Coin shortage

There seems to be either a real or perceived scarcity of coinage around here, so much so that stores will post hand written signs that declare exact payment, no tengo monedas. That being said, I’ve had great luck in obtaining lots of coinage and used them on the buses and subway. Yes I took the subway one day and navigated that fine but I was a little disoriented when I came up and got lost. Some friends were beside themselves when I gave them $4 in change saying I had no idea how easy I just made their lives. I figure because they are hard-core backpackers and couch surfers and they don’t usually buy things or something. Currently in my wallet I have 5 $1 pesos and thats not counting what I have upstairs. Of course, some of them won’t work on the bus as there is some kind of fake ones going around, not sure. Lots of funny stuff going on with the money here. The banks, only allowing to withdraw $600 pesos at a time (thats less than $200) in the name of them wanting to hoard people’s cash I suppose. It only makes me upset in that I am charged $5 USD for each transaction. Of course I can go to many ATM’s in a day but its a little pricey @ 5 bucks a pop.