Last month, there were a lot of very angry people in the United States. Countless numbers of them had been waiting a long time for this chance. There they sat, staring at a screen, hoping for the result they desired. Then, the majority saw it snatched away. Worse, some were led to believe they had won only to be let down in the end. Not surprisingly, this involved the US government.
The presidential election at the same time had nothing to do with that. The event was the sale of new US gold and silver Eagle coins honoring the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II. Those coins bore the standard Eagle designs but the US Mint added the indicia “V 75” inside a small oval of the reflecting pool at the WWII Memorial in Washington, DC. It was 75 years ago this year that the most heinous conflagration the world has known finally came to a close. Some who fought in the war are still alive today and deserve every recognition....
The reason behind the keen interest for these WWII 75th Anniversary Eagles had to do with the number being minted. For the silver version only 75,000 were made. In the world of silver Eagle collectors that’s a very low number. But, wait. To reflect the auspicious date of 1945 when the war ended, the Mint opted to strike a scant 1,945 of the gold one-ounce coins. That’s unheard of.
In the past, the Mint has struck very limited numbers of certain releases – as few as 10,000 commemorative coins. But commemoratives are different. As one coin dealer put it, equating commemorative coins collected by thousands of people to Eagles collected annually by millions is like comparing apples to rocks.
Last Thursday, when the WWII Eagle coins were slated to go on sale at noon Eastern Time, collectors, dealers and speculators waited by their computers. Due to the pandemic, no phone orders were allowed. As the clock ticked to “zero hour,” would-be buyers hoped to be one of the lucky few to place their order ahead of the hundreds of thousands of others. The clock struck twelve.
Those who were logged onto the Mint’s website frantically started hitting “Refresh” to get to the order page. The Mint’s website immediately became overloaded. Screen speeds slowed. Most buyers then saw the words, “Oops…Something went wrong” above another “Refresh” button. That was cute but of no comfort.
Collectors kept zealously re-trying – and for good reason. The Mint was selling the gold Eagle coin for $2,600 but some dealers were offering $4,100 to anyone who got one – an instant $1,500 profit.
For a fortunate few the “Order” page opened. Eureka! It asked for the buyers’ name, address and billing information. Against all odds, they had made the cut! For speculators it was like free money in their pockets. For collectors, it was assurance they were about to possess a very rare gold coin.
Not so fast. No good deed goes unpunished.
While filling out the information, most buyers saw the page have a hiccup. It asked to be refreshed. Uh-oh. Then, it asked the buyer to begin again. NOOOOO! Finally, in what had been less than 90 seconds, the page came back with the message, “We’re sorry, but this item is no longer available.” It was over. In a minute and a half – over. The coins were sold out. The same scenario played out to the millions trying to order the silver Eagle coin. Those silver one-ounce dollars had a selling price of $88 with dealers offering a $150 profit over and above that.
Yes, the soon-to-be perpetually famous election of 2020 has, for some, fomented anger and disappointment. So too for the great Eagle sale of 2020. The difference? Tens of millions of people are happy with the election results. Conversely, only 1,945 are happy with the gold coin sale and 75,000 satisfied with the silver. For the rest, it isn’t the best way to start a Christmas season. Humbug.
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