US Mint Sales: Gold Coins Slower Amidst Market Volatility, Suspensions, Higher Prices

Comments

1. Leo S. says:
   August 30, 2011 at 11:56 am

   Michael,

   I ordered a GC 5 oz back on the 9th and keep getting a delivery date that keeps jumping one day ahead everyday I check on it. Now the sales report states that the Mint has sold 700+ more coins than they have minted. Can you explain what is going on and will my order that is on the books for almost a month be cancelled?

   Leo S.
2. CaptainOverkill says:
   August 30, 2011 at 12:14 pm

   With the announcement of the 25th anniversary silver eagle set and the concurrent price increase of silver eagles, I am expecting sales of the proof silver eagle to crater from here to year’s end except in the event of a massive runup in the price of silver, similar to what we had in April.

   I likewise think sales of the uncirculated silver eagle are going to be very low – why buy it when you can get the anniversary set?

   I’m also stunned at the Grand Canyon accepting 774 orders over the 27K limit. Is someone asleep at the switch at the Mint, or have they just decided to quietly Mint more GCs for some reason?
3. Coin Update Staff says:
   August 30, 2011 at 12:24 pm

   Leo,

   I am really not sure what the Mint is doing with the Grand Canyon coins. I ordered another GC when I ordered my Mount Hood. The MH shipped and the GC continues to show backordered.

   With the Yosemite release, they inadvertently put up the waiting list notice well before a sell out. This time, they are continuing sales well after the sell out (based on the figures they are reporting).

   I don’t think they could have made more than the 27,000, since all production had to legally be completed before the end of the 2010 calendar year.
4. mbound1 says:
   August 30, 2011 at 3:52 pm

   For those folks interested in the 5oz ATB’s, it appears today the mint disclosed the next collector’s version availability. The mint’s website shows that Gettysburg (#6 in the series, the first 2011 date for sale so far) will be available starting 9/22/11.
5. Two Cents says:
   August 30, 2011 at 4:20 pm

   In the past couple of weeks, customers may have been returning the Grand Canyon 5-oz. coins back for refunds, and cancelling their unfilled orders. For some reason, the Mint has not been able to immediately reconcile the returns/cancellations with the sales (different computer systems?).

   The number of returns/cancellations may be coming in so quickly and in such large numbers, that the Mint simply doesn’t know what is the net amount of remaining coins for sale, and it needs to wait until everything is sorted out. I expect to see the Mint cancelling a lot of orders in the near future after they get a handle on the situation.

   What the Mint could do is set up a Waiting List, and take orders that way, while waiting to see if they have enough coins to send out. Then customers will not expect their orders to be fulfilled only to be disappointed when they are cancelled by the Mint.
6. John says:
   August 30, 2011 at 5:24 pm

   What about being dissapointed with getting my or somebody elses return? The poor quality GC coins that have been returned should be melted not resold. Then a mintage of below 27k would make the coin more desirable.
7. Jim says:
   September 1, 2011 at 8:29 pm

   I agree with John. I initially ordered a second GC coin when I ordered a MH. When I saw that they were oversold I cancelled my GC coin. I had previously returned a Yosemite coin due to a flaw in the field. Has anyone noticed the detail finish on the $5 gold eagle proof? I received one a few weeks ago and examined it thru a 10x loop. It looks like a dot matrix finish on Liberty. I compared it to earlier year eagles and there is a considerable decline in finish quality.

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