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

federalreserve.gov

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

#81

Post by [deleted] »

partiallypro wrote: post #55
GeekyBear wrote: post #46

If the Fed would put Coinstar type machines in Post Offices without charging a fee or taking a cut, I think they would find a lot more people who are willing to get their coins back into circulation. It would have to be cheaper on an ongoing basis than constantly minting coins. Wrapping coins and exchanging them at a bank is just too tedious and time consuming.

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.

[deleted]

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

#82

Post by jerzyt »

kdmccormick wrote: post #70
fourseventy wrote: post #66

when is the last time someone used a coin to pay for something that wasn't a coin operated machine. Just get rid of them, or make coins that are worth >= $1

Paying for parking without having to involve my phone or credit card is pretty nice.

My pants don't have big enough pockets to carry enough change given the parking rates in California.

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

#83

Post by skj »

mensetmanusman wrote: post #71
dboreham wrote: post #57

My bank told me the reason is the feds are capacity limited on coin decontamination. Bills they just burn and print more, but coins cost too much to re-smelt.

Ha, b.s. you can warm coins moderately to denature the virus...

you could also let them sit in a box for a few days.

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

#84

Post by Wowfunhappy »

quickthrowman wrote: post #67
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?

Drug dealers are not 100% analog. The further up the chain you go, the more analog it gets though.

Wait, what? Are they taking credit card payments? Some in-person Bitcoin payment system?

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

#85

Post by coronadisaster »

fourseventy wrote: post #66

when is the last time someone used a coin to pay for something that wasn't a coin operated machine. Just get rid of them, or make coins that are worth >= $1

get rid of at least the pennies, nickles and dimes (because the dimes are just too small)

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

#86

Post by jldugger »

derision wrote: post #6
d33lio wrote: post #4

Nobody uses them.

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 choose to loot the coin machine, and gum up the internal coin economy. Banks are apparently offering an extra 5 percent on coins: https://www.kctv5.com/a-bank-is-paying-people-to-bring-in-th...

This does remind me of the stories a few years back about credit card churners buying coins from the us mint in bulk for the cash back, then depositing at the bank before the bills came due.

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

#87

Post by irrational »

sneak wrote: post #65
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?

CEOs are counterparties in the drug trade, too. Everyone uses cash for some transactions, mostly because it affords privacy.

Not everyone. I personally have not touched cash in 15 years or so. I really haven’t had any need to. In all that time I haven’t had a single experience where card was not accepted.

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

#88

Post by TheSoftwareGuy »

Wowfunhappy wrote: post #84
quickthrowman wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Drug dealers are not 100% analog. The further up the chain you go, the more analog it gets though.

Wait, what? Are they taking credit card payments? Some in-person Bitcoin payment system?

A lot of low level drug dealers take Venmo

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

#90

Post by virtue3 »

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?

access to mass transit?
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