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General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: clean on July 11, 2020, 12:46:35 PM

Title: Coin Shortages??
Post by: clean on July 11, 2020, 12:46:35 PM
I saw one today, and my fiance said she saw one yesterday about the 'nationwide coin shortage!'.  I dont get out much, and that could be why the nation has a shortage!

I have coin tubes that I separate my change in regularly.  When they are full enough to wrap, I wrap them and use on a future visit.
I know that I have no less than $40 in rolled coins sitting on the table next to my chair (where I left them after the last 'rollathon'). 

IF someone were PAYING me to deliver to them my treasure, then by all means, I would help solve the problem. AS it is now, I m going to WAIT and see if it gets bad enough for someone to be willing to pay $11 for a roll of quarters ($10 worth, if you dont know your rolls).

So I think that things just got worse!  Im not going to GIVE them away (spend them) When they MIGHT be worth MORE tomorrow!!

What about you?  How much coin of the realm are you sitting on at your house? What would it take to get them to a CoinStar machine, or to Walmart or otherwise just spend it?
Title: Re: Coin Shortages??
Post by: polly_mer on July 11, 2020, 01:08:00 PM
Most of us coin holders haven't been using our coins.

https://www.wsls.com/news/local/2020/07/11/coronavirus-creating-nationwide-coin-shortage/
Title: Re: Coin Shortages??
Post by: Parasaurolophus on July 11, 2020, 01:19:52 PM
Yeah, nobody here can actually use cash at the moment. Which is just like taking it all out of circulation.
Title: Re: Coin Shortages??
Post by: hmaria1609 on July 11, 2020, 01:45:41 PM
I saw a sign about a coin shortage at a gas station in my town earlier this week. Wow! I pay cash for smaller purchases and credit card for bigger ones.

I remember CoinStar machines as a kid in the '90s; now they're back again.

Title: Re: Coin Shortages??
Post by: marshwiggle on July 11, 2020, 01:55:27 PM
Quote from: Parasaurolophus on July 11, 2020, 01:19:52 PM
Yeah, nobody here can actually use cash at the moment. Which is just like taking it all out of circulation.

Exactly. So other than  vending machines, what are they actually needed for right now? I'm curious.
Title: Re: Coin Shortages??
Post by: Parasaurolophus on July 11, 2020, 02:10:26 PM
Quote from: marshwiggle on July 11, 2020, 01:55:27 PM

Exactly. So other than  vending machines, what are they actually needed for right now? I'm curious.

Here on the west coast, vending machines all take credit and debit now. At least, all the ones I've seen do.
Title: Re: Coin Shortages??
Post by: dismalist on July 11, 2020, 02:27:24 PM
Quote from: hmaria1609 on July 11, 2020, 01:45:41 PM
I saw a sign about a coin shortage at a gas station in my town earlier this week. Wow! I pay cash for smaller purchases and credit card for bigger ones.

I remember CoinStar machines as a kid in the '90s; now they're back again.

Quote from: marshwiggle on July 11, 2020, 01:55:27 PM
Quote from: Parasaurolophus on July 11, 2020, 01:19:52 PM
Yeah, nobody here can actually use cash at the moment. Which is just like taking it all out of circulation.

Exactly. So other than  vending machines, what are they actually needed for right now? I'm curious.


The CoinStar popularity shows that it's retailers who want the coins, not the consumers, at least in some of the more moronically small denominations. One reason is the 0.99 bs, which exists to force cashiers to register a sale, instead of pocketing a nice round value, leaving the customer none the wiser. [No, it's not psychology. :-)] This could be easily eliminated because bar codes make tracking inventory easy and cheap.

Gummint could just stop printing these metal mini-monstrosities, some of which cost more to produce than they are nominally worth, but there's also a metals lobby to contend with.

Ah, but for the Silver Dollar!

Title: Re: Coin Shortages??
Post by: spork on July 11, 2020, 02:35:11 PM
One of the local banks where I have an account REFUSES to take coins unless they are rolled. So it's in part their own damn fault.
Title: Re: Coin Shortages??
Post by: clean on July 11, 2020, 03:30:18 PM
When I was in high school (maybe Jr. High), for some reason there was a penny shortage.  My parents had a bunch of pennies as with 2 teenagers, the silver stuff never accumulated high enough to roll!  But the shortage was enough that some banks were paying $1.20 for 100 pennies.  I know remember that my mom came home with a bunch of rolls and put us to counting! 

