Obviously the big boys at the newspapers in this country have no need of ever trying to buy a sandwich in a company automat.
Due to the business downturn, and vastly improved productivity, fewer folks buy lunch or dinner at the company automat so fewer coins are needed. When employment rises more people will need to buy lunch or dinner and the demand for coins will increase.
Most of these automats continuously recycle the coins so this storage problem never happens. However, it's a derivative of the Great Obama Recession, not of stupidity at the Mint ~ although there is that too.
I like the machines with the dollar bill changers, don’t you?
These days lots of those machines take paper money, and some even take credit cards. A couple of years ago, I bought a newspaper at the DFW airport on my AX card. I think it's the last newspaper I've bought — for cash or credit.