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U.S. Mint Sells Out Current Stock of 2016 Mercury Dime Centennial Gold Coin

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By Hubert Walker for Coinweek News Staff ….
 

Less than an hour after it was made available to the public by the United States Mint, the new 2016 Mercury Dime Centennial Gold Coin was already on “Unavailable”. When the ordering period for the gold coin, issued for $205, opened at noon Eastern Time, thousands of buyers flooded the U.S. Mint website. While there were no reports of delays on the website, the new coin had officially reached “Backorder” status by 12:15 PM. By 12:45, the status had changed to “Unavailable.”

This means that all available inventory has been allotted to fill the present number of orders. While a coin listed as “Unavailable” doesn’t necessarily mean it has sold out, in many cases supplies of popular new-release coins will be exhausted on the day of issue.

CoinWeek is awaiting confirmation from the U.S. Mint as to whether the coin has officially sold out and will update this story when the status of the 2016 Mercury Dime Centennial Gold Coin can be conformed.

obverse, 2016 Mercury Dime Gold CoinThe 2016 gold Mercury dime has a mintage limit of 125,000 pieces and household ordering limits are currently placed at 10 pieces.

The 2016 Mercury Dime Centennial Gold Coin honors the 100th anniversary of the first Mercury dimes, minted in 1916. The dime’s original design by Adolph A. Weinman serves as the basis for the new coin, although design adjustments had to be made due to legal requirements and other practicalities. This includes the West Point (“W”) mintmark and the AU/gold markings listed as AU 24K 1/10 OZ. under the motto E PLURIBUS UNUM. Both features are found on the reverse.

Nevertheless, the 2016-W gold Mercury dime commemorative coin measures close to the same width as a regular Mercury dime (16.5 millimeters compared to the original’s 17.9) even though it contains one-tenth an ounce of gold – a symbolic nod to the dime’s 10-cent denomination.

CoinWeek reached out to the U.S. Mint for comment on when or if they expect the order status of the 2016 Mercury Dime Centennial gold coin to change. We will continue to provide updates on this developing story.

Hubert Walker
Hubert Walker
Hubert Walker has served as the Assistant Editor of CoinWeek.com since 2015. Along with co-author Charles Morgan, he has written for CoinWeek since 2012, as well as the monthly column "Market Whimsy" for The Numismatist and the book 100 Greatest Modern World Coins (2020) for Whitman Publishing.

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47 COMMENTS

  1. You are in error, there were all sorts of website problems with the overload. I personally experienced these probs for 45 minutes, before they shut it down

    • Hi Gary,

      At the time the article was written, we hadn’t heard any reports from customers regarding their experiences ordering the gold Mercury from the website today. Thank you for sharing yours.

      • Unfortunately this is nothing new. It was like this with the Roosevelt Coin and Chronicle Set. You would think the mint would invest some money or limit the quantity available so regular collectors could have a chance. I won’t be buying from them next year because it is not worth the frustration. Collecting is supposed to be fun.

      • I also had two other friends who did not succeed in getting on the site. I simply call it a “tidal wave”. From 11:00 to about 11:20 (central), the website was “unavailable”, ie, swamped. From about 11:20 to 11:40, I got on the site, put two gold mercs in my shopping cart, and got all the way to check the box that says “I agree”. Web simply would not accept the mouse click “check”. I tried perhaps twenty times, went back to top, etc., no luck. I was hoping maybe the order went thru, but no such luck. Its just a flooded web site with very heavy demand. We will all hope they only sold off 25,000 or so coins in this first round. I saw an ebay listing for $2,7000, goodness.

  2. I also experienced problems with the website. I was on prior to noon updating my account and looking at some of the site’s features and there was not problem with speed or functioