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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?

#91

Post by sneak »

irrational wrote: post #87
sneak wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

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.

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

#92

Post by cjones26 »

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.

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...

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

#93

Post by patmorgan23 »

ars wrote: post #79
DavidPeiffer wrote: post #59

My mom took change into her metro area bank last week because they were giving 10% over face value for change. She got an extra $9. Nobody keeps change as an investment, but compared to interest rates the bank was offering on savings accounts, this was an incredible return. I'm curious if anybody with accounts at other banks tried withdrawing change to deposit in this bank?

As a percent it was a great return, but as an absolute number it's rather poor. How long did the whole process take her (including collecting the coins and getting to the bank)? Half an hour? Longer? There's just not enough money in that to be worth it.

How much did she burn on transportation to turn in the coins

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

#94

Post by patmorgan23 »

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...

Banks can't take pre-rolled coins. They have to break them and recount.

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

#95

Post by DavidPeiffer »

ars wrote: post #74
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.

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 the accompanying warehouse. They'd need about 2 more equal size warehouses to add a week of inventory.

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

#96

Post by tzs »

patmorgan23 wrote: post #94
cjones26 wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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...

Banks can't take pre-rolled coins. They have to break them and recount.

This depends on the bank. I've had no trouble exchanging pre-rolled coins for bills at Bank of America.

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

#97

Post by jakeasmith »

patmorgan23 wrote: post #94
cjones26 wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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...

Banks can't take pre-rolled coins. They have to break them and recount.

Ya know, that’s what I would’ve thought as well, but a year or two ago Chase Bank refused to take my loose change. They sent me away with the paper to roll the coins myself to bring back to them

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

#98

Post by tim58 »

sneak wrote: post #91
irrational wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

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.

> Cash is also essential for grease/bribes.

Am I not bribing enough people? I've never had to.

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

#99

Post by tingletech »

patmorgan23 wrote: post #94
cjones26 wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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...

Banks can't take pre-rolled coins. They have to break them and recount.

once upon a time, they would take them if you signed the roll and wrote your account number on it.

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

#100

Post by DavidPeiffer »

ars wrote: post #79
DavidPeiffer wrote: post #59

My mom took change into her metro area bank last week because they were giving 10% over face value for change. She got an extra $9. Nobody keeps change as an investment, but compared to interest rates the bank was offering on savings accounts, this was an incredible return. I'm curious if anybody with accounts at other banks tried withdrawing change to deposit in this bank?

As a percent it was a great return, but as an absolute number it's rather poor. How long did the whole process take her (including collecting the coins and getting to the bank)? Half an hour? Longer? There's just not enough money in that to be worth it.

For sure, it's not a business model by any means, really just a quirk of the times.

In this specific case, she had all the coins that accumulated over a year or so, and just took the big jar in on her errands. Probably added 10 minutes or so.

$9 isn't a big deal for her, but for someone who is unemployed with low earning potential, $9 (or milking the incentive structure) would mean a lot more.

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