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CuproNickle
Penny Collector Member
444 Posts |
 Posted - 10/13/2009 : 17:22:20
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Anyone remember the penny shortages from the 1990's? I do. There was a bank near me that was paying .55 cents for every roll you cashed in (10% premium). I remember taking a bunch down there and getting enough profit to buy cheap lunch at the diner for me and the wife. Just posting this for fun.
http://denver.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/1999/08/02/story6.html
It got so bad at the beginning of July in some areas of the country that banks were begging their customers to raid their penny reserves and one bank in Norfolk, Va., purportedly was offering an extra 10 cents on the dollar to people who turned in pennies.
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PreservingThePast
Penny Hoarding Member
USA
697 Posts |
Posted - 10/13/2009 : 17:34:22
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No, I actually do not remember this change shortage at all. Wish I had as that would have been nice to be paid 1.1 cents for each penny.
I think I do remember one from the mid 1960s that Lady Bird Johnson encouraged everyone to turn in the change from piggy banks, sock drawers, etc. but I tried to Google for it and couldn't come up with any matches that showed that information. Anyone on here as old as me that might remember this one? |
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fb101
Moderator
USA
2241 Posts |
Posted - 10/13/2009 : 18:37:27
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I remember the '90s ones - I think there were a couple.
You know what's funny is the same thing came to my mind a couple of days ago. |
Edited by - fb101 on 10/13/2009 18:37:59 |
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dakota1955
Penny Hoarding Member
801 Posts |
Posted - 10/13/2009 : 19:34:47
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| I think we had one in the early 70's also. |
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chris6084
Penny Pincher Member
103 Posts |
Posted - 10/13/2009 : 19:59:25
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| I was just thinking of this yesterday, I remembered the shortages as well, and the 55 cent offer for rolls. I was wondering yesterday what caused it. Was there a spike in copper prices? There was no melt ban at the time, and if copper percentages was 50%+, if there were some industrial sorters, they may have made a dent in the penny supply. |
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HoardCopperByTheTon
Administrator
USA
5250 Posts |
Posted - 10/13/2009 : 20:32:53
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I remember the ones in the 90's and the one in the late 60's. The earlier one was a more severe shortage. Some grocery stores were paying up to $1 a roll for a short period. Of course there are no such deals now that I have plenty of pennies.. lol. I think the shortage was mostly caused by distribution problems, rather than a true shortage.  |
If your percentages are low.. just sort more. If your percentages are high.. just sort more.
Let me see if I understand this? If you cross the North Korean border illegally, you get 12 years hard labor; the Iranian border illegally you are detained indefinitely. If you cross the US border illegally, you get a driver’s license, a social security card, welfare, food stamps, free health care!
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El Dee
Penny Collector Member
USA
394 Posts |
Posted - 10/13/2009 : 21:00:38
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Look at mintage figures - LOTS of pennies minted in those years.
What Hoard said - getting enough of 'em to where they're needed in a timely fashion is the problem. People tend to accumulate pennies more than other coins, so fresh new ones are needed. |
Trust the government? Ask an Indian. |
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jadedragon
Administrator
Canada
2819 Posts |
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HoardCopperByTheTon
Administrator
USA
5250 Posts |
Posted - 10/14/2009 : 01:38:14
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| Probably not too much worry about a coin shortage right now.. now matter how hard our members work at creating one. |
If your percentages are low.. just sort more. If your percentages are high.. just sort more.
Let me see if I understand this? If you cross the North Korean border illegally, you get 12 years hard labor; the Iranian border illegally you are detained indefinitely. If you cross the US border illegally, you get a driver’s license, a social security card, welfare, food stamps, free health care!
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PreservingThePast
Penny Hoarding Member
USA
697 Posts |
 Posted - 10/14/2009 : 11:45:52
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Thinking about this from the past got a few of my grey matter cells bouncing around again. I was remembering back to the late 50s through the early 70s when my parents owned a small town grocery store. My parents always had change to take to the bank each week in their deposit, they didn't have to get change from the bank. It was always one of my favorite tasks to sit at the table on a Sunday afternoon and help my mom sort and roll coins to take to the bank. Guess this is in my blood, after all.
Jump forward to the early 80s to early 90s when my husband and I had our tackle store and we always had to get coins from our bank to have enough change to run our daily business. We never had coin to return to the bank in deposits.
Strange how the difference between the two businesses can be within just a few short years. And, they were located in the same county here in Central Florida so that wouldn't be a factor. My parents' business was all cash or in-store charges as my father allowed it. Our fishing tackle business did accept credit cards for awhile but that was just a minor percentage of sales, so that too should not be a factor.
Just something to ponder.  |
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Remember the Penny Shortages?
