I was not aware that we are in the middle of a coin shortage 2 2

[Modwriter]

On 8/5/2020 at 1:25 PM, Quintus Arrius said:

He must have offended the penny people, greatly.

Mr. Yang was not invited to speak at the Democratic convention.

[pogohatesme]

Maybe it has been said and I have just missed it but something I thought of today. Why is there only a coin shortage but not a bill shortage? I have gone into stores with no issues in the world going on and they are running low on dollar bills so will try and get as much as they can from you. But yet now it's only the coins?

[JT2]

I went to the Panda Express here in town and the bill was $9.03.  The little girl asked me if i would like to round that up.  I looked at her and asked her "Hey what about rounding down it is only three cents"  and she looked at me like i was crazy.  Well she got confused so i just left without my sweet and sour chicken and rice

[VKurtB]

In EVERY country I know of that has abandoned its 1 cent piece, including Switzerland and Canada, $9.03 rounds UP to $9.05, while $9.02 rounds DOWN to $9.00. In short, 1, 2, 6, and 7 round DOWN and 3, 4, 8, and 9 round UP. And the rounding is only done at the total bill, never on individual items. Why is this idea so confounding to the American brain? Are we just simply that dumb?

 

Edited August 15, 2020 by VKurtB

[Henri Charriere]

59 minutes ago, VKurtB said:

In EVERY country I know of that has abandoned its 1 cent piece, including Switzerland and Canada, $9.03 rounds UP to $9.05, while $9.02 rounds DOWN to $9.00. In short, 1, 2, 6, and 7 round DOWN and 3, 4, 8, and 9 round UP. And the rounding is only done at the total bill, never on individual items. Why is this idea so confounding to the American brain? Are we just simply that dumb?

 

In any event, I would not have abandoned my Chinese take-out over the matter of two cents.  I routinely give back pennies I receive in change saying, Here you need this more than I do.

[kbbpll]

4 hours ago, VKurtB said:

In EVERY country I know of that has abandoned its 1 cent piece, including Switzerland and Canada, $9.03 rounds UP to $9.05, while $9.02 rounds DOWN to $9.00. In short, 1, 2, 6, and 7 round DOWN and 3, 4, 8, and 9 round UP. And the rounding is only done at the total bill, never on individual items. Why is this idea so confounding to the American brain? Are we just simply that dumb?

 

You can bet how US retailers will do the rounding. WalMart alone does 265 million customer visits per week. Even if they only made an extra cent each visit through rounding, that's almost $138 million a year.

[JT2]

Oh my I guess i should have written that better. The girl wanted me to round up to $10.00 not $9.05.  Going to have to hone my chat board skillzzzzz

Edited August 17, 2020 by Jtnewell

[pogohatesme]

A lot of places I have been seeing and hearing about, they are not rounding to the next Nicole, dime or quarter. They are rounding to the whole dollar. Spoke to a friend in Ohio last night that said places there will not give change at all.

[Conder101]

On 8/14/2020 at 3:48 PM, pogohatesme said:

Why is there only a coin shortage but not a bill shortage? I

Because people carry the bills they get in change back to the stores and spend them.  They don't stuff them in jars when they get home.  So they tend to stay in circulation.

 

On 8/15/2020 at 11:21 PM, kbbpll said:

You can bet how US retailers will do the rounding. WalMart alone does 265 million customer visits per week. Even if they only made an extra cent each visit through rounding, that's almost $138 million a year.

In that case they don't have to worry about rounding, just raise the price of every item 1 cent per year.

 

17 hours ago, pogohatesme said:

A lot of places I have been seeing and hearing about, they are not rounding to the next Nicole, dime or quarter. They are rounding to the whole dollar. Spoke to a friend in Ohio last night that said places there will not give change at all.

If you don't have change to give back rounding to the next 5 cents doesn't really help.

[Henri Charriere]

If one doesn't have change to give back, rounding up to the next $.05 does help by valving off the pressure retailers are currently experiencing by having to produce coins (pennies) they do not have which sit in jars in customers' homes.

[VKurtB]

Ooh. I know. Stores could make their own one cent pieces. Yeah, yeah. And they could circulate as emergency coinage. Yeah, yeah. And some other people could make similar ersatz cents with political messages on them. Yeah, yeah. Now where have I heard of this before? 

[Modwriter]

3 hours ago, VKurtB said:

Ooh. I know. Stores could make their own one cent pieces. Yeah, yeah. And they could circulate as emergency coinage. Yeah, yeah. And some other people could make similar ersatz cents with political messages on them. Yeah, yeah. Now where have I heard of this before? 

A conspiracy theorist perhaps? I have heard a lot of doosies in the last few years. Instead of gift cards, stores should sell their own silver and gold coins. I would buy food and drug coins.

[Conder101]

20 hours ago, VKurtB said:

Ooh. I know. Stores could make their own one cent pieces.

I'm sure you remember back during the cent shortage of 1974 when business used to give out pieces of candy instead of the one cent pieces they didn't have.

 

17 hours ago, Modwriter said:

A conspiracy theorist perhaps?

Think hard times and civil war tokens, or in England the old 17th, 18th, and 19th century trade/provincial tokens.

 

[VKurtB]

2 hours ago, Conder101 said:

I'm sure you remember back during the cent shortage of 1974 when business used to give out pieces of candy instead of the one cent pieces they didn't have.

 

Think hard times and civil war tokens, or in England the old 17th, 18th, and 19th century trade/provincial tokens.

