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

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

#151

Post by bestnameever »

tesseract wrote: post #109
sueders101 wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Many pay-to-use(coin or card) laundry rooms in apartment complexes are entirely contracted out to a third party company that handles everything; payment collection, machine leasing, service/repairs, etc. On the whole I think it's easier for them this way. https://www.wash.com/360-laundry-room-solution/ https://www.coinomatic.com/multi-housing-coin-laundry-soluti...

The small apartment building I live in is set up this way. I don't really mind, but I wish they would find a way to accept cards (credit and/or reloadable) rather than only coins because as it stands right now, I have to go to the bank and get $50 worth of "laundry tokens" (quarters) every few months, since I don't spend enough cash day-to-day to naturally collect enough change for the laundry.

My apartment building recently installed payrange on top of the existing quarter machines.

https://www.payrange.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/PR_Broch...

Only downside is the prices went up a quarter. It is convenient though.

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

#152

Post by csa »

Symbiote wrote: post #135
catalogia wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the past month I've received four half-dollar coins as change, which is four more than I've seen in the past decade. It seems like stores are reaching the bottom of their coin drawers; using coins they normally wouldn't.

Why don't Americans use half dollars? I think everywhere else I've travelled, someone (or a machine) giving change will optimize it to the fewest coins. £3.85 would be £2, £1, 50p, 20p, 10p, 5p. The only exception is something like a food stall that's set all their prices to multiples of €1 (I've seen this several times in Germany), they might keep plenty of €1 and €2 coins for change. If someone pays with smaller co…

Better yet, why don’t Americans use dollar coins?

Having lived in Japan, I was a big fan of larger denomination coins. In Japan, the smallest bill is worth about $10 USD, and they have coins worth about $1 and $5. Having a pocket full of change could actually get you something nice! I actually treated two of my friends to a night out at our local izakaya for ~$100 with 20 coins.

In an effort to promote the use of different coins and bills in the US, I would take all of the one dollar bills I accumulated over X amount of time, and I would buy $1 coins (Sacajaweas and Susan Bs) and $2 bills so that I could circulate them and try to get people accustomed to them.

I ran into three issueus:

1. Cashiers would give me the wrong change for the $2 bill. They usually treated it like a $1 bill, but at times I got change for a $20.

2. Cashiers would be mildly annoyed that there was not a slot in their register for $2 bills or $1 coins.

3. I actually had one subway worker (at the T in Cambridge) actually throw the coins back at me and yell at me and my friends that she wouldn’t take our “circus money” while pounding the plexiglass. We were all in business causal and (I hope) didn’t look like circus performers, so it was an odd reaction to say the least.

Anyway, I do all of my banking remotely now, so it’s harder to make exchanges like that, but I still do it sometimes.

I really wish my fellow Americans would embrace the use of larger coins and maybe even ditch the penny and maybe even the nickel.

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

#153

Post by lultimouomo »

irrational wrote: post #61

Will this hasten the, presumably, eventual move to a 100% digital economy? I’d like to see statistics on how often people use analog money. Is there correlation by certain socio economic classes? I imagine drug dealers are 100% analog while CEOs are 100% digital. Where does everyone in between land?

Can I be that guy and point out that "analog money" is a horrible misnomer? There is nothing analog about coins and notes - you cannot split a note in arbitrary fractions.

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

#154

Post by bobbean »

pxx wrote: post #120
tomschlick wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pro tip: Coinstar wont take a cut if you get it as a gift card. The times I've used them I just opt for an Amazon Gift card or one for the local grocery chain that I'm already going to be spending money at.

That's, uh, taking a cut, albeit a smaller one. You'll lose the cashback or other rewards that you would've gotten for using a credit card. Gift cards can also commonly be obtained for under face value.

Where does Coinstar's cut come from then? Wouldn't they be giving back the same amount you put in?

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

#155

Post by vinay427 »

jedberg wrote: post #115
janitor61 wrote: post #111

Is this a uniquely US issue, and if so, why? Other countries have enacted similar lockdowns, wouldn't a coin shortage show up elsewhere given similar circumstances?

In Europe it is generally cheaper as a merchant to take credit vs cash, because they have low credit processing fees. Because of this they take credit for pretty much any transaction. In the US, it's not uncommon to see places only take credit for purchases over $20, especially restaurants.

This minimum card payment is not uncommon in Switzerland at mom-and-pop shops, in my experience. Chain stores and larger businesses always accept card payments, but I still need cash once in a while. I haven't actually seen this in restaurants in the US in a long time, although I have at some other small businesses, so maybe it's also somewhat regional.

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

#156

Post by forgotmypw17 »

bobbean wrote: post #154
pxx wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's, uh, taking a cut, albeit a smaller one. You'll lose the cashback or other rewards that you would've gotten for using a credit card. Gift cards can also commonly be obtained for under face value.

Where does Coinstar's cut come from then? Wouldn't they be giving back the same amount you put in?

They probably get a referral fee from Amazon or whoever redeems the gift card.

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

#157

Post by tallanvor »

jldugger wrote: post #86
derision wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's millions of Americans using coin operated laundry machines, and that's just one example

Judging from this rando laundromat youtuber I saw a few months back, that's basically a closed circular coin economy: you put bills in the money changer, then coins in the washers and dryers. The owner then takes the coins out of the machines and puts them back in the money changer. In that scenario, bills are what enter and leave the laundromat. But in a regional coin shortage, someone with spare time might just cho…

In laundromats, sure. But many smaller apartment complexes might have one or two sets of coin operated washers and dryers. I've never seen places like that have change machines available.

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

#158

Post by sneak »

bpodgursky wrote: post #102
sneak wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Either you live in Scandinavia, or you aren’t sufficiently tipping coat check, valet, bellhops, delivery runners, et c. Cash is also essential for grease/bribes.

I think you may be overestimating how many bellhops and valets the average person interacts with in a year...

GP specified 15 years.

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

#159

Post by quietbritishjim »

SifJar wrote: post #126
jb775 wrote: post #110

Don't expect any help from the govt fixing this, it's a win/win from their perspective. No coins means more businesses forcing credit/debit use. More credit/debit use means it's harder to hide cash transactions and therefore means more tax revenue for the govt. As an added benefit, it creates permanent paper trails that can be utilized when convenient. I go out of my way to pay cash, now just need to make sure I brin…

This argument always confuses me, as if "it makes it easier to not pay our taxes" is a legitimate argument for using cash

Here in the UK, this practice is so common it has a name: "paying cash in hand". Its literal meaning is just paying cash for something, but its implied meaning is that the recipient won't declare it to the tax authority (HMRC), and you often get a discount for paying cash in hand (so I've heard, I've never actually been offered this myself). Of course we're talking about individual tradesmen here, like plumbers or handimen, not big or even medium businesses.

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

#160

Post by dotancohen »

kd5bjo wrote: post #149
cannaceo wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That was my experience as well. It’s all odd because coins can be accurately weighed if the denomination is separated.

Often separating the coins isn’t necessary either. Because the value of a coin was historically the value of the metal it contained, many modern coin sizes still have a volume proportional to their value. US dimes, quarters, half dollars, and the old Eisenhower dollar coins are all $20/lb, for instance.

lb is a unit of force, not volume.
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