Coining a new way

On our local Facebook page, in much the same way we talk about where to find the best Halloween costume for Junior and how best to make Hollandaise sauce, we talk of which stores just got a truckload of Lysol wipes and spray cleaners.

It seems like just the other day we were all in frenzied search of paper towels and toilet paper, but the Bounty lumberjack felled a few thousand extra Douglas firs and we're good to go. Literally.

So now, life has turned around and given us a new shortage, and no amount of money can fix this one. 

It's money.

Now there is a shortage of coins.

Here's why: “This is one of those things nobody really expected,” said Drew McKone, an executive vice president and chief deposit officer at Howard Bank. “But when you look in the rear view mirror, it makes sense. When the economy shut down and people stayed home, the supply of coin in the market was pretty much choked off.”

While we sat at home not spending coins, banks stopped making as many deposits to the Federal Reserve, and the US Mint cut down on how many coins they were cranking out to protect workers.

And then! Banks started opening up and ordering coins from the Fed, and they had to rummage through their other pants and the sofa cushions came up with $12,48 to pass out to all these banks.  So the Fed put limits on coin distribution in June.

Businesses that are open are starting to ask people to help. A sign at our local  Lowes home improvement store says, “The U.S. is currently experiencing a coin shortage. Please use correct change or other form of tender if possible.”

And some banks are giving people the option of having the coin amount of their cashed checks deposited electronically, or they ask that, in the case of a check you cash for $13.84, you give them 16 cents and they give you 14 dollars.

And some stores have those coin-swallowing machines where you can turn in your peanut butter jars full of coins for almost their dollar value (they do charge a fee for this).

McKone says that the 15 Howard Bank offices around town are checking with business customers about the coin supply. So far, they are keeping up, but "we have to be more aware of inventory and use,” he said.

“Coin was never in short supply,” before, he explains. "There was always an abundance, but now we have to be more mindful of what we have been able to get.”

I like the idea that Wawa came up. I also like their sandwiches, but anyway, their deal is, they ask if you would like to "round up" your purchase to the nearest dollar and donate the change to the Wawa Foundation.  So you buy lunch, it comes to $9.48, you give them a ten spot, and donate the 52 cents to local charities supporting causes related to health, hunger and everyday heroes and local chapters of the USO.

I like it when everyone wins.