The US Mint is pleading with Americans to 'start spending their coins' after the coronavirus pandemic sparked a national shortage

https://www.businessinsider.com/mint-asks-americans-spend-coins-amid-shortage-coronavirus-2020-7

Aylin Woodward
July 24,2020

The country's coin supply has become an unexpected victim of the coronavirus pandemic, which has led businesses to ask for exact change or cashless payments.

"The impact of COVID-19 has resulted in the disruption of the supply channels of circulating coinage — the pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters that the American people and businesses use in their day-to-day transactions," the US Mint said in a Thursday statement.

Despite the Mint's efforts to produce more coins to meet growing demand (in June, Mint workers produced 1.65 billion coins — more than a 50% increase from its monthly production average in 2019), the reality is that many Americans have become unintentional coin hoarders.

•••••