The COVID‐​19 Coin Shortage: Causes, Responses, and Lessons

Without coins to make change, many businesses had no choice but to turn away cash transactions. For some businesses, that meant having no business.

COVID‐​19 altered almost every facet of the human experience in 2020. For those who were lucky, living rooms became offices, cocktail hours went virtual, and spare time was spent exploring new passions. But others suffered: hundreds of thousands of people died, millions became unemployed, and even more were left uncertain about their future. All the while, smaller inconveniences multiplied. Of these, the most unexpected was a serious coin shortage in the summer of 2020.

This article first documents the severity of the COVID‐​19 coin shortage. It then describes how coins normally circulate and how the failure of this circulation led to the shortage. Next it discusses the federal government and private sector responses. Finally, it draws lessons for avoiding future coin shortages.

Read the full article in the Fall 2021 edition of the Cato Journal.