 

I was in my family’s photo shop business in 1974. I never experienced a change shortage in that era. Eastern PA. Where did a change shortage happen? I do remember the Arab oil price shock. Oh yeah, and the Philadelphia Flyers winning the Stanley Cup; I remember that too. Kate Smith singing "God Bless America" live, with the high note crescendo ending. Magic.

Edited August 19, 2020 by VKurtB

[kbbpll]

3 hours ago, Conder101 said:

I'm sure you remember back during the cent shortage of 1974 when business used to give out pieces of candy instead of the one cent pieces they didn't have.

I don't remember that either. I was working in an ice cream parlor in 1974 and it was all cash, we gave out lots of change, there was no shortage of cents. This was in the Chicago area. Perhaps the shortage was in a specific area. 

[Conder101]

Supposedly nationwide.  Because of it there were some of the first debates on elimination of the cent, banks in many areas were paying up to $1.10 per dollar for cents, and the Mint offered certificates of appreciation  signed by Director Mary Brooks to those people who returned $25 or more in cents to the banks.  If you google 1974 cent shortage stories come up about it including documents on the Mint website.  So I'm not misremembering it.

Edited August 19, 2020 by Conder101

[Crruisercharlie]

On 7/6/2020 at 11:57 PM, Modwriter said:

A friend in Las Vegas just told me that BofAs there are claiming to be short on staff. Long lines. ATMs do not have cash.  A Rite Aid I go to is no cash back with debit cards here in Southern CA.

I'm in commiefornia too and have seen several stores with the shortage signs. Bank said I could get rolls of dollar coins🤣 but nobody uses those anyway.

[Crruisercharlie]

On 8/19/2020 at 5:23 AM, Conder101 said:

I'm sure you remember back during the cent shortage of 1974 when business used to give out pieces of candy instead of the one cent pieces they didn't have.

 

Think hard times and civil war tokens, or in England the old 17th, 18th, and 19th century trade/provincial tokens.

 

Pre confederation canada had penny and half/penny tokens from the banks

[Crruisercharlie]

On 8/3/2020 at 2:14 PM, Modwriter said:

The mint is exploring less expensive metals for the penny and nickel. If they can't, expect the penny and nickel to be eliminated.

Right now there is more than a penny's worth of copper in each penny. Legislation was passed a few years ago to prevent exportation of pennies because they were being melted and sold for their copper value

[Modwriter]

3 hours ago, Crruisercharlie said:

Right now there is more than a penny's worth of copper in each penny. Legislation was passed a few years ago to prevent exportation of pennies because they were being melted and sold for their copper value

If Biden wins the election, I wonder who will the new Director of theTreasury? I really liked Mnuchin until recently, but it looks like he will go to prison if Trump loses.

[Henri Charriere]

For what it's worth, here's what I do when I am asked to do my part in freeing up change for circulation:  no matter the cost of a an item, any change I get from an establishment I return to them. That means if something costs $1.27, the cashier who bags the groceries will get the two quarters, and the 23 cents goes back into the till.  Why do I do this? Simple. While the subways still cost $2.75, the buses are free (to protect the drivers who all day are exposed to boarding passengers.) After the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions are lifted, it is my understanding all fares will be raised by $1.00. 

Fares are not a matter of life and death.  Only dimes, nickels and pennies, very often referred to as small- or chump-change. I agree. If everybody did their part, there wouldn't be a change shortage.

[RWB]

Rather than being in the middle (i.e. "egocentric") position, we are probably some place 2/3 between the center and the edge -- unless the edge is reeded in which case we are 3/5 between center and reeded edge....or there-abouts.

[VKurtB]

Our buses are back to normal here, except for a mask mandate. $1.75 gets you almost anywhere you want to go on Capital Area Transit, even the airport. $1.75 for a bus fare to the terminal at the airport is a STEAL. And then it's a low fare dominant airport, too. Amtrak is building a new station at Harrisburg Airport (MDT) that will allow folks from points east (Lancaster, the "Main Line", and Philly) convenient access as well.

Edited August 27, 2020 by VKurtB

[RonnieR131]

I've noticed some members are from around where I live and talked of shortages and rounding up. I live 20 miles north of Dallas, and not ONCE have I ever been asked to round up for payment. All 3 of my banks and 2 credit unions still sell me boxes of pennies, but all only have 2020's, and I don't want them. The boxes fit right under the drive thru drawer. Also, I never use a credit card, always cash with few exceptions, like when I'm in a hurry to fuel up my vehicle. I know it's going to happen, it just hasn't yet for me or my unbetter half. EDIT: How am I supposed to find that '58 doubled die in a roll of 2020's.   Besides, I'm the only one I know that can receive a fake 1931 S penny from the Sonic drive thru.    

Edited August 27, 2020 by ronnie stein
ps

[RWB]

3 hours ago, VKurtB said:

Our buses are back to normal here, except for a mask mandate. $1.75 gets you almost anywhere you want to go on Capital Area Transit, even the airport. $1.75 for a bus fare to the terminal at the airport is a STEAL. And then it's a low fare dominant airport, too. Amtrak is building a new station at Harrisburg Airport (MDT) that will allow folks from points east (Lancaster, the "Main Line", and Philly) convenient access as well.

That's good to hear about the new Amtrak terminal. Trains are efficient, cost effective and a lot more utilitarian than driving or taking an airplane from here to NYC or Philadelphia.