OT - Coin shortage

[Asudef]

Wow, didn't know this was a thing. Could possibly be people not wanting to stand around and count out change or whatever.

I have a container for loose change thats filled to the brim now and weighs about 40lbs, maybe I should make a trip to my bank and give them back.

[Black Dog]

We got rid of pennies here in Canada years ago. It is simple. When paying with cash, if the final price including sales tax ends with 1 or 2 the price is rounded down to 0 and when it ends with 3 or 4 it is rounded up to 5. For online and cashless transactions the price is not rounded. On balance it works out even for retailers and consumers. We also do not have 1 or 2 dollar bills just 1 and 2 dollar coins (they last way longer in circulation than bills). Everyone seems to like it this way.

[Dead Man]

pennies are useless.. i tell em to keep em. i usually have a huge container of silver i cash in once a year or so.. guess i am the problem.

theres WAY too many people living cash-only lives to go cashless right now, and i've seen no realistic solution for changing that. i, for instance, have been almost completely cash only for a couple of years. if it werent for my measly little VA disability check directly depositing into my last bank account and the spotify bill thats drawn from said account, id be 100% cash-only.

[Toddtwenty2]

We put in a coin order with Chase to restart all of our locations, and they only sent 11% of our requested quarters. Apparently the federal reserve quit minting coins during Covid, so even the banks are out of change. Our representatives could not say when they would resume creating them again.

Quarters are still important denominations in competitive, mature industries. It seems coin presses could still be operated socially distanced.

[rounder]

We have jars of coins, where the coins get tossed at the end of the day, My wife picks up coins from parking lots and the coin machines at Safeway..me too. Have not counted them, but my guess is that they would pay for a new set of Super Record easy.

[Doug Fattic]

I've been a coin collector ever since the late 50's when one of my classmates bought his penny coin album to school and I wanted to do that too. At that time it was possible to find almost all the dates and mint marks for "wheat" pennies that started in 1909. What made it interesting was that some of the D (Denver) or S (San Francisco) mint marks were fairly rare but with effort could be found. Eventually as time went on the US mint made billions of the later dates and when Wheat pennies were collected out of circulation there wasn't much incentive to look through change because almost all dates were easily found. All dimes and quarters that were made of silver before 1965 were collected out of circulation too.

The US mint decided to try and make coin collecting out of circulated coins interesting again with the introduction to States quarters (5 States each year) and then in 2009 the US Territories (which are quite hard to find) and then the America the Beautiful quarters commemorating some national park or landmark. The mintage figures for 2010 to 2013 are not all that common but possible to find with some effort.

Starting in 2019 the mint upped its game for collectors and started minting quarters at West Point with a "W" mint mark. They are only minting 2 million for each model that represents one of the national parks. Instead of selling rolls to coin stores they mixed them up into S and D bags that they send out to Federal Reserve Banks that distribute them to local banks. That may sound like a lot but when mixed in with all quarters makes them a rare find. Prices on eBay for W mint mark quarters start around $12. In coin stores they are twice that or more depending on condition.

So look through your change for 2019 and 2020 quarters with a W mint mark. I'd be happy to pay market value if any Paceliners have any. I’m sure other collectors would too.

[Mark McM]

Originally Posted by Doug Fattic

The US mint decided to try and make coin collecting out of circulated coins interesting again with the introduction to States quarters (5 States each year) and then in 2009 the US Territories (which are quite hard to find) and then the America the Beautiful quarters commemorating some national park or landmark. The mintage figures for 2010 to 2013 are not all that common but possible to find with some effort.

The U.S. Mint also tried to popularize dollar coins by introducing the U.S. Presidents dollars (a different coin for each U.S. President, starting with George Washington). These turned out to be a failure, and they stopped production of new coins for circulation after James Garfield.

[Allcarbon]

I don't think I've bought anything with cash in years, let alone pay with anything in change.

[jojobos]

And also

cost to make penny

2011 2.41 Cents
2018 2.06 Cents
2019 1.99 Cents

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by Dead Man

pennies are useless.. i tell em to keep em. i usually have a huge container of silver i cash in once a year or so.. guess i am the problem.

theres WAY too many people living cash-only lives to go cashless right now, and i've seen no realistic solution for changing that. i, for instance, have been almost completely cash only for a couple of years. if it weren't for my measly little VA disability check directly depositing into my last bank account and the spotify bill thats drawn from said account, id be 100% cash-only.

So, I guess you don't buy anything online or over the phone...(?)

[C40_guy]

Originally Posted by Allcarbon

I don't think I've bought anything with cash in years, let alone pay with anything in change.

Me either.

i used to keep a big jar on my dresser for the end of day spare change and every so often would cash it in. I'd typically get $250 back, just enough to fund something interesting bike related.

Last time i did it, it was mostly pennies and the haul was much less. The jar is still there, but I think it's just got cob webs in it now...

[C40_guy]

Originally Posted by Mark McM

As far using prices with applicable taxes applied and rounding to the nearest 0.05, this would be near impossible for US online retailers (even since the Wayfair decision). Online retailers now have to apply the taxes applicable to the buyers place of residence, and the US has complicated hodge-podge of state and local sales taxes.

While that may be true, online retailers don't have to make change.

[redir]

On my side gig I get paid in cash a lot. I have a huge jar that I throw change in and every few years wrap them up and take them to the bank. Last time I did it I had $800 dollars in the jar and bought me a Moots Fork for my Compact. It's probably got another 800 in it now. Maybe I should take it down town to the bank they might appreciate it.

[jmoore]

I have a big change jar on the back of my shop bench as well. There are prob 20 rolls of quarters in there and at least that much loose. I should really take them all and turn them into $100 bills I can put in my stash envelope.

[Dead Man]

Originally Posted by oldpotatoe

So, I guess you don't buy anything online or over the phone...(?)

correct.. or, in the rare cases i do, i can throw some money in the bank account and place an order.. but i buy pretty much everything local and preferably pre-owned