The American Eagle 25th Anniversary Silver Coin Set went on sale Thursday, October 27, at noon ET and quickly sold out with buyers grabbing all 100,000 by around 4:30 p.m. At a price of $299.95 each, plus $4.95 for shipping and handling, that means the United States Mint pulled in more than $30 million in just a few hours.
In order to maximize sales in the event of cancellations or problem orders, the United States Mint implemented its "waiting list" option, enabling customers to continue to place orders for the sold out sets with the knowledge that, and in the Mint's own words:
"If a product becomes available due to an order cancellation, we will fulfill orders from the waiting list on a first-in, first-served basis. We cannot provide information about your position on the waiting list."
Most collectors who purchased the 25th Anniversary Silver Coin Set had their work cut out for them while doing so. The United States Mint's website was up and down for hours and its phone systems constantly busy. The Mint indicated that they had processed some 25,000 orders in the first hour alone, and also apologized to customers for the difficulties they experienced.
"We apologize to those of you having difficulty getting through to place orders for the 2011 American Eagle 25th Anniversary Silver Coin Set. Our ordering system has been running at capacity -- in fact, orders were placed for approximately 25,000 sets during the first hour of sales," the United States Mint said on Facebook.
"We are committed to improving your online ordering experience and have recently awarded a contract that will result in a new, state of art order management system. We appreciate your continued patience and understanding as we work toward implementing this new system in 2012."
As described in a previous article, the 25th Anniversary Silver Coin Set includes the following five items:
American Eagle Silver Uncirculated Coin -- mint mark of "W" for West PointAmerican Eagle Silver Proof Coin -- mint mark of "W" for West PointAmerican Eagle Silver Reverse Proof Coin -- mint mark of "P" for PhiladelphiaAmerican Eagle Silver Bullion Coin -- no mint markAmerican Eagle Silver Uncirculated Coin -- mint mark of "S" for San FranciscoTo get on the 25th Anniversary Silver Coin Set waiting list, visit the Mint's online ordering page at: http://catalog.usmint.gov/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10001&storeId=10001&productId=16626&langId=-1&parent_category_rn=31238.
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American Eagle 25th Anniversary Silver Coin Sets ShippingAmerican Eagle 25th Anniversary Silver Coin SetTagged as: American Eagle Silver Coins, United States Mint
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