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?
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.
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/.