No need for scare quotes; it was (still is?) a real thing. My local rural grocery store has had a hard time getting coins for making change basically since covid started.

they aren't scare quotes, we just never got a good explanation for why there was a shortage, aside from some vague hand-waving about covid.

A super quick search on google reveals two causes:

- The US mint slowed production to protect workers

- The shutdowns slowed circulation of existing coins

Given that a large percentage of coins are irredeemably damaged or lost each year (I once knew a particularly spoiled college student who would simply throw change away rather than deal with keeping them) it doesnt seem like much explanation is owed beyond that.

and all of this right as the Federal Reserve is looking at making a digital dollar, what're the odds