so $6000.

If you use a management company that deals in laundromat and repair, the capex is not there but you'll ave a monthly opex of about $50-100 that should include a guarantee and onsite tech. Per set.

It scales up pretty quickly because you can, maybe, push a one set onto 4 units.

--

But it's also a sign of cheaper locations and landlords to not have your own washer/dryer inside.

Re: Why do U.S. coins seem to be in short supply?

#17
post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There’s some businesses like laundromats serving areas where many folks don’t have washer/dryer in unit that are still coin operated. It’s a real impact for those since people now need to go further to wash/dry or find friends or family who will help out.

A lot of apartment complexes also have on-site laundromats that are coin operated. I've never understood why the cost of that isn't included in the rent, landlords can't be taking that much of a cut from it.

Charging per-use prevents inefficient use (very small loads in large machines) and tenants letting their friends use the machines, eventually turning the laundry room into the free neighborhood laundromat.

Some buildings have switched (decades ago) to reloadable laundry cards to avoid having to deal with change.

Re: Why do U.S. coins seem to be in short supply?

#18
post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There’s some businesses like laundromats serving areas where many folks don’t have washer/dryer in unit that are still coin operated. It’s a real impact for those since people now need to go further to wash/dry or find friends or family who will help out.

A lot of apartment complexes also have on-site laundromats that are coin operated. I've never understood why the cost of that isn't included in the rent, landlords can't be taking that much of a cut from it.

I use a laundry service to pick up my laundry, do it for me, and drop it off. (I wouldn't pay for it if I had a machine in my apartment, but I don't, so this is the tradeoff.)

I'm glad the cost of laundry isn't included in my rent, because I'd just be paying extra.

Re: Why do U.S. coins seem to be in short supply?

#19
post #2

What does a shortage of coins look like today? Difficulty paying for a parking space or a gumball? Is it just difficulty giving change in a cash transaction? Wouldn't stores have access to banks that arent closed to be able to give change? What's the role that coins play today that would be noticeable?

Coin shortages make it harder to pay for things in cash. Transportation like ferries, light rail, commuter rail, etc often are accepting bills and returning coins as change. If they don't have coins to provide change, you may need to provide exact change, pay more and accept the loss (this is common on buses when paying with bills), not be able to purchase a ticket, or have to use a credit/debit card. In my area, the county bus system decided to make the buses free to avoid handling money and they didn't make change anyway, and the state ferries notified people to be prepared to make exact change and/or use cards.

Same thing happens if coin operated machines with bill accepters don't have coins to make change. It might not be obvious, but the coins inserted into most machines aren't directly dispensable as change, so if it runs out of change, it won't be able to make change until the operator comes to service it, which might be longer intervals these days.

It sounds like the coin requests from banks to the federal reserve can't all be filled, and the federal reserve is rationing coins until that changes. I suspect some of the usually net coin receiving businesses aren't open, or aren't receiving the same number of coins, making it harder for the net coin giving businesses to get the supplies they need.

Re: Why do U.S. coins seem to be in short supply?

#20
post #12

I feel like a smart country would take this opportunity to develop electronic, no-fee payment wallets, not just bring up a coin task force...

This sounds like a problem with immediate impact which will eventually (1-2 years?) go away. Creating a new payment system, deploying it widely, getting people to use it, all takes way longer than that time period.
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