Ten News EXTRA: Coin Shortage💰
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Description
🤣 It's Saturday, which means The Ten News is getting EXTRA! 💰 This week it's the coin shortage edition. 🤑 Let's check in on an unexpected side effect of the Covid 19 pandemic we previously covered - the national coin shortage. 🐠 Then, visit an aquarium in North Carolina where they’ve figured out how to put their coins to good use. 🗺 Plus! What did two teenagers in Israel discover inside of an 1100 year old clay jar!?
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💰 Where are all the coins? The Federal Reserve can answer: Why Do U.S. Coins Seem to be in Short Supply?
✍️ Find a copy of the transcript for today's episode here
Transcript
Various voices 0:00
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2. 1
Bethany Van Delft 0:07
I'm Bethany Van Delft, and this is no ordinary episode of The Ten News. This is The Ten News gets extra. In today's deep dive edition, we're checking back in on one of the unexpected side effects of the COVID-19 pandemic: the national coin shortage we reported on a while back. So get ready for a deep dive under the couch cushions as The Ten News finds out what's up with the coin shortage.
Back when we were noticing signs of businesses asking for exact change, we had lots of questions about where all the coins had gone. And so did our friend Sammy, let's listen to how our correspondent Pamela Kirkland helped us find some answers.
Pamela 1:01
Do you have a piggy bank full of coins sitting at home? Well, that might be a problem. One unexpected side effect of the COVID-19 pandemic is it has plunged the nation into a national coin shortage. You may have seen signs at stores and restaurants asking people to pay with exact change only. It's something that's hurting businesses that need coins to operate every day.
A Kid 1:29
Why can't stores Just give me change?
Pamela 1:32
That's because coins aren't being spent as much as they would be. And banks that would usually give rolls of coins to restaurant, stores and other places are holding on to their share of coins too. Pennies, dimes, nickels and quarters aren't as available as they used to be.
A Kid 1:49
So why can't we just make some more coins?
Pamela 1:52
Well, the US Mint the place where coins are made, says it's not a supply issue. Earlier this year, the US Mint produced fewer coins than normal to keep their employees safe, but they're making as many coins as they can. A whopping 1.65 billion coins were minted in June. The problem is that we're holding all the coins in spare change drawers, or that one weird water jug your parents have that's full of pennies.
A Kid 2:24
What can kids do to help?
Pamela 2:26
The US Mint is asking if you'd think about breaking that piggy bank open to spend some of that change you've been saving, or head to one of those coin dispensers or a bank. They'll take your change and give you some crisp dollar bills to take home. And Fun fact, a coin can remain in circulation for up to 30 years, while paper bills are usually retired after only 18 months.
A Kid 2:51
Good bye!
Bethany Van Delft 2:55
Pamela also took us to an aquarium in North Carolina where the coin shortage wasn't a problem at all. In fact, they figure out a way to put their spare change to good use.
Liz Baird 3:12
My name is Liz Baird, and I'm the director of the North Carolina aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores, we have been closed to the public since mid March, we took advantage of not having the public here and have spent a lot of time refreshing paint on the walls and power washing the wooden railings at the front and really trying to make sure that when we are allowed to bring guests back that they are they are greeted with a sparkling clean and bright aquarium that may have a few new additions.
Pamela 3:48
And so I want to get to what you guys did in terms of emptying the waterfall?
Liz Baird 3:54
So when we decided to turn off the waterfall it was because we were looking at cost saving measures. And one of the ideas was to save electricity and water used by turning off the waterfall. And when somebody said hey, well if we're turning it off, why don't we clean it out? I thought that's a great idea. That's something we can't do very easily while we have the public here with us. So we spent the better part of a day and a half. shoveling buckets of coins and rocks and mud and strange things that have been dropped into the waterfall out of the bottom of the waterfall and then cleaning the coins and realizing that we had many more coins than I had ever imagined.
Pamela 4:38
So what was the grand total that you ended up collecting?
Liz Baird 4:42
The grand total was $8,563.71.
Pamela 4:50
That's amazing. Not bad for just cleaning out a water feature.
Liz Baird 4:54
Not bad at all. Of course it had not been cleaned out for nearly 15 years. So I it was really shocking to me. I was one of the folks who climbed down into the bottom of the waterfall to help dig coins out. And there were times that I was standing in, you know, four or five inches of coins.
Pamela 5:14
Wow. And so it's twofold. You're helping the country in the middle of a national coin shortage. And you're also helping the aquarium that's not getting as much funding right now, since it's close to the public. Thank you so much.
Liz Baird 5:29
Thank you so much, and I hope that you'll get a chance to come visit us and see our terrific exhibit.
Bethany Van Delft 5:36
So what's the status of the coin shortage now? Oh, no. Well, the government, businesses, banks and even coin collection companies got together to come up with a plan to boost coin production. In 2020, the federal government produced 14.8 billion Yes, billion coins. With all those new coins and shoppers spending cash and stores again, coin circulation is getting back to normal. I hear you oinking piggy bank, don't worry, your belly will be full soon enough.
Last summer, two teenagers in Israel unearthed an 1100 year old clay jar containing 425 ancient gold coins. Experts say the buried treasure discovered during an archeological dig would have been worth a small fortune at the time it was hidden. What's the takeaway? If you're going to hide something valuable, draw yourself a map so you can find it again. Mom, mom, have you seen my 1100 year old clay jar? It's got my gold coins in it. Mom! Time is up. But before we go, here's a quick note for the grownups because we love you to grownies! Want even more great content from The Ten News? Sign up for The Ten News newsletter, aka The Ten News letter. It's a free bi weekly email with even more stories to enjoy together and we made it easy for you. The link to join is in the show notes and on our website, TheTenNews.com. Thanks for listening to The Ten News. Look out for new episodes every Tuesday and Thursday. The Ten News is a co production of Small But Mighty Media and next chapter podcast and is distributed by I Heart Radio. Our editorial director is Tracy crooks editing and sound design by Andrew Hall and Pete Musto. Our creative producer is general Pascua. Steven Tompkins is our head of audience development. And our production assistant is Sarah Olins. correspondent Pamela Kirkland contributed to today's episode. Our production director is Jeremiah Tuttle, and The Ten News is executive produced by Donald Albright and show creator Tracy Leeds Kaplan. Special thanks to Ten-er Sammy for helping us out too. Do you want to be part of the show? We would love that! Record a question, a joke, or fun facts you want to share and email it to us at hello@thetennews.com and if you love the show and want to share it with your friends, go to your favorite podcast app and submit a rating and review. It really helps others find the show so they could join the fun. I am I'm Bethany Van Delft, and thanks for listening to The Ten News. Hasta la vista baby. Alright, well I'll see you soon. Bye