I guess that I am now hoarding my nickles, dimes and quarters for a bonus!  The pennies, I still dont count, but my mason jar still has another 1/4 way to go before full!  I wont say that I wont count the pennies, because I have probably $3 in rolled pennies, but Im not in a rush to roll more! 


OH!  here is the most annoying issue i had when I tried to use a roll of coins!  On a few occasions the clerk would want to open the rolls and count everything!  But once, I gave a $10 roll of quarters to pay for a McDonalds meal purchase and the clerk opened the roll (which annoyed me) and then counted out the amount she needed and then handed me the rest back!!!  Incredulous, I asked IF I Had given you a $10 bill would you have ripped off the extra portion and handed it back?

OH, and ONE other time I was using either the Susan B Anthony coin or a $2 bill and the counter person would not take it!!  I had to ask for a manager!!  (who did accept the money!)

But I guess, from the sounds of things, that I may be in the minority when it comes to actually carrying and using cash and coin for transactions!  (maybe I m one step above the 'underground economy'?  How much longer will I be able to transact with money????  I SUPPOSE that when the area is hit by the next Hurricane!  I ll be one of the few able to get ice and gas from the store when the lines are down?  (I suppose that the rest will be transacting business with bullets and water bottles! - the secondary or tertiary currencies))
Title: Re: Coin Shortages??
Post by: downer on July 11, 2020, 03:40:37 PM
I know some people don't use notes and coins, with contagion concerns. But I use them (exclusively), and so apparently do plenty of other people. The cash economy lives.
Title: Re: Coin Shortages??
Post by: secundem_artem on July 11, 2020, 03:45:22 PM
What are coins?

I took $200 out of the bank for a planned trip over spring break - which was obviously cancelled.  I still have $51 of it left in my wallet nearly 4 months later.  Nearly everything goes on a debit card.
Title: Re: Coin Shortages??
Post by: saffie on July 11, 2020, 03:49:36 PM
Quote from: clean on July 11, 2020, 03:30:18 PM
OH!  here is the most annoying issue i had when I tried to use a roll of coins!  On a few occasions the clerk would want to open the rolls and count everything! 

I worked for a while as a bank teller while in school. I learned to open and check rolls of coins to see that there actually were coins there and not slugs -- also got caught by someone trading in a roll of dimes that really only contained dimes at the ends, but all pennies in the middle.
Title: Re: Coin Shortages??
Post by: clean on July 11, 2020, 04:01:12 PM
I understand the need to confirm the authenticity, but to count them?  How many people can say, "I made MY millions by turning in only $4.90 in every roll of dimes?"
Title: Re: Coin Shortages??
Post by: evil_physics_witchcraft on July 11, 2020, 05:05:19 PM
The last time I used any paper money or coinage was in March at the farmer's market. I have only used credit since. We also have a metric butt ton of coins in Mason jars if we ever need to use them.
Title: Re: Coin Shortages??
Post by: Anselm on July 11, 2020, 07:05:28 PM
Every bank I ever used for an account had a machine to count coins. 

The recent shortage confuses me.  I would expect that the broke unemployed people to scrounge up every last penny out of the couch cushions.  Businesses could end this overnight by paying us a premium for coins but for some reason modern American business culture does not allow management to be creative.    I did see some signs at the local grocery store about a shortage.  They were only taking cards at the self checkout line.

The penny should have been eliminated long ago.  I also want to see dollar bills replaced with dollar coins.   Other nations seem to do fine with coins equal to their standard unit of money.

I save my change in my car and at home.  That way I always have money in an emergency.  I take the coins in once I am at about $100 in value. 
Title: Re: Coin Shortages??
Post by: clean on July 11, 2020, 09:17:03 PM
My parents were in the habit, especially my dad, of emptying his pocket change into a jar.  From the jar it went into one of the 3 or 4 piggy banks that i had given my parents.  Every now and again, when the piggies were well fed, my parents would 'gut the pig', sort the change and then wrap what they had.  From there, the different denominations went into shoe boxes.  My parents told me that the shoe boxes in that closet were not shoes!!

The worst part of this is that my mom was a bank executive!  It is not like she didnt go to the bank every damn day!  But she would not take the coins! 

