# National Shortage of Coins?! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 1, 2020, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-shortage-of-coins/913982 "2020-07-01T19:15:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2020, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-shortage-of-coins/913982/121 "2020-07-18T12:27:08Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Yep, the “coin operated devices” are a key piece of this puzzle. The coins collected from those machines go back to the bank and then the bank turns around and sends them out to places like my store, which, due to how much change we give to cash-paying customers, always have a net loss of coinage. > > In March that stream of coins returning to the bank… stopped. All those bars with the coin-operated pool tables shut down and those coins in the pool table have just sat there ever since. Rinse and repeat for every vending machine, every gum/candy machine, etc., etc. None of those coins have gone back to the bank but my store (and others) continues to send coinage out. This is the part that makes no sense to me. If there’s money locked up in those machines _every_ night, and one morning they didn’t reopen, the net effect on the coin supply should be _zero_. If they shut down at COB March 23 and now it’s July 18, then the machine has the same $80 in change in it now that it would if they’d been in business the whole time. None of those coins have gone back to the bank, but they aren’t getting coins _from_ the bank (or from customers) either. It’s like my big jar of quarters. It was full of quarters before the plague hit, and it’s still full of quarters - pretty much the same number as before, as I’ve only had maybe 3-4 cash transactions since mid-March. They’re out of circulation, but they were out of circulation before. They’re not causing the shortage, any more than they were causing a shortage back in February. Now CoinStar locations being shut down - I can see where that makes a difference. Just in the natural flow of things, most of us tend to accumulate more coins than we spend. But CoinStar gives people a way of getting ‘real’ money in exchange for their coins, which gets the coin surplus in people’s homes back into circulation. Take that away, and you have a net loss of coins in circulation over time, as they accumulate in homes faster than they get returned to circulation. But the money locked up in the CoinStar machines themselves - that shouldn’t make a difference. They’re always going to have money in them. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2020, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-shortage-of-coins/913982/122 "2020-07-18T13:02:33Z")
CoinStars aren’t serviced daily. I’m not sure what, exactly, the schedule is (and they probably vary it for security reasons - if your vendor machine guy is too predictable he’s going to get robbed). However, I do know what the machine in my store contained when it was finally serviced by the company because they give us a report: over $10,0000. That 10k in coins had sat, inaccessible, in that machine for several months. Normally, all of that would have been returned to circulation back sometime in March or early April, but it didn’t. True, once the machine was full and shut down it was no longer contributing the problem of coins not being returned to the system, but not all of those machine fill up at the same time, in some less trafficked locations the CoinStars probably kept collecting money longer than ours did. It’s not the whole of the problem, but then no one thing is. It’s a collection of people not shopping, CoinStars filling up and shutting down but not being serviced, people not being able to get into bank or credit union lobbies to turn in coins, and so on and so on. ---
**Author:** ![Bonum\_Legatum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bonum_legatum/32/6183_2.png) [@Bonum\_Legatum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bonum_Legatum)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2020, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-shortage-of-coins/913982/123 "2020-07-18T13:22:10Z")
A bit of history here: MANY years ago I read that the telephone company for one of the large cities on the west coast had to empty their pay telephones of coins several times a day and rush the coins back to the bank, or the city would run short of (dimes?) coins. (I suspect that this only applied to pay telephones in the heart of the city.) ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2020, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-shortage-of-coins/913982/124 "2020-07-18T14:12:17Z")
It’s weird to me that Coinstar has become an important part of the system for coins to circulate in the economy. Do such things (privately operated kiosks to cash in coins) exist in other countries? Or because people actually spend their coins, are they unnecessary? ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2020, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-shortage-of-coins/913982/125 "2020-07-18T14:54:34Z")
> [@xizor](#): > > Has anyone tried their local casino? About 10 years ago I took my home change bucket to the cashier at a casino, they ran it through their coin machine and gave me dollar bills without a problem. Back in the day when slot machines used coins, they needed the machines for operating the business. But since they all went paper, they have less need for those anymore. One time while cashing out a ticket, I asked and they said they hadn’t had one in years. Though it’s possible larger casinos still have one for the odd eccentric who brings their gambling money in a jug. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2020, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-shortage-of-coins/913982/126 "2020-07-18T15:14:49Z")
Keep in mind that CoinStar has been mentioned multiple times as an _example_ and that it’s the coin machine brand in the store in which I work. I’m sure there are numerous other devices swallowing coins that haven’t been service, or only rarely serviced, during this who mess. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2020, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-shortage-of-coins/913982/127 "2020-07-18T15:59:18Z")
