No, really. The United States is in the midst of a nationwide coin shortage brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, making life difficult for banks, retailers and anyone who regularly pays with cash. The US Mint, which is in charge of producing new money to replenish the country's supply, is working on addressing the issue, and now it's asking Americans to help out, too. The Mint is asking people to pay with exact change and to find other ways to return coins they may have lying around to circulation, it said in a press release Thursday. "We ask that the American public start spending their coins, depositing them, or exchanging them for currency at financial institutions or taking them to a coin redemption kiosk," the Mint said in the release. "The coin supply problem can be solved with each of us doing our part."Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell spoke about the coin shortage during a virtual hearing with the House Financial Services Committee last month. He explained that since more people have been staying home, shopping online and avoiding physical currency because of the pandemic, the normal flow of coins through the economy was interrupted. "The places where you go to give your coins, and get credit at the store and get cash … those have not been working. Stores have been closed," he said. "The whole system has kind of come to a stop."The US Mint also briefly slowed coin production to implement safety measures for workers, though it says it resumed regular production in mid-June. In response, the Fed convened a US Coin Task Force to work on restoring the coin supply chain. And in the meantime, companies have come with ways to manage — some retailers have warned customers they may not be able to receive change in coins and Read More – Source
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