U.S. Mint Ups Coin Production to Circumvent Shortage

According to the New York Times, the U.S. Mint is upping its coin production after shortages of coins have been reported in the U.S. as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

On June 15, the Federal Reserve had first implemented quotas for distribution locations to further protect its coin inventories, which were running low. As a result, banks and other distributors of coins received less than what they ordered or even less than their usual allotments, according to the Times. Especially businesses are routinely turning to banks in order to receive coins and other tender to fill up their registers.

Chair of the Fed, Jerome Powell, said that closures of parts of the economy due to COVID-19 were responsible for disrupting the normal flow of coins through the system.

According to numbers by the U.S. Mint, coin production for circulation has actually decreased during the last couple of years and because of COVID-19 restrictions for Mint workers, has had some particularly slow months in the first half of 2020. In the second half of 2020, the Mint expects production increases to 1.2 billion coins in June and 1.35 billion coins per month for the rest of the year– which would add up to a projected total of 14.2 billion coins produced in 2020.

Members of the public who want to deposit coins into their banks to aid circulation can do so. They can also aid businesses and those who cannot operate without coins by paying electronically whenever possible.