All this talk of hoarding coins and an excess of coins just sounds so _strange_ to me. I’ve used a CoinStar machine only once or twice in my life, like 15 years ago. I have one small empty 20oz sized bottle full of coins and that’s it. Any change I get just stays in my pocket until the next time I buy something. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2020, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-shortage-of-coins/913982/128 "2020-07-18T15:59:36Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Keep in mind that CoinStar has been mentioned multiple times as an _example_ and that it’s the coin machine brand in the store in which I work. I’m sure there are numerous other devices swallowing coins that haven’t been service, or only rarely serviced, during this who mess. I’m well aware of what CoinStar is and it’s not just an example. The New York Times article I linked to upthread says they process $2.7 billion in coins annually. I can’t find how much in coins is circulated by the official systems, but my guess is CoinStar is a significant part of the process, probably to a greater extent than the vending machine and other coin businesses. It just seems weird to me that this company operating outside official channels has become such a big part of the process. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Vorlon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@The\_Vorlon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Vorlon)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2020, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-shortage-of-coins/913982/129 "2020-07-18T16:09:55Z")
The reason Coin Star thrives is that fewer people have bank accounts, whether it is because of questionable documents, living under the radar, or being tired of being nibbled to death by the banks. Unfortunately, the average citizen with a coffee can (remember those?) of loose change is exactly the type of customer most banks DOES NOT want to see… ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2020, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-shortage-of-coins/913982/130 "2020-07-18T16:14:43Z")
Even those with bank accounts may not be able to cash in coins at their bank. Some banks refuse to deal with loose coins and insist that the customer roll everything, which not everyone wants to do. Some send out the coins to be counted. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Vorlon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@The\_Vorlon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Vorlon)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2020, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-shortage-of-coins/913982/131 "2020-07-18T17:58:08Z")
Oh, it’s even worse. Went to the local small chain supermarket today and asked them if they needed coins. The desk person was happy to hear that, but the CSM chased me down in the checkout to tell me that her manager nixed the idea. The look she gave me was that her manager was an idiot. Guess the bigger supermarket 15 miles down the road is going to get a windfall of rolled coins–or the bank branch inside the store will. So much for giving the little guy a break. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2020, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-shortage-of-coins/913982/132 "2020-07-18T18:08:47Z")
When this supposed coin shortage is over, and they are “available” again, like tp and yeast, I’d guess the stores will still try to keep forcing us to use cards. My local grocery puts change for a cash transaction on your loyalty card to the store. I asked “what if we don’t have a loyalty card?” and the clerk just shrugged and said we’d lose the change. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2020, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-shortage-of-coins/913982/133 "2020-07-18T18:31:25Z")
My store would love to be able to bring in change from customers BUT we are compelled to follow strict procedures in dealing with cash and those are not designed to accommodate money changing of that sort. When these systems were set up no one foresaw a global pandemic leading to a shortage of available coins. Will the store “force” people to use only plastic? I don’t think mine will - as I’ve said before, we make too much money in the form of cash transactions - but I’m sure some will. ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2020, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-shortage-of-coins/913982/134 "2020-07-18T19:14:55Z")
I’ve been operating pretty much cashless for the past few years. About the only time I’ve paid cash for anything is at the local farmers market, where some of them do not take credit cards. As a result, I almost never have any change on me. However, I used to deal in cash a lot, and was constantly accumulating change. Every so often I would empty my pocket and find that I had over $5 in coins, most of which went into a jar. Before I left Chicago to move to NC I took the jar to Coinstar and took home an Amazon gift card for something over $60. I need to go through the house, because I know that I’ve got a stash of coins somewhere from before I went cashless. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2020, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-shortage-of-coins/913982/135 "2020-07-18T20:03:49Z")
This idea of putting money on a card sounds very odd to me. Around here all a store card does is give you a reduced price on some sale items and give you points that can be used to reduce the price of gas. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2020, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-shortage-of-coins/913982/136 "2020-07-18T20:05:37Z")
I imagine it’s like those merchandise returns that go on a gift card. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2020, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-shortage-of-coins/913982/137 "2020-07-20T12:21:57Z")
A Wisconsin bank is paying people to bring in their spare change: [A bank is paying people to bring in their spare change to help local businesses amid the coin shortage | CNN Business](https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/19/us/coin-shortage-banks-paying-trnd/index.html) ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2020, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-shortage-of-coins/913982/138 "2020-07-20T17:30:28Z")
Really? Mine is. I’ve dumped off coins twice, but I had to make an appointment to be let in to use the credit union’s coin counting machine. If you are a member, use of it is free. Before we were members, I refused to use CoinStar for anything except pennies. They were just not worth the labor to roll, unlike quarters, dimes and nickels. I was happy to fork over a percentage of pennies, which oddly enough was not the lion’s share of my saved coins. ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2020, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-shortage-of-coins/913982/139 "2020-07-28T05:53:18Z")
I like coins. I wish this could be an occasion for the treasury to start circulating all the dollar coins it has, but I realize it’s not going to happen. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2020, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-shortage-of-coins/913982/140 "2020-07-28T06:26:53Z")
A hundred million people have 50 state quarters in a drawer, thinking they will ever be worth more than a quarter. This foolishness was created by the mint. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-shortage-of-coins/913982.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-shortage-of-coins/913982.md?page=8)