My father would say, "That's our Vacation Money!"  But after one vacation, I asked how much they had taken to the bank, the answer was , "Well, we didnt take it to the bank.

They FINALLY DID go to the bank when they moved!! 

The coin saga didnt end, though. Old habits are ingrained habits! Even after the move, the coins piled up.  After my mother retired, and my niece and I had rolled the coins from 2 piggies, she brought out some more shoe boxes and I took several hundred dollars, and many many pounds of coins to the bank!  (She had to call to make an appointment for me to take it, as coins take vault space and vault space is not unlimited! I think that it was a day that the Brink's truck was making a cash run anyway)

So it seems that coin hoarding is inherited.  However, I am not guilty of storing them!  Generally, when I get a full tube of coins I roll them and put them in my pocket.  Carrying around a 1/2 pound ($10 worth) of quarters is an incentive to use the rolled coins at the next purchase!!

From an economics argument, though, IF everyone would take their coin stashes and go to the store and just buy things, GDP would improve!  People may be rehired with all of the increased economic activity!  And it doesnt matter what you buy!  Give the money to kids/nieces/nephews and take them to the toy or candy store (especially nieces and nephews when you dont have to spend the night with them!  Let mom and dad deal with sugared up rug rats for the night!!  YOU can be the FUN uncle/aunt that takes them to the CANDY  STORE!!!)  Then sit back and watch the GDP numbers roll in!
Title: Re: Coin Shortages??
Post by: evil_physics_witchcraft on July 11, 2020, 09:33:36 PM
Wow, Clean! My grandfather also kept money at home. Apparently, he hid money in odd places that nobody knew about until they cleaned out the house.

Interesting, I also do the shoe box thing, but I only have ONE (but, it's a super big one). I think we saved up around $200 once. Not sure what's in there now. Maybe I should check?
Title: Re: Coin Shortages??
Post by: clean on July 11, 2020, 09:42:32 PM
Not to divert from coins, but I will note a small tangent about 'hiding' money.

My uncle was an avid reader. He would buy these paperback books and read and read.  I guess that if he didnt like the book he just stopped reading, or if he got busy he would stop.  But his habit was to use $1 bills as book marks!  After he died the kids took boxes of books to goodwill, but after the first trip, they were boxing another round, dropped a book and out popped some paper money. After checking several there was a small sum of 'bookmarks', and they had already given away A Lot! 

So IF you are going to hide money, I suppose that you should let someone know!  (but that may defeat the purpose of hiding it in the first place!!)

Like I said, I dont store it, I put rolled coins in my pocket to encourage me to spend it!!  7-11 will be glad to take a roll of quarters in exchange for a Slurpee!!  And with a roll of quarters you can take a lot of kids out for Slurpees!! 

SO dont hide it!!  Get that money out of the closet, and out of those shoe boxes and help jump start this economy - even if it is just one roll at a time!!
Title: Re: Coin Shortages??
Post by: mamselle on July 12, 2020, 09:15:12 AM
I doubt if the various Euros, old French and Belgian francs, and sundry British coins in my jars are going to help the US economy much, though.

I never have them ready when the "DonateChange for Change" envelopes go around in the plane, or the bins show up as you're going by on the conveyor belt at JFK....

M.
Title: Re: Coin Shortages??
Post by: pigou on July 12, 2020, 10:07:20 AM
I've had the same $20 bill in my wallet since January. Lots of stores in my area have now started accepting Apple/Google Pay, so I don't even need my credit card anymore. COVID rather abruptly dragged us into the 21st century.
Title: Re: Coin Shortages??
Post by: Vkw10 on July 12, 2020, 02:58:30 PM
I use cash regularly, since that keeps me within my budget for incidental expenses like lunches out and movie tickets. My credit union prefers unrolled coins, since they have a coin sorting machine. My change jar is nearly full, so I'll take it by this week.

I also hoard dollar bills and fives. I transfer them from wallet to basket at end of day, then deposit them in holiday club savings when I take in coins. Given how little I've been out since March, holiday gifts will be modest this year.
Title: Re: Coin Shortages??
Post by: apl68 on July 13, 2020, 08:48:25 AM
At our library we have a coin-operated patron photocopy machine, and handle a lot of coins when patrons print small numbers of pages.  We've been handling less money since we reopened, but have still accumulated quite a few coins.  I've always taken them to the bank and run them through the coin changer.  BUT the bank has been drive-through only for months now!  So we're contributing slightly to the coin shortage. 

