Eyeless on Campus: PANDEMIC PRATTLE-- Coin Shortage Scandal--EOC/2020 EXCLUSIVE

Italy, 1975: "...shopkeeper surreptitiously showed the shopper the cash drawer devoid of coins..."

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Incline Village (EOC) -- Yet another unique variable of the virus sweeping the nation is the overnight disappearance of small change, a convenience, and an inconvenience, taken for granted just six months ago. Now it's become a mild nightmare. Stores are refusing to allow cash purchases and in reverse, are now limiting cash back on purchases. Media reports any number of reasons for the pocket change shortfall and the immediate report is that the Mint has cut back on production. (1)

The story seems to have no legs there unless a closer look at previous coin shortages offers alternative explanations, and room for the conspiracy trolls on social media to send up a red flare.

Even before the Civil War, valuable metals in short supply created demand for the "shinplaster," a paper substitute of small denomination that many at the time considered worthless. (2) The problem carried over into the War Between the States. The scarcity of metal prevailed during World War I as reported in the Miami Herald at the time;

"There is a great scarcity of copper coin in France, and it is more than suspected that much of this cupriferous commodity has found its way to Germany, where it is used in the manufacture of munitions of war." (3)

A coin shortage in Egypt in October, 1941 resulted in the arrest of "several speculators, chiefly small-time money changers" for selling coins higher than their face value. (4) A similar situation arose about that same time in Cuba that was offset by using cellophane wrapped stamps. (5)

One year after Pearl Harbor, it wasn't foreign governments out to cause a small change panic, but the Treasury indirectly blamed the nation's kids for a conspiracy to loot the coins from circulation, as reported in the Pennsylvania Republican and Herald;

"Washington, Dec. 7 (UP) --The Treasury wants 30,000,000 school children to smash their piggy banks today and put their pennies and nickels back into circulation. The Treasury has sent letters to state, county and city school superintendents urging them to organize 'coin round-ups' to help meet the shortage of small change." (6)

From the archives, it appears a shortage of copper, nickel and silver, along with hoarding, persisted throughout World War II. The most serious numismatic shortfall occurred in the early Sixties. The rise of the vending machine was partly to blame as coins, once deposited for sodas and candy bars, would remain out of circulation for weeks until collected (7)

In 1975, a strike at the Canadian mint in Ottawa placed that nation at a severe coin shortage, also related to money being used for "vending machines, parking meters, pay telephones and cookie jars." (8) That same year, some had seriously considered that precious metal shortages in relation to minted small change might be related to a conspiracy in Italy.

Victor Simpson reporting for the Associated Press in The Wilkes-Barre Times-Leader in 1975 reported with a dateline out of Rome that the coin shortage there was related to other than basic economics;

"One newspaper suggested the coin shortage was a plot by a subversive group trying to make citizens lose faith in the ability of their government to run the country." (9)

Other stories blamed it on Japanese watch makers needing the raw materials for watchmaking. In a rather startling expose of just how far the coin shortage led to extremes in Italy back then, Ray Jones, a Pennsylvania Sentinel correspondent, had this to say about how shopkeepers handled the crisis;

"The shopper, of course, always needs a few extra coins in case he needs bus money home...The storekeeper, in turn, always wants a few extra coins to make change on large purchases or for regular customers. The duplicity which results is an interesting, if slightly tragic commentary on human behavior...The average storekeeper has two cash drawers, one (usually devoid of coins) for public display and one with a coin 'reserve' . " (10)

Jones explains further that the shopper had to show his wallet to indicate he had no coins and the shopkeeper surreptitiously showed the shopper the cash drawer devoid of coins.

The coronavirus pandemic has created unprecedented situations and challenges for the world in 2020, one of which is the ongoing coin shortage. Current theories are in line to a certain degree with historical similar shortages. Current coin compositions can be found at the US Mint website. (11) Most contain copper and nickel with a balance of zinc and manganese; the nickel itself is 25 percent "Ni." A world nickel shortage since 2019, as reported by Reuters, indicates the high-demand for the chemical element and a vital component in manufacture of electric vehicles. An article in June by Tim Treadgold in Forbes points the finger, yet again, at China, for a "hidden stockpiling" of the commodity, (13) Certainly, with the help of a few reports as this and some serious investigating query by social media conspiracy hawks, it wouldn't take much to discover the true reason for the coin shortage. And don't forget to include General Motors and Elon Musk in those theories.

Footnotes:

"prattle" /'pradl/ -- talk at length in a foolish or inconsequential way

Cited

(1) Shortage, https://www.masslive.com/news/2020/07/a-strange-effect-of-the-coronavirus-pandemic-coin-shortage-leaving-stores-banks-begging-for-loose-change.html

(2) Shinplaster, The Raleigh Weekly Standard, 06 May 1840, Page 1.

(3) Copper, The Miami Herald, 09 Dec 1915, Page 4.

(4) Egypt, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 24 Oct 1941, Page 33

(5) Cuba, New Jersey Herld-News, 13 Nov 1941, Page 32

(6) Coin Round-Ups, Pennsylvania Republican and Herald, 7 Dec 1942, Page 1.

(7) Vending Machines, The Kansas City Star, 26 June 1960, Page 131.

(8) Canada, The BC Times, 21 Jan 1975, Page 2.

(9) Plot, Wilkes-Barre Times Leader, 30 July 1975, Page 20.