Uncle Sam wants YOU to dig under your sofa cushions and discover your spare change.
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A woman counts spare change
Not really.
The United States is in the midst of a national currency shortage caused by the coronavirus pandemic, making life difficult for banks, retailers, and anyone who regularly pays with cash. The U.S. Mint, which is in charge of producing new money to replenish the country’s supply, is working to address the problem, and is now also asking Americans to help.
The Mint is asking people to pay with the exact change and to find other ways to return the coins they may have to circulate, it said in a press release on Thursday.
“We ask that the American public begin to spend their coins, deposit them, exchange them for foreign currency at financial institutions, or take them to a currency exchange kiosk,” the Mint said in the statement. “The coin supply problem can be solved with each of us doing our part.”
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell spoke about the currency shortage during a virtual hearing with the House Financial Services Committee last month. He explained that because more people have stayed home, shopping online, and avoided physical currency due to the pandemic, the normal flow of coins through the economy was disrupted.
“The places where he is going to give his coins, get store credit and get cash … those have not been working. The stores have been closed,” he said. “The whole system has stopped.”
The U.S. Mint also briefly slowed coin production to implement safety measures for workers, although it says it resumed regular production in mid-June.
In response, the Fed convened a US Coins Task Force to work on restoring the coin supply chain. And in the meantime, companies have found ways to manage them: Some retailers have warned customers that they may not be able to receive a change in currencies, and even a bank is paying people to bring in their additional change.
The shortage could be especially painful for low-income consumers, who are more likely to pay in cash, which could exacerbate the impact of the coronavirus crisis, which has already greatly affected low-income communities. It can also be a burden for some retailers, so accepting credit and debit card purchases can carry fees that cash transactions don’t.
According to the Mint, third-party coin processors and retail activity account for the majority of the coins put into circulation. Last year, for example, those sources accounted for 83% of the currencies in the supply chain.
“There is an adequate amount of coins in the economy, but the slow pace of circulation has meant that sufficient amounts of coins are sometimes not available when needed,” the Mint said Thursday. “We are asking for your help to improve this coin supply problem.”
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