Coin Shortage??????

[Green_As_a_Gourd]

I saw several news reports last week about a coin shortage and I ignored them. Today I was at a hardware store and they had a sign up saying to pay with card or exact change due to the coin shortage. I also had several large runs of 5's come through my change machine that didn't correlate with washes so I assume people were just getting my quarters because of the shortage. Is this a real thing? How can we be short on quarters when I find 55 year old quarters all the time?

 

[Earl Weiss]

Many Bank Lobbies are closed due to Covid . I know a guy with a vending route who wasn't able to get rid of his quarters because of this. He was happy to exchange them with me for paper.

 

[Car_Wash_Guy]

Yep. I usually go through a couple hundred in $1 dollar coins a week. I haven't been able to source coins in a while. Yesterday I was able to get $100. Luckily I keep some on hand and have had to recycle coins.

 

[MEP001]

Some of the mints have been closed because of the COVID-19 issue. A lot of bank lobbies are closed, and they can't take bulk coins at the drive-throughs. My preferred bank branch was closed completely for two weeks. I have a half-ton of quarters I need to deposit.

 

[mjwalsh]

Hopefully, this problem will tend to be temporary. This is what I posted on a similar thread over at our coin laundry association forum:

Just to let everyone know there is value to listen to the words said during relevant to our industry & the specific less wealthy people we serve ... as to the Congressional Hearing of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's testimony of June 17, 2020. That is a pertinent hearing that Brian Wallace CLA President & CEO was referring to among other items.

John W. Rose from Tennessee told about bipartisan support of a bill with consultation with Jerome W Powell. There were concerns of unintended structural changes ... responded to by Powell. Here is the unfiltered actual discussion between Rose & Powell specific to 52:23 thru 58:32 within the over 3 hour hearing at the following C-Span unedited link:

Monetary Policy and the Economy

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell testified before the House Financial Services Committee on monetary policy and the state of the economy amid the coronavirus pandemic. Chair Powell took questions from lawmakers on a variety of topics, including the low interest rates, unemployment from...

www.c-span.org

For the first time ever ... we were somewhat forced to put up a sign on each of our two 4 hopper StandardChangemakers.:

 

[Keith Baker]

I've been "salting" my dollar coin changer with my 1 dollar tokens. About 5 to 10 per cent. It seems to have slowed down my walk off of coins some. If someone just stops by just to get coins, then I either get some payment for my service or I make a customer out of them. I've posted the policy on the changer and had no complaints about it.

 

[Green_As_a_Gourd]

Thanks for the responses. So it seems then the terminology is just incorrect. There is not a coin shortage, but there is a disruption in the flow of coins. The latter is a much easier problem to deal with. I will get a sign made up like the one above and maybe finish my research into accepting credit cards. I'm not set up to take tokens but that seems clever.

 

[MEP001]

I also mix some tokens into the changer and have a sign on it stating such. If I didn't, I'd be buying 4000 quarters a week.

 

[Randy]

Since the pandemic started we haven’t taken hardly any quarters to the bank. When we pull coins we have just enough to replenish the changers. The lobby at my bank opened last Monday 6-29 , no more appointments. I asked my head teller on Friday about the availability of quarters and dollar coins, she said it’s no problem just order what you need as they aren’t keeping a large inventory at the branch.

 

[soonermajic]

Ive noticed qrtrs are leaving our washes in droves. Barely have enough qrtrs to make it.
Any advice? Maybe turn off bill changer nightly, for a week or 2?

 

[mjwalsh]

Write or leave a message for your specific congressional delegation. I tried. Too few of concerns does not help our cause. Otherwise they might think it is not a factor for us. Be careful how you word it to the media & the politicians. They have been known to twist things.... some might even broadcast that the majority of us are for inadequate distribution of coins. It happened & continues to happen with the higher denomination coin ($1 coin) with clear negative results & not just for our self service industry IMHO! Of course the 100% cashless tricksters won't admit to their shenanigans ... along with the unintended BAD consequences.

The ICA probably does not miss my dropped long term membership ... but too many statements &/or omissions in the wrong direction NOT protecting smaller operators enough ... was more than I could stomach. Maybe the dropped membership(s) can turn out to be temporary ... it hinges what herd they follow.

 

[Bandit]

Get tokens, problem solved. Running around chasing quarters every week ?

 

[washnvac]

Geeez! guys. This has been solved. As Bandit said---use 100% high security tokens. YOU ARE NOT A PUBLIC CHANGE SERVICE. I dispense nothing but tokens at my site; including the auto cashiers. I actually take $2-3k in quarters to the bank every week for deposit.

Walk off tokens pays for my changer/validator maintenance all year long.

 

[Greg Pack]

Get tokens, problem solved. Running around chasing quarters every week ?

Geeez! guys. This has been solved. As Bandit said---use 100% high security tokens. YOU ARE NOT A PUBLIC CHANGE SERVICE. I dispense nothing but tokens at my site; including the auto cashiers. I actually take $2-3k in quarters to the bank every week for deposit.

Walk off tokens pays for my changer/validator maintenance all year long.

I'm pretty lazy and tend to take the path of least resistance. I haven't had to go to the bank to get quarters in over twenty years. Quarters actually work well when theft isn't an issue. And because they are indeed recycled on site, I carry only a bag or two every month instead of a bag or two every week as washnvac does.

Having said that, I'm about to soft open a third site by the end of the Month, and have purchased 5000 CTX 560 tokens. Custom printed and nickel plated they were around .35 each. This will be a first for me. One of the biggest reasons I did this is because of the tiny coin vaults at this location and deter theft attempts in the vacuums. This will also eliminate stringing attempts so I can be lax on my validator security. We have stringers in the area that can string MEI. I don't have bill acceptors in the bay either, although I prepped the doors for them in case that's a mistake. Everything will have credit card on it, and I'm hoping for 80%+ CC transactions eventually.

 

[OurTown]

Has anyone switched to dispensing only tokens in recent years? If so did you lose some customers after changing over?

 

[MEP001]

I know a guy who has, and after he described the setup he said "The only problem is that I'm making more money!" He does lose 10,000 tokens a year, but at a cost of 33¢ each and valued at $1 from the changer he doesn't mind.

 

[soonermajic]

I know a guy who has, and after he described the setup he said "The only problem is that I'm making more money!" He does lose 10,000 tokens a year, but at a cost of 33¢ each and valued at $1 from the changer he doesn't mind.

Wouldn't that be losing $3300/yr? That's quite a bit...

 

[I.B. Washincars]

Wouldn't that be losing $3300/yr? That's quite a bit...

You buy 10,000 of something for 33¢, sell them each for $1. I call that making 67¢ 10,000 times over.

 

[Nuphoenix]

Every week I take about 5 to 6 hundred dollars worth of quarters to the bank. Stores around me have signs put up asking customers to use exact change because of a coin shortage. Spoke to the teller at my bank the other day and she said they have an over abundance of coins. And not because of my weekly deposits. Wonder if the stores are using the tiny local banks. I use Chase.

 

[MEP001]

I also pull about $500 a week in excess quarters. My bank takes them and some company picks them off and counts them, so the bank doesn't have them to give back out to customers. I've talked to several people who have to order quarters at their bank to be brought in. One guy said it costs him $35 for a bag of $200.