I understand that you can now use the bank's coin machine if you make an appointment, hand over the coins, and wait outside for them to process them.  I need to do that sometime this week.
Title: Re: Coin Shortages??
Post by: apl68 on July 13, 2020, 08:55:18 AM
Quote from: clean on July 11, 2020, 09:42:32 PM
Not to divert from coins, but I will note a small tangent about 'hiding' money.

My uncle was an avid reader. He would buy these paperback books and read and read.  I guess that if he didnt like the book he just stopped reading, or if he got busy he would stop.  But his habit was to use $1 bills as book marks!  After he died the kids took boxes of books to goodwill, but after the first trip, they were boxing another round, dropped a book and out popped some paper money. After checking several there was a small sum of 'bookmarks', and they had already given away A Lot! 

So IF you are going to hide money, I suppose that you should let someone know!  (but that may defeat the purpose of hiding it in the first place!!)

Like I said, I dont store it, I put rolled coins in my pocket to encourage me to spend it!!  7-11 will be glad to take a roll of quarters in exchange for a Slurpee!!  And with a roll of quarters you can take a lot of kids out for Slurpees!! 

SO dont hide it!!  Get that money out of the closet, and out of those shoe boxes and help jump start this economy - even if it is just one roll at a time!!

Lots of librarians can tell stories about finding money used as bookmarks in returned library books.  It's happened here--and on rare occasions it has been a good deal more than just a single buck.  We've seen all manner of other things used as bookmarks too, including things you REALLY don't want to see in a book.

The story is told about a book chain in the 1990s that saw a great spike in sales for a certain novel whose author had just won the Nobel Prize.  The book was notoriously hard to read.  This led to speculation that many purchasers only wanted to be seen with the latest Nobel winner on their shelves.  A major book store is said to have tested this hypothesis by hiding $20 gift certificates in the middle of each copy they sold.  It's said that they never had to redeem a single one of them....
Title: Re: Coin Shortages??
Post by: hmaria1609 on July 13, 2020, 01:07:10 PM
We had coin operated copy machines in our library up until several years ago.  When I first started working, it was us staff who were responsible for emptying and counting the money from the coin box. Later, outside contractors did that work. Nowadays, we have newer multi-function Xerox machines and no coin machines. When patrons need to print, our reservation software system tracks how much is printed/copied, with a set page limit a day.
Title: Re: Coin Shortages??
Post by: Economizer on July 13, 2020, 02:22:34 PM
Ahh...Michelle Pfiiefer singing "10 Cents A Dance" in the  movie THE FABULOUS BAKER BOYS . OK, y'all go on now.
Title: Re: Coin Shortages??
Post by: dismalist on July 13, 2020, 02:52:18 PM
Quote from: Economizer on July 13, 2020, 02:22:34 PM
Ahh...Michelle Pfiiefer singing "10 Cents A Dance" in the  movie THE FABULOUS BAKER BOYS . OK, y'all go on now.

The song was written in 1930. Since then the Consumer Price Index has increased 15 fold. Thus, today the song would have to say "A Dollar Fifty a Dance". :-)
Title: Re: Coin Shortages??
Post by: mahagonny on July 13, 2020, 05:26:52 PM
I'm old enough to remember Oliver North being considered insolent when he was asked under oath, where did you get the money for this and he said just collecting change I had saved from emptying my pants pockets' or some such.

I have a stash of British pounds that I was paid while working around London in, probably 2002 or 2003. Yes, I feel stupid and guilty.
Title: Re: Coin Shortages??
Post by: dismalist on July 13, 2020, 05:33:18 PM
Quote from: dismalist on July 13, 2020, 02:52:18 PM
Quote from: Economizer on July 13, 2020, 02:22:34 PM
Ahh...Michelle Pfiiefer singing "10 Cents A Dance" in the  movie THE FABULOUS BAKER BOYS . OK, y'all go on now.

