BY LEV D. ZILBERMINTS
SOUTH ORANGE / NEWARK – Since the coronavirus epidemic began in early 2020, there has been a national coin shortage. Many businesses have signs urging customers to pay with credit cards, debit cards, gift cards, or other online methods. Other businesses have installed machines that sell Bitcoin. None of this was happening prior to the coronavirus. There were more coins used by the public. No business had signs asking customers to use online payments.
“Local Talk” did some research to find out whether there is indeed a national coin shortage or something else at work. What follows is the result of diligent research and putting facts together.
According to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Mint_coin_production, there were 14,957,870,000 coins, from cents to dollars, produced during 2021. Their total worth was $1,107,870,200. Of these, 7,908,620,000 were cents; 1,570,780,000 were nickels or five-cent coins; 2,830,250,000 were ten-cent coins or dimes; 2,632,600,000 were quarters or twenty-five cent coins; 13,100,000 were half-dollars or fifty-cent coins; and 2,520,000 were dollar coins.
For the year 2020, there were 14,774,400,000 coins minted, for a total worth of $1,132,479,000. Of these, 7,596,400,000 were cents; 1,623,100,000 were nickels; 2,778,500,000 were dimes; 2,768,000,000 were quarters; 5,700,000 were half-dollars; 2,660,000 were dollar coins.
From the above numbers it is clear that there is a shortage of half-dollars and dollar coins. The most commonly used coins are the cent, the nickel, the dime, and the quarter. Half dollars are not much used because of their large size. Coin collectors or numismatists, buy mint-state half-dollars from the mint or coin dealers for their collections. Dollar coins are widely disbursed by ticket vending machines across the country. Two examples are Pennsylvania Station in New York and New Jersey.
According to www.census.gov, the United States population on January 1, 2022 was 332,403,650 people. Statistically, this means there should be plenty of coins for everyone. 14,957,870,000 divided by 332,403,650 gives 45.044 or, rounded off, 45.04. And that is just for coins minted in 2021. When combined with the 2020 numbers, the result is even greater.
Simple math tells us that there should be at least 45 coins for every man, woman and child in the country. In other words, there should be an average of $3.33 for every person living in the United States. This number is obtained by dividing $1,107,820,000 by 332,403,650. Again, that is just the numbers for 2021 alone.
“Local Talk” went to several stores in Newark and South Orange to check whether they accepted cash, credit cards, debit cards or both. At the Wells Fargo Bank by the railroad station on South Orange Avenue, customers were limited to one roll of coins per person. There were also signs urging customers to bring in rolls of coins to the bank in order to alleviate the coin shortage.
Ashley’s Marketplace, located next door to the bank, accepted cash, credit cards and debit cards. So did many other larger sized businesses nearby. However, smaller businesses, such as Village News concession store, accepted only cash, no credit cards. It was the same at the University News convenience store, located on Irvington Avenue in South Orange.
Walgreens Pharmacy, located on Irvington Avenue in Newark, just opposite Ivy Hill Apartments complex, has signs informing customers of a coin shortage. Customers are urged to use credit card, debit card or gift cards in order to pay for purchases. The same signs state that cash is still being accepted.
Because of the coin shortage, the Internet is full of conspiracy theories that purport to explain the real reason for the shortage. One conspiracy theory says that the U.S. government wants to control everything that people purchase. By eliminating cash and using electronic purchase methods, the government can have greater control over peoples’ lives. This, per the theory, is done by controlling electronic purchases. For example, if a certain person is not liked, the government can block him/her/them from purchasing food, water, etc.
Another conspiracy theory says that controlling electronic purchasing is the key to gaining global dominance. With the various cash currencies eliminated, a single electronic currency, controlled by the governments, would take over. People would be restricted in their choices as the government would control financial resources, what they purchase, etc. Sort of like George Orwell’s “1984”, only far worse. Because in the age of computers, everything can be itemized, checked and given a number.
These conspiracy theories can be found on YouTube, right-wing shows like Alex Jones’ “Infowars”, Breitbart, and the like. However, across the nations of the world, various constitutions are still the law of the land. There are still large swathes of land where electronic purchasing has still not taken firm hold yet. Countries such as Afghanistan, North Korea, Zimbabwe, and many others still use physical currency.
Cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin have the obvious disadvantage that they cannot be seen or felt. Shady characters use cryptocurrencies because they are virtually impossible to trace, unlike physical currency. For this reason, physical currency such as dollars, euros, pesos, yuan, are still used worldwide.
The most likely explanation for the national shortage is that not enough people are spending coins. Instead, there is hoarding of coins. For example, during the Civil War of 1861-1865, coins disappeared from circulation. Enormous numbers of Civil War tokens made of copper, brass, silver, aluminum, even gold, took the place of national currency in 1862-1864. Only after Congress passed laws declaring Civil War tokens coinage and use illegal did things return to normal.
Would things return to normal once the coronavirus epidemic ends? This is the question asked by millions of people across the United States of America. With the crisis gone, the economy would rebound, and more coins would enter circulation. That is what millions of Americans are hoping and praying for.
