U.S. Coin Shortage

WASHINGTON- Due to the pandemic, the U.S. Mint slowed coin production leading to last year’s coin shortage. Early in the pandemic, coins were not in use thanks to stay-at-home orders. Once the economy began to reopen, many businesses exhausted their coin inventories.

“Because coin circulation patterns have not fully returned to pre-pandemic levels, caps were reinstated in May 2021,” United States Federal Reserve.

The coin shortage led to the establishment of the U.S. Coin Task Force (USCTF). The social media hashtag (#) for the USCTF is “getcoinmoving.” The new branch is responsible for identifying, refining, and promoting strategies to resolve the coin supply chain issues resulting from COVID-19-related disruptions to normal coin circulation (getcoinsmoving.org).

According to the United States Treasury, coins were distributed adequately throughout the country, but usage was at an all-time low. The solution being the U.S. public must use more coins for purchases.

By Alexander Fernandez