Why would therever be a coin shortage? Unlike paper currency, coins don’t wear out.
What happens to all the coins minted everyear?
More and more transactions are touch-free. People have coin at home and much less of it is in circulation. Less in circulation = spotty availability.
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I have a couple of containers of coins I was going to take in pre-COVID, then the credit union closed their lobby. It’s free at my CU, I will wait, no desire to pay the fee for turning in my coins at a store.
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Robert , why would you even need to ask . The article answers the question and since most people pay by card or even their smart phone .
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Coins don’t wear out but people hoard them. The Mint has cut back in response to Coronavirus. I think a business that can’t make change has to round down its charge to the closest it can. That’s the way it was in France after they eliminated the penny.
Paid for air at station with card reader. Ugh, tire was low and I was 10mile from home. Would not work. Went inside to get change. They said machine has to be turned on and it’s free? Huh? Went out and it worked. It still was asking for money though. Card reader for air? What’s next
@Purebred. My credit union has a machine that was free and would deposit the amount in my account. My local bank charges for this service. I do most of my financial business with my credit union.
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One of my former co-workers “prided” herself on paying cash for almost everything. She also insisted on getting a paper paycheck, rather than opting for direct deposit of her salary. As a result, she had to run to the bank on payday, and spend… a long time… waiting on line to deposit part of the check and take some cash.
However, for some reason or other, she never seemed to take enough cash for more than a few days, with the result that she would have to drive back to the bank in 4 or 5 days in order to get more cash. I once asked her why she opted to pay for almost everything with cash, and she gave me some sort of convoluted explanation of how “it saves me money”. 
I then pointed out the cost of the gas that she used for frequent trips to the bank, as well as the “human” cost of wasting all of that time in a banking lineup, and she wasn’t happy about the reality that I introduced into the discussion.
$5 extra per $100 in coins
When I retired 5 years ago, the vending machines in the headquarters lobby were accepting plastic. I don’t think I’ve had any cash in my pocket in over a year.
I do carry cash, but… not much… at this point.
The only times when I have to use cash are at the car wash, and on the rare occasions when I buy a lottery ticket.
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@old_mopar_guy. I rarely use vending machines, but I would not use my credit or debit card in the machines. For me, vending machines.are gambling.devices. Many times I have had the candy bar or other item not drop.down. Then the next user gets two items–his selection and the item I purchased. I have had the coffee vending machine not drop the cup.and pour the coffee down the drain. I don’t trust these machines. Who knows what it would put on my credit card. The machines that really scare me are the automobile vending machines. It would be my luck to put in my money.for a car, the .machine would malfunction, and my car wouldn’t be dispensed. Then the next customer would get a free second car.
One time I did have a vending machine give me a second candy bar. I applied my gambling rule–when you are ahead, quit. I haven’t used a vending machine since.
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So what ? You can dispute a credit card charge by phone or online so easy that even a Cave Man could do it.
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@VOLVO-V70. I’ll leave it to the cavemen to dispute the overcharge from a vending machine. I did play a slot machine once when Mrs. Triedaq and I went to Las Vegas. We went via Amtrak and the train arrived at the Union Plaza hotel. Mrs. Triedaq went to the women’s room. I spied a penny slot machine. I deposited a penny and came up a winner and got 7¢ back. That was the end of my gambling career-- I quit while I was ahead.
Same here, but the machine is in the lobby, lobby is currently closed. I can wait until they reopen.
@Purebred. When I was in Las Vegas, it was back in the late 1980s.
The admission price to the shows was really cheap. The restaurants were relatively inexpensive. The money was made on the gambling.
I was replying to your CU change machine comment.
But as far as gambling, I find it boring. Would only go to Vegas for the shows. I did have some luck once. Overseas, we were going to lunch. My coworker needed to cash a check, same room as the slots. I dropped the single quarter I had in my pocket. Hit the jackpot, $43.00, that was about two weeks pay for me.
I have not bought anything from a bending machine in 25 years. I stopped carrying change a few years ago.
I usually have about $50 in bills on me.
Evert single thing I buy that I can buy with a credit card I do, unless there is a charge for doing so. I have on card that pays 2% back on everything, and some tht pay 3% on gas or groceries, but not at big box stores. A 5% off card at target that also gets you wree shipping without a minimum purchase and a Walmart th gives 5% back at Walmart online. Since I don’t have a cell phone I can’t get the 5% back in store at Walmart so I just don’t do any in store shopping.
I lose money if I pay cash. Our SS and and my pension checks are deposited directly, and my one online bank lets me deposit remotely with my scanner and computer without a smartphone. I go to my local bank 3-4 times a year to withdraw cash.
The only thing that prompted me to get a computer in the first place after I was retired 12 years was that I could not get decent bank rates locally.
To this day, I still find it much easier to deal with Vanguard Mutual funds by phone rather than online.
Yeah same here. The machine is in the lobby but the lobby is closed. I’ve got about one of those pretzel containers filled. Last time I had two of them with about $400 in coin.
I don’t want a cashless society, personally. Don’t use much cash these days but I want it available.
That said, money is disgustingly filthy. Easily in the top 5 nastiest things we handle every day. Seriously filthy.
With all this Covid stuff… I will stick to credit cards.
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