The song was written in 1930. Since then the Consumer Price Index has increased 15 fold. Thus, today the song would have to say "A Dollar Fifty a Dance". :-)

And there was "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?", which would have to turn into "Brother, Can You Spare a Dollar Fifty?"
Title: Re: Coin Shortages??
Post by: mahagonny on July 13, 2020, 05:49:20 PM
I have a copy of Alexander's Ragtime Band original sheet music somewhere, courtesy of my late Grandmother. I think the price is 10 cents. Actually this is a darn good price at $7.50....https://www.etsy.com/listing/233416745/alexanders-ragtime-band-1938-vintage?gpla=1&gao=1&&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=shopping_us_d-books_movies_and_music-music-sheet_music&utm_custom1=f67d37d4-e709-4a04-99bf-1e3a346d3e85&utm_content=go_1843970638_69278988226_346429112876_pla-545845763672_c__233416745&utm_custom2=1843970638&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIvuOIpsLL6gIVBaSzCh2GwwHSEAQYByABEgLbw_D_BwE
Title: Re: Coin Shortages??
Post by: dismalist on July 15, 2020, 04:04:50 PM
This I picked up on another discussion board, and it is all wrong, but amusing nonetheless:

Where have all the quarters gone?
Long time de-basing
Where have all the quarters gone?
Long time ago
Where have all the quarters gone?
The Fed has pulled the, every one
When will they ever learn?
When will they ever learn?
Title: Re: Coin Shortages??
Post by: Economizer on July 15, 2020, 06:17:02 PM
At the store today, a lady checking out in front of me was in a change dilemma with the cashier. I volunteered a nichol and the customer told the cashier to keep the change. Small transactions like that will cause a favorable turn around in the change shortage problems in 1 month when practiced by millions of shoppers. Oh, I took business math, and it grew on me!

Also, the Treasury Dept. could again mint 50 cent pieces. And, the gambling concerns could go to offering 50 cent slot machines (not to quit with the quarter machines, of course).
Title: Re: Coin Shortages??
Post by: pigou on July 16, 2020, 06:11:52 AM
If there's one thing the pandemic is good for, it's boosting the adaptation of technology across sectors of the economy. I suspect that's also one reason why the stock market has been gaining: post-pandemic we may see a substantial increase in worker productivity. Kind of staggering that the S&P 500 is up 7% since July 16, 2019 even as we're in the middle of a pandemic...
Title: Re: Coin Shortages??
Post by: Anselm on July 16, 2020, 11:50:30 AM
Please, keep hoarding coins and crash the system.

I wonder if stores could start using some sort of scrip or coupons as change?  They could also have some cheap penny items at the checkout line and give customers a choice of item in lieu of change.  Examples could be candy, Tide pods, plastic bags, etc. 

There is a good part of our population who lack any form of payment other than cash.  I don't see how they get by with stores that accept only electronic payments.
Title: Re: Coin Shortages??
Post by: dismalist on July 16, 2020, 12:06:34 PM
Quote from: Anselm on July 16, 2020, 11:50:30 AM
Please, keep hoarding coins and crash the system.

I wonder if stores could start using some sort of scrip or coupons as change?  They could also have some cheap penny items at the checkout line and give customers a choice of item in lieu of change.  Examples could be candy, Tide pods, plastic bags, etc. 

There is a good part of our population who lack any form of payment other than cash.  I don't see how they get by with stores that accept only electronic payments.

Absolutely, cash must stay.

What's gotta go is the moronic denomination coinage. That's difficult on account of the metals lobby. As a solution, a man named Velde suggested the government just state that the penny is now worth 10 cents! :-) [I would do the same for the nickel.]
Title: Re: Coin Shortages??
Post by: mythbuster on July 16, 2020, 12:09:50 PM
    Mr. Buster had to go into Home Depot yesterday to return an item we bought online. He said they has signs up asking people to use exact change because of the shortage.
    The Coinstar machines still exist, but many charge a ridiculous 11% surcharge or the like. We did find the one in town with no surcharge if you convert directly to an Amazon gift card. This was the last time Mr. Buster had accumulated a pile, which took several years.Even before the pandemic I rarely used actual cash, but rather put everything I could on my 1% cash back credit card. But many people, especially around here don't have bank accounts- which likely means no credit card either.
   Now my grandma used to only conduct transactions in cash with bills, and would dump the change in the bottom of her purse. When her purse got too heavy, she would dump the coins in a box and mail it to one of the grand kids. Those were real windfalls, as there were LOTS of quarters in them. I don't want to think about the shipping costs. But "Grandma's Pennies form Heaven" was loved by all the kids in the family.
Title: Re: Coin Shortages??
Post by: apl68 on July 16, 2020, 12:52:44 PM
Quote from: Anselm on July 16, 2020, 11:50:30 AM
Please, keep hoarding coins and crash the system.

