US mint press release about anniversay set not adding up

packers88

They are claiming that about 27,000 orders constituted the 100,000 sets at 5:00 est. Now according to the message boards the first order was placed around the (xx324,000) 24,000 mark and at 5:00 posters were claiming that their order just got in and they were around 78,000 mark (xx378,000), so according to the message boards here it took about 54,000 orders to get to the waiting list status whereas the US Mint is claiming it only took 27,000 orders. SOmething is not adding up here and I realize other stuff could have been ordered that day, but was someone really going to sit at a computer for 3 hours to order all the order US Mint garbage, I mean would have to assume that 99% of the US Mint orders that day (between 12:00 and 5:00 pm) had to be for 2011 anniversary sets. Any opinions on what is going on here?

derryb

some of the 54,000 orders were cancelled by buyers because they inadvertently placed more than one order due to the website confusion. Those that didn't remove their excess orders had them removed by the US Mint. It is possible that a large number of buyers were not even aware their order got through more than once and that the mint removed the excess. I'm sure this doesn't account for all of the discrepancy.

GMan

You're assuming the mint uses sequential numbering on their orders. We don't know if that is the case.

PinkFloyd

Ms.Morrisine has the best grip on "phantom orders," though I would venture to say some of those order numbers are phantoms that never turned into an actual purchase. Also, other things were probably purchased that day, but they couldn't have amounted to much because it was so difficult to get into the system. Still, 27,000 seems a bit low.

JamesMurray

If the majority of orders were dealers and flippers ordering 5 sets it adds up.

acloco

I believe the 27K number is probably spot on. Average of 3 sets per order.

droopyd

<< <i>I believe the 27K number is probably spot on. Average of 3 sets per order. >>



Closer to 4 actually (3.7 sets per order) if this number is to be believed.

JCMhouston

It sounds like a conspiracy to me.

TWQG

I think they're still sold out.

derryb

<< <i>I think they're still sold out. >>


Might just be a calculator error and there's still 10,000 sets left to sell.

dlmtorts

Can you post a link to the press release? I can't find it.

Dollar2007

<< <i>Can you post a link to the press release? I can't find it. >>



I think it was this article in Coinworld, not a press release per say. CoinWorld

Justacommeman

<< <i>I think they're still sold out. >>





MJ

shorecoll

I don't know what it is, but I'll bet it took at least a day to figure it out. My cart crashed 5 times, 3 times the cart emptied, 2 times it didn't. I got my 5 and an e-mail acknowedgement and there were still 5 sitting in my cart as of yesterday and I'm not touching it until I get my 5. I am paranoid that if I delete the 5 sitting in my cart, it will actually delete my order.

Goldbully

<< <i>

<< <i>Can you post a link to the press release? I can't find it. >>



I think it was this article in Coinworld, not a press release per say. CoinWorld >>



Thanks for the link....very interesting stuff!!!


Silver 25th Anniversary set sells out in hours
Customers report sluggish website, phone lines

By Paul Gilkes-Coin World Staff | Oct. 31, 2011 7:50 a.m.
Article first published in 2011-11-14, U.S. Collectibles section of Coin World

Sold out!

The United States Mint sold out its complement of 100,000 2011 American Eagle 25th Anniversary Silver Coin sets in less than five hours during the opening day of sales Oct. 27. Sales began online and by phone at noon Eastern Time. The sets were offered at $299.95 per set.

Tom Jurkowsky, director of the U.S. Mint’s Office of Public Affairs, said the morning of Oct. 28 that the Mint had received sufficient orders to exhaust the maximum allocation of sets. Those placing orders were limited to five sets per household.

A sales report as of 5 p.m. Eastern Time Oct. 27 indicated that the orders placed by that time represented 100,709 sets, Jurkowsky said. A waiting list for excess orders was put in place and will be filled in the order received should any earlier orders be canceled because of expired credit cards, duplicate orders or other problem that would negate the order, he said.

The 100,709 sets represented a total of 27,254 orders, an average of 3.7 sets per order. Of the 5 p.m. total, 22,413 orders were placed online and 4,841 by telephone. The online orders represented 84,168 sets, with the remaining 16,541 sets ordered by telephone.

Mint website slow, but stable

While some collectors contacting Coin World claimed the Mint website, www.usmint.gov, crashed during the sales period, the website was sluggish but did not crash, Jurkowsky said. Jurkowsky said the Mint’s information technology personnel continually executed patchwork fixes to keep the system up and running. The entire online sales system for the Mint is scheduled to be completely overhauled in 2012. Mint officials expect the upgrades to eliminate the problems the Mint has encountered when limited edition products are offered.

Mint customers reported trying multiple approaches while attempting to place their orders.

Some tried accessing the Mint website using multiple web browsers on their computers. Some used mobile devices such as cell phones and iPads to successfully place an order.

For those attempting to purchase by telephone, customers reported it often took multiple calls before reaching a customer service representative. At least one customer trying to place a phone order was greeted with the message that the call might be monitored, followed by a busy signal.

No matter the method used, some collectors reported spending hours attempting to place an order, either successfully or unsuccessfully.

Circumventing sales limits

Although the Mint imposed a five-set-per-household limit on the sets, applicable to collectors and dealers alike, some buyers apparently circumvented the limitation. Coin World received multiple complaints from collectors about people using various techniques to order more than the maximum five sets, including using different credit cards and shipping addresses. Similar comments were registered over online coin forums.

Dealers used various strategies to acquire sets for their inventory. One, Modern Coin Mart in Florida, sent an email Oct. 25 to customers on its subscriber list offering to pay $360 for each set obtained, or a $60.05 profit per set, as long as the price remained at $299.95 from the Mint. The firm also offered to pick up the cost of shipping and insurance, up to a $35 total, if five or more sets were being shipped within two days of receipt from the Mint (otherwise it was the responsibility of the shipper to pay shipping and insurance costs).

Even before the sale began, dealers were offering premiums for the sets and pre-sale offerings were found on eBay (see this week’s Market Analysis, Page 38).

Shipping

Shipping of the 100,000 sets was scheduled to begin in mid-November, since all of the coins for the sets had been struck at three different facilities weeks before sales began.

The sets, assembled at the San Francisco Mint, comprise:

➤ One Proof 2011-W coin bearing the W Mint mark of the West Point Mint in New York.

➤ One Reverse Proof 2011-P coin struck at the Philadelphia Mint with the P Mint mark.

➤ One Uncirculated 2011-S coin struck with the S Mint mark of the San Francisco Mint.

➤ One Uncirculated 2011-W coin struck at the West Point Mint.

➤ One bullion coin struck without a Mint mark at the San Francisco Mint, identical to all of the other 2011 bullion coins.

The Reverse Proof and 2011-S coins are unique to the set. The maximum mintage of 100,000 pieces for each will make them among the lowest mintage American Eagle silver dollars.

jessewvu

I think the us mint gives you an order number as soon as you start to place an order.

Have you ever tried to call in at 11:55 and add items to your cart with the operator until noon? The order essentially starts when you add the first item to your cart and if you add something to your cart after noon, no dice. I would guess there a lot of folks that had multiple computers open and only got partially complete until one made the order.

It only a thought, but would make sense.

MsMorrisine

<< <i> Jurkowsky said the Mint’s information technology personnel continually executed patchwork fixes to keep the system up and running. >>



I think we have an addition to Downfall...

MsMorrisine

I just checked and have had sequential order numbers in the past.