The national coin shortage has been an unusual side effect of the pandemic. Its at the minimum an inconvenience...at worst its a business challenge," said Brian Wallace, CEO of the Coin Laundry Association, a trade group for laundromats. I had no idea or even crossed my mind that there could be a coin shortage." For the North Carolina Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores, a shutdown in March turned into an unexpected opportunity to help offset lost revenue and ended up helping address the coin shortage too . So she wrote a note: Dear tooth fairy, you may already know this but there is a national coin shortage in America.

Why are coins hard to find during the pandemic? The Federal Reserve has seen a significant decline of coins in circulation because people are not spending them as regularly at businesses, many of which are either temporarily closed or not accepting cash. But in recent months, people have not been spending those coins at places like laundromats, banks, restaurants, or shops because the businesses are closed, or people are not visiting them as often as they were before the pandemic. The Federal Reserve has encouraged banks to order only the coins they need and to make depositing coins easy for customers. One Wisconsin bank system offered its customers a $5 bonus for every $100 in coins they brought into exchange at a branch.