I wonder if stores could start using some sort of scrip or coupons as change? 

Well, scrip is making a comeback.  Except that the problem of making change remains:


https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/20/us/tenino-washington-wooden-money-trnd/index.html


Maybe they could try issuing wooden nickels.
Title: Re: Coin Shortages??
Post by: lightning on July 16, 2020, 01:02:19 PM
I still use coins for coin-operated vending and parking meters (because I don't want more data points out there about me, in exchange for a convenience purchase).
Title: Re: Coin Shortages??
Post by: apl68 on July 17, 2020, 01:31:18 PM
Today I took a big bag of coins from the library to the bank, after calling ahead to make sure that the coin machine was currently working.  They took the bag at the door and left me standing outside while they processed the transaction, reflecting on the irony of how I was standing at the door to a bank wearing a mask--something that until a few months ago was strongly discouraged everywhere.

We kept some change back for a reserve, so that WE won't run out during our own transactions with patrons.  But most of what we had is now back in circulation.  So don't blame us if you can't get change!
Title: Re: Coin Shortages??
Post by: polly_mer on July 20, 2020, 06:20:50 PM
Road trip for clean: https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/19/us/coin-shortage-banks-paying-trnd/index.html
Title: Re: Coin Shortages??
Post by: clean on July 20, 2020, 08:28:21 PM
It's a start!!
Title: Re: Coin Shortages??
Post by: mleok on July 20, 2020, 10:25:17 PM
Quote from: dismalist on July 16, 2020, 12:06:34 PM
Quote from: Anselm on July 16, 2020, 11:50:30 AM
Please, keep hoarding coins and crash the system.

I wonder if stores could start using some sort of scrip or coupons as change?  They could also have some cheap penny items at the checkout line and give customers a choice of item in lieu of change.  Examples could be candy, Tide pods, plastic bags, etc. 

There is a good part of our population who lack any form of payment other than cash.  I don't see how they get by with stores that accept only electronic payments.

Absolutely, cash must stay.

What's gotta go is the moronic denomination coinage. That's difficult on account of the metals lobby. As a solution, a man named Velde suggested the government just state that the penny is now worth 10 cents! :-) [I would do the same for the nickel.]

Well, a big part of the problem is that sales tax is added after the fact to the prices. In contrast, in Europe, the price includes VAT, so if you price an item with a nice round number, you don't need to worry about small change.
Title: Re: Coin Shortages??
Post by: polly_mer on July 21, 2020, 05:57:45 AM
Quote from: mleok on July 20, 2020, 10:25:17 PM
Quote from: dismalist on July 16, 2020, 12:06:34 PM
Quote from: Anselm on July 16, 2020, 11:50:30 AM
Please, keep hoarding coins and crash the system.

I wonder if stores could start using some sort of scrip or coupons as change?  They could also have some cheap penny items at the checkout line and give customers a choice of item in lieu of change.  Examples could be candy, Tide pods, plastic bags, etc. 

There is a good part of our population who lack any form of payment other than cash.  I don't see how they get by with stores that accept only electronic payments.

Absolutely, cash must stay.

What's gotta go is the moronic denomination coinage. That's difficult on account of the metals lobby. As a solution, a man named Velde suggested the government just state that the penny is now worth 10 cents! :-) [I would do the same for the nickel.]

Well, a big part of the problem is that sales tax is added after the fact to the prices. In contrast, in Europe, the price includes VAT, so if you price an item with a nice round number, you don't need to worry about small change.

The math is just as easy to apply the sales tax before the register.  Small kiosks often have weird list prices so the register price come to a rounded value with tax.
Title: Re: Coin Shortages??
Post by: polly_mer on July 25, 2020, 07:39:29 PM
https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/23/economy/us-mint-coin-shortage/index.html
Title: Re: Coin Shortages??
Post by: Economizer on July 26, 2020, 06:20:30 AM
Then, of course, there was one of the early "Juke Box" song:

PUT ANOTHER NICKEL IN...MUSIC, MUSIC,MUSIC.

