Coin shortage, nation wide or just regional?

old bear

old bear

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Since last Friday I’ve noticed that many retail outlets are posting signs “due to a shortage of change we request you have exact change or use electronic payments. It has become so wide-spread I’ve taken to keeping $5.00 in “change” in the car. Has anyone else experienced anything like this in their local area?
 
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Just round up.

yesterday’s carryout was $22.97 gave her $23.00 and said keep it, tire repair was $19.23 gave him $20. and said keep it.

That’s my plan for Small businesses but big Corp we use a card.


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I ran into this for the first time Sunday. Had to make a day trip, and stopped at a store off the interstate. They had those signs plastered at the register, asking people to swipe a card. My order came to $10.22, I handed her $11, and waited for my change. She asked me if I wanted to round up and I laughed at her. She handed me the $1 back and called it done. No coin shortage anywhere else that i go, their just trying to force people to swipe cards. I'll hand them cash and accept the discount if they don't have change.
 
I am calling BS! Due to the FACT that Charge Cards are now used more than ever (even for small sub $5 purchases) and Coin Collecting is probably at all all time low, there should be PLENTY of change floating around. No one even uses coins in parking meters anymore! Unless you guys are using it to cast bullets (lol) I don't see this as a reality!

The ONLY way this could have some legs is if the Gov't is starting to pull coins out of circulation - but I've heard nothing at all about that.
 
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lkabug said:
Less cash transactions = less opportunity for employees pilfering the cash drawer.
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Yep. At my previous place of employment I was in charge of the Pepsi machine. We used the profits from it to pay for cookouts.

I always paid for the soda with cash.

One day the guy brings in the order. I have the cash ready.

Can't take it, he said. Credit card or company check.

I wasn't going to pay for it with either, since this was our little slush fund at our branch.

So that was the end of buying directly from Pepsi.

Guess some of the delivery guys had sticky fingers.
 
About a 1/2 year ago in this area, yes there was a shortage. Couldn't get rolls of pennies at the bank, shortage. I don't agree with they're just trying to get you to use plastic as many businesses had signs 'if you have pennies and dimes, we need them, exchange for paper money please'.
That ended after a couple months but seems to be occurring again. Whenever I use exact change I get a 'thank you for the needed change'. And I notice that at gas stations that have the register actuated change dispensing machines are not as full of stacked coins like they should be.
 
I've seen those cash signs a few times lately, but no impact for us. About the only time we use cash, is tips for hotel housekeeping and parking valet. The bigger bills in our wallets have probably been there for thirty years. Been doing direct-deposit and e-payment since they started.
 
oldman10mm said:
About a 1/2 year ago in this area, yes there was a shortage. Couldn't get rolls of pennies at the bank, shortage. I don't agree with they're just trying to get you to use plastic as many businesses had signs 'if you have pennies and dimes, we need them, exchange for paper money please'.
That ended after a couple months but seems to be occurring again. Whenever I use exact change I get a 'thank you for the needed change'. And I notice that at gas stations that have the register actuated change dispensing machines are not as full of stacked coins like they should be.
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Wow I cannot remember the last time I saw one of those!:D
 
Coin supplies are an issue. It’s not that there’s a real shortage, people are just sitting on a lot of it since COVID.

I go to a local farm stand. The bank won’t give them the coins they need to make change, so they had to start taking credit/debit cards and pay the associated fee. They’re asking people to pay with a CC unless they have exact change and are not real happy about it. It takes them longer to cash people about and it cost them money.

I went to dollar store the other day to get a few things. My bill came to $5.18 and I wasn’t carrying any change. I gave the cashier $6, she handed me a dollar bill back and said “close enough”.

An interesting article…
The Fed - Are U.S. coins in short supply?
 
NYlakesider said:
They just do not want to bother with change. Make more transactions electronic and things flow much better. That and a lot of people do not know how to give coin change anymore.:mad:
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A lot of small businesses don't like to use electronic payments because that is a cost that must either be absorbed by the business or passed on to the customer.

And people here always complain about the person at the register never being able to make correct change but I have very rarely ever had that happen (as in I can't even recall the last time it did). The kids running the register learn real fast then if they short the customer they get angry customers, and if they short the store they have to make it up out of their own pocket. That corrects any problems pretty quickly. The only mistakes I (infrequently) see is if they give me back an incorrect bill by mistake or when two bills get stuck together. Not being able to give back correct change is not the epidemic people here claim; heck, for me it's not even an occasional problem.

Maybe I just live in an area with a better public school system? :rolleyes:
 
I was getting gas at BJ's wholesale the other day and the gas station attendant came out and asked everyone getting gas if they had any change to sell.

It started here in MA last year during the height of the scamdemic. I don't know if the mints were closed or what.
 
Jon651 said:
A lot of small businesses don't like to use electronic payments because that is a cost that must either be absorbed by the business or passed on to the customer.

And people here always complain about the person at the register never being able to make correct change but I have very rarely ever had that happen (as in I can't even recall the last time it did). The kids running the register learn real fast then if they short the customer they get angry customers, and if they short the store they have to make it up out of their own pocket. That corrects any problems pretty quickly. The only mistakes I (infrequently) see is if they give me back an incorrect bill by mistake or when two bills get stuck together. Not being able to give back correct change is not the epidemic people here claim; heck, for me it's not even an occasional problem.

Maybe I just live in an area with a better public school system? :rolleyes:
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Many places tell you and add a couple percent charge if you pay by CC. Getting more and more popular.
 
We use cash a lot..all change goes into a basket. We collect it up and put it into ammo cans. Adds up to a lot of money every year. Fast food joints and less than 20 dollars is a cash payment. And no I do not round up. I take 2 50 cal ammo boxes of coins to the bank once a year. One all quarters the other nickles and dimes. And yes I do know how much is in them within a dollar or two. Mostly pay our property taxes on the farm with that money. Once took 125 lbs of pennies to the bank. It really adds up over time. I no longer get rid of the older mostly copper pennies. They are probably worth more than a penny each due to the price of copper. LOL. I have also found a few valuable coins over time. At one time I bought silver dollars(real ones)at auctions etc till the price got up to 10 dollars and seem to have quite a few now..,.and they sell for about 40 or more each now. I sold 10 Morgans at the last gun show I did for an averge of 50 dollars each. I stopped at MDs yesterday(my wife likes their French Fries) and they had a sign that they have an "app" where you can use your phone to pay the bill? And they wonder why their accounts can get hacked?? Lose your phone and holy crapo!
 
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