Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

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

federalreserve.gov

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

181–190 of 222 posts

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

#181

Post by chrisdhal »

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.

> In the US, it's not uncommon to see places only take credit for purchases over $20, especially restaurants.

This must be semi-regional because it's definitely not the case in the Minneapolis area (or the Midwest in general as far as I've seen). Even mom and pop restaurants will gladly take your credit card. If it exists at all, the minimum I've seen is $5, I've never seen a $20 minimum (not saying it doesn't exist, but it's definitely not "common"). Of course, the US is a huge place, so it definitely could be a regional thing.

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

#182

Post by yetanta »

DavidPeiffer wrote: post #95
ars wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why do they need to decontaminate the coins? Just let them sit for a week and the virus will be completely dead. 2 weeks if you are really worried.

I cannot speak to the specific challenges in the banking industry, but from a manufacturing perspective, you can't just add a week of inventory without a ton of headache. For most supply chains, adding a week of inventory would mean bringing on additional warehousing space and filling everything they have to the gills. I'm familiar with a factory who has a few hours of inventory on-site, and no more than ~3 days in t…

To be fair they probably have already done it if there is a shortage because of this reason. There is a crazy amount of coins out there.

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

#183

Post by scld »

vikramkr wrote: 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?

The laundry in my apartment is coin-op....

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

#184

Post by throwaway0a5e »

krapp wrote: post #9
timwilder wrote: post #3

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'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.

Because they're a massive cash cow that people don't think about when comparing price of rent vs what you get.

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

#186

Post by aazaa »

It's odd how the article dances around the true problem: when push comes to shove, there's not enough supply to go around.

On the one hand, it's a pattern that's played out over and over again this year. Toilet Paper. Paper Towels. Meat. Canned goods. Flour. Even yeast.

On the other hand, the Fed is the sole agency in charge of US currency. It swears up and down that there is plenty of physical currency to satisfy all needs. And it can't deliver on the simple promise of supplying coins.

Trouble ahead.

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

#187

Post by mwexler »

bluGill wrote: post #169
dotancohen wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

lb is a unit of force, not volume.

On earth they readily convert. The size (historically) was determined by the volume needed to get that much mass. At one time payment was measured in weight as you could never trust the other person (or the person who fooled them) to not mix some less valuable metal on with their coins. Those days are mostly gone but the history is weight (which on earth is the same as mass) is important not volume.

Hence the partially empty cereal boxes and snack bags which sell by weight but package to maximize visual perceived volume. I still recall the disappointment as a kid when I got a new box of cereal only to see that a huge portion was "already gone".

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

#188

Post by throwaway0a5e »

rootsudo wrote: post #16
krapp wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

Up front purchase price doesn't matter since it amortizes out over the life of the machine. All you're doing is paying up front for the downtime for service it won't need compared to cheaper consumer grade stuff.

I used to do facilities maintenance for a hotel. We weren't space constrained in terms of laundry so we ran a fleet of cheapo consumer machines. One was down at any given time but it was still cheaper than introducing fewer high grade commercial machines. We had some commercial stuff that was ancient and still worked. Didn't break much less but it was easier to work on (primarily because age) when it did.

Obviously if you want to minimize downtime because you're an absentee landlord who has to pay a PM company to do a visit every time a lid sensor fucks off then having commercial machines makes sense. In terms of dollars per load the cheap consumer stuff is in fact cheaper, assuming you don't live in a regulatory capture hellscape where you are supposed to have a plumber connect your drains and gas lines (or are willing to ignore those rules).

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

#189

Post by stepstop »

kbutler wrote: post #63
stepstop wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The Fed's stated goal is to create jobs, not destroy them. That’s not true. Here’s the truth: https://www.federalreserve.gov/aboutthefed.htm

https://www.federalreserve.gov/faqs/what-economic-goals-does... The Congress has directed the Fed to conduct the nation's monetary policy to support three specific goals: * maximum sustainable employment, * stable prices, and * moderate long-term interest rates. These goals are sometimes referred to as the Fed's "mandate." [hn formatting added]

Thank you. My mistake, not sure how I missed that word!

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

#190

Post by mwexler »

cjones26 wrote: post #92
partiallypro wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A large number of banks have coin machines inside that will take unrolled coins and deposit them into your account for free. Coinstar unfortunately largely targets people that don't have bank accounts.

Not anymore since many got sued a few years ago for being inaccurate or simply costing too much to maintain. Your bank should provide coin sleeves for free, though rolling them manually can be a hassle. See here for more info: https://www.mybanktracker.com/news/coin-counting-machines-ba...

It really comes down to cost. Managing change, and cash in general is a huge time and risk bucket, so some banks eat the cost, and some pass it on to you directly through fees or hoops to jump. Most branches removed individual branch coin counters for the larger banks, using centralized processing places to manage coins. Smaller banks may distribute more load to branches by having machines in larger branches or making customers roll.

But yes, the lawsuits raised the risk profile of in-branch machines so away they went in most cases. And so did dealing with massive, heavy bags of coins, which are much harder to move than they appear from bank heist movies.

TD Bank was esp. loved by kids... but also lawyers, as it was a great story to tell: kids losing their hard won pennies through a miscounting machines, and since the machines only undercounted, "gasp, must be malicious evil banks again after our money". After multiple suits, bye bye to the machines, and bye bye to yet another way to teach folks that saving can be fun, even if it's less fun than spending.

Post reply on HN