Ergo, if a dime in 1930 is $1.50 now, the nickel in x when that song came out is now xy or x(y) equals z [current value]? Ahhh..forgitaboutit!


Title: Re: Coin Shortages??
Post by: quasihumanist on July 26, 2020, 06:06:54 PM
Quote from: mleok on July 20, 2020, 10:25:17 PM
Well, a big part of the problem is that sales tax is added after the fact to the prices. In contrast, in Europe, the price includes VAT, so if you price an item with a nice round number, you don't need to worry about small change.

Canada got rid of the penny 10+ years ago.  They still have sales tax like we do, but cash transactions are rounded to the nearest nickel, so if you owe $2.33, you have to pay $2.35, but if you owe $2.32, you have to pay $2.30.  I suppose someone could game the system by paying with credit when they would be rounded up and cash when they would be rounded down, but who wants to bother?
Title: Re: Coin Shortages??
Post by: pepsi_alum on July 28, 2020, 08:03:01 PM
Just about the only coins I use today are quarters, for the coin-op washer and dryer in my apartment building. Fortunately, I already had a 3-month stash of quarters to begin with and I found a laundromat nearby that still had a functioning change machine, so I'm now good for at least the next 6 months.

I know that some laundromats are now switching to electronic card readers, but I heard an NPR interview recently with a laundromat owner who said that those machines are expensive to install and that he'd prefer to keep using coins if possible.
Title: Re: Coin Shortages??
Post by: Treehugger on July 30, 2020, 04:37:55 AM
Quote from: pepsi_alum on July 28, 2020, 08:03:01 PM
Just about the only coins I use today are quarters, for the coin-op washer and dryer in my apartment building. Fortunately, I already had a 3-month stash of quarters to begin with and I found a laundromat nearby that still had a functioning change machine, so I'm now good for at least the next 6 months.

I know that some laundromats are now switching to electronic card readers, but I heard an NPR interview recently with a laundromat owner who said that those machines are expensive to install and that he'd prefer to keep using coins if possible.

The only thing we need cash for is entry into various parks and wilderness areas. Around here many only have an un-manned dropbox at the entrance where you place your $$ in their envelope  (usually between $2 and $5) No credit cards accepted, obviously. We've used credit or check for everything else since at least March.
Title: Re: Coin Shortages??
Post by: pgher on July 31, 2020, 05:23:23 PM
I have two coin stories to share. First the quick one. Today I cashed in our "college fund," change accumulated for probably a decade or more. It was about half of a five-gallon bucket and weight 75 lb. The bank was very happy to get it--everything is in short supply. Amounted to $872!

About 4-5 years ago, I visited the state capitol with my son. I parked at a meter, then realized I had removed all the change from my car. I managed to find a nickel, which I hoped would get me enough time to find some change. Just inside the building, there were some vending machines, and a change machine. I put in a dollar bill, and got "change": a Sacagawea dollar coin. WTF. Of course the meter wouldn't take it. So I went up to the museum part of the building (which was why we were there). They have an explicit policy of not making change. So I bought a postcard, which I still have, just to get some change to plug the meter. Since then, I keep a little ziploc bag of change in the car, just in case.
Title: Re: Coin Shortages??
Post by: dismalist on July 31, 2020, 05:52:04 PM
Quote from: pgher on July 31, 2020, 05:23:23 PM
I have two coin stories to share. First the quick one. Today I cashed in our "college fund," change accumulated for probably a decade or more. It was about half of a five-gallon bucket and weight 75 lb. The bank was very happy to get it--everything is in short supply. Amounted to $872!

About 4-5 years ago, I visited the state capitol with my son. I parked at a meter, then realized I had removed all the change from my car. I managed to find a nickel, which I hoped would get me enough time to find some change. Just inside the building, there were some vending machines, and a change machine. I put in a dollar bill, and got "change": a Sacagawea dollar coin. WTF. Of course the meter wouldn't take it. So I went up to the museum part of the building (which was why we were there). They have an explicit policy of not making change. So I bought a postcard, which I still have, just to get some change to plug the meter. Since then, I keep a little ziploc bag of change in the car, just in case.

Flexible exchange rates between coins and currency would take care of this problem! :-)