I've been noticing that a lot of stores have signs up telling people that they're facing a coin shortage. Apparently, it's a national problem due to a disruption in the normal circulation of coins due to the coronavirus.
Is There Really A Coin Shortage?
I have a can full of coins, but rolling them all and taking them down to the bank can be time-consuming and tedious. So, they just sit there. If the banks had coin counting machines you could just bring them in, but they don't have that. There are those Coinstar machines in supermarkets, but they're a rip off, charging 10¢ on the dollar for coins.
Coins can be such a pain in the butt, and nobody really likes to take a lot of them - unless they need them. And now they need them.
Is There Really A Coin Shortage?
“A disruption is a better way to describe it,” Ma says. “It’s reflecting the fact that, once circulation is resumed, these disruptions will ease out.”
Ma says businesses that primarily take coins, such as laundromats, vending machines and car washes, likely stopped operating during the pandemic due to social distancing and stay-at-home measures. These businesses are usually key components in getting coins back to banks to redistribute back into the economy. Since they weren’t receiving coins, the flow of them back into the economy has been significantly reduced.
In economic terms, the current coin situation is the result of a low velocity of circulation, or how quickly a single unit of money changes hands in an economy over a specific period of time. Stephen Miller, director of the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Nevada Las Vegas, explains how the low velocity is affecting consumers and businesses.
“The coins just aren’t circulating fast enough to meet the demand,” says Miller. “During the shutdown, people just stayed home. And the purchases on retail changed a lot, and less coins were being used.”
I have a can full of coins, but rolling them all and taking them down to the bank can be time-consuming and tedious. So, they just sit there. If the banks had coin counting machines you could just bring them in, but they don't have that. There are those Coinstar machines in supermarkets, but they're a rip off, charging 10¢ on the dollar for coins.
Coins can be such a pain in the butt, and nobody really likes to take a lot of them - unless they need them. And now they need them.