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Dollar coin shortage?

M

Mchas

Active member
Anyone else experiencing a dollar coin shortage? I have had no problems the whole pandemic but just now my local bank said they are unable to get any dollar coins. Anyone else hearing this?

If I have to switch to tokens, what are the best ones to use? Hopefully something the same size as dollar coins so I don’t have to make any changes to my hoppers or anything else.

Any advice? Thanks!
 
It sounds like another "100% cashless" impediment tactic by someone or group who has not had the proper light shined on them!
 
Last I checked, my bank could get dollar coins but they have to order them in.

What coin acceptors are you using? The "best" token would be something limited to your area, but if you're using Slugbuster III you might not get a bimetal token to work.
 
My bank always orders the coins for me when I ask, and this is the first time I have heard they can’t get any.

I am using MicroCoin acceptors. Any particular token suggestions for those? I think my competitors use dollar coins but that might not be true for much longer if this is really true..
 
I can't imagine it's true. Didn't they stop minting them part-way through the presidential series because they had several billion stockpiled? Heck, they still had Susan B's twenty years after production. I think dollar coin availability should be good for quite a few more years.
 
Mchas said:
Anyone else experiencing a dollar coin shortage? I have had no problems the whole pandemic but just now my local bank said they are unable to get any dollar coins. Anyone else hearing this?

If I have to switch to tokens, what are the best ones to use? Hopefully something the same size as dollar coins so I don’t have to make any changes to my hoppers or anything else.

Any advice? Thanks!
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My bank mentioned that to me last summer. I suggested that they explain to the Federal Reserve that I am getting about $1500 per month in dollar coins, but I am depositing about $2200 per month to them in quarters. I understand they are really short on quarters. They never mentioned it again.
I see new Sacagawea quarters in the mix, so they are still minting them.
 
Mchas said:
I am using MicroCoin acceptors. Any particular token suggestions for those?
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No, but I can tell you they're very sensitive. I switched manufacturers of tokens but it was supposed to be the same mix. Learning just the new ones it would reject the old.

Bimetal tokens should be better. They're still a lot less than $1 apiece. I find some bimetal tokens on the ground from a wash that's a good ten miles away.
 
At the beginning of the pandemic we started having a hard time getting dollar coins. We have two change machines at our wash and one was giving quarters and one was giving dollar coins. I was going to the bank weekly to get dollar coins and they only had a few at a time and were unable to order for me. I just decided that quarters were easier to get so we switched to all quarters. I only got a few complaints from customers and actually it is easier to count now without having to separate the dollar coins and quarters. We have had a few times when it was difficult to get quarters during the pandemic so now we keep a small stockpile.
 
I talked to another branch who claims they can order them for me. I am hoping the first branch was misinformed, thinking the general coin shortage applied to all coins. Crossing my fingers that I’ll be able to get dollar coins next week otherwise I’ll be scrambling to switch to tokens.
 
Here’s what I just did…. Hope it helps!

convert to ONLY dispensing your new proprietary $1 tokens. Give them a deal when they buy more….shrinkage is good…

Raise prices, and use dollar increments…accept CC’s, quarters, dollar coins and your fancy new proprietary car wash tokens…

MicroCoin, new signage, big LED displays with audible alerts…

After the upgrades and headaches, you will be pleased with the results…again, accept their cash and CC’s, but only dispense tokens!

sjb
 
The saga continues. My local branch has twice now placed and order, and both times the dollar coins don’t get delivered. They have been ordering them the same way for me for years and all of a sudden they are having problems. They said they will call the rep on the phone tomorrow and ask what’s going on. Afraid I’ll be scrambling to convert to tokens if I can’t get dollar coins soon..
 
Please keep in mind that switching to Tokens doesn't guarantee supply. We keep plenty of tokens on hand but when I re-ordered this past summer there was a delay as they had to wait for a particular metal to make the blanks. I know someone else that uses a different token and they waited several MONTHS before their token order could be fulfilled.
 
GoBuckeyes said:
Please keep in mind that switching to Tokens doesn't guarantee supply. We keep plenty of tokens on hand but when I re-ordered this past summer there was a delay as they had to wait for a particular metal to make the blanks. I know someone else that uses a different token and they waited several MONTHS before their token order could be fulfilled.
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What he said. The buyer of my washes just went through this. He was advertising to buy tokens like his.
 
Go Buckeyes, Do you use Hoffman mint , Van Brook or someone else? I ,gave up on Hoffman mint because just what you said.
Never had a problem with Van Brook, I just ordered some 8 weeks ago, and had them in a week.
 
GoBuckeyes said:
Please keep in mind that switching to Tokens doesn't guarantee supply. We keep plenty of tokens on hand but when I re-ordered this past summer there was a delay as they had to wait for a particular metal to make the blanks. I know someone else that uses a different token and they waited several MONTHS before their token order could be fulfilled.
Click to expand...

That makes sense. Trying to get anything these days is so difficult due to supply chain issues.
 
It took Vanbrook close to 5 months to fufill my order in 2021. We were so low on tokens some hoppers had to be converted to dollar coins and we had to go to sorting coins, from 1 to 3 times per week. It was a bad time. I miss Dottie, I feel she would have been better with communication throughout the whole ordeal. James told us they would have them in 3 weeks for about 4 months. I would have dropped them if I had know the real lead time and went a different route.

I told the bank to stock up on dollar coins last week as we are entering busy season through May. We have had no issues getting them but a couple times they have limited my branch to only ordering 1 or 2 thousand at a time. This is all I typically need anyways and my bank try’s to keep 5k on hand for us.
 
i switched to customized high security 1$ tokens in december. ordered from james at van brook and it took about 10 days. i went with 10,000 in order to get 1000 free. i think with the design and shipping it all came out to about 31 or 32 cents each for the 11000
 
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