#COVID-19 causing a nationwide coin shortage: Mnuchin

Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin says the country is facing a persistent coin shortage due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Mnuchin told House lawmakers on Friday that the US Mint is scrambling to address the issue as banks and businesses run out of change.

“As a result of COVID, a lot of the coinage is stuck,” said Mnuchin, confirming reports that food stores, retail giants like Walmart and pharmacies lack coins.

“We are working very closely with the Mint and the Federal Reserve on the coin shortage and the Mint is working overtime,” Mnuchin said.

Mnuchin said that the Treasury Department is “working on a public messaging [campaign],” but he did not say what the message is.

Mnuchin was asked about the shortage by Republican Rep. Pete Stauber of northern Minnesota, as the coin crunch is felt across the country.

A Walmart spokesperson told NPR this week that “like most retailers, we’re experiencing the [effects] of the nationwide coin shortage. We’re asking customers to pay with card or use correct change when possible.”

At the same time, the southeast Wisconsin-based Community State Bank offered to pay customers $5 for every $100 worth of coins they bring to a branch location.

In late June the Federal Reserve established a Coin Task Force to determine how to better distribute physical money. According to the Fed, there are plenty of coins but people don’t appear to be using them.

“While there is adequate coin in the economy, the slowed pace of circulation has meant that sufficient quantities of coin are not readily available where needed,” the Fed said. “With establishments like retail shops, bank branches, transit authorities and laundromats closed, the typical places where coin enters our society have slowed or even stopped the normal circulation of coin.”