Tag: exact change

Categories
Pandemic

National coin shortage

In the summer of 2020 signs like the one below started to appear in shops and businesses. The pandemic created a shortage of a lot of things, including pocket change. The Federal Reserve acknowledged this in an article that appeared in the June 20, 2020 online issue of USA Today: “Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Wednesday the shutdowns caused by the pandemic have raised concerns about circulation of coins, which the Fed’s 12 regional banks are in charge of supplying to commercial banks. ‘With the partial closure of the economy, the flow of funds through the economy has stopped,’ Powell said during a virtual hearing with the House Financial Services Committee. ‘We are working with the Mint and the Reserve Banks and as the economy re-opens we are starting to see money move around again'” (Tyko).


Social Media Trends as of May 10, 2022

Facebook #nationalcoinshortage: people are posting about this
Instagram #nationalcoinshortage: 355 posts
TikTok #nationalcoinshortage: 9.5 million views
YouTube #nationalcoinshortage: less than 100 videos and channels

Google Trends: “National coin shortage” peaked during the week of July 5, 2020 which coincides with the time “exact change” notices started to appear everywhere on shop windows and registers.

National coin shortage search term

Sources:

Tyco, Kelly. “National coin shortage: Pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters part of latest COVID-19 shortage.” USA Today. June 20, 2020. URL: https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2020/06/20/coronavirus-shortage-coin-supply-pennies-nickels-dimes-quarters/3230828001/.

Categories
Pandemic

Exact change

In the early days of the pandemic, I started noticing stores displaying “Exact Change” signs at the registers including self-service registers. I thought this was strange since lockdown restrictions permitted us to go out and buy groceries and those who preferred to pay in cash did so and those that didn’t used their debit or credit card. Surely the cash spent would recirculate throughout the financial system just as it always has done. Did the Treasury suddenly stop minting coins?

Exact change only sign

On July 22, 2020 the Market Place website published an article Where did all the coins go? which attempts to answer this question. The authors explained that because of “a dip in consumer spending and retailers urging customers to pay with cards instead of cash, the coronavirus pandemic has taken coins out of circulation and created a shortage across the United States. By now, it’s likely you’ve seen signs at your grocery store asking you to pay with exact change. The Federal Reserve has created a task force to study the problem. With representatives from the U.S. Mint, Walmart, Coinstar and the Fed’s own experts, the task force is hoping to find solutions for bringing coins back into this economy.” As of the date of this blog post, the “Exact Change” signs have not gone away.

Social Media Trends as of May 1, 2022

Facebook #exactchange: people are posting about this
Instagram #exactchange: 1,898 posts
TikTok #exactchange: 313,500 views

Google Trends: exact change really took off around July 2020 when news articles started to appear about this phenomenon. The popularity of the term reached its peak during the week of July 19, 2020.

Exact change search term

Sources:

“Exact Change Only” sign. Walmart. URL: https://www.walmart.com/ip/5in-x-3-5in-Notice-Exact-Change-Only-Sticker-Vinyl-Business-Sign-Stickers/628094790.

Kai Ryssdal and Bennett Purser. “Where did all the coins go?” Marketplace.org. July 22, 2020. URL: https://www.marketplace.org/2020/07/22/where-did-all-the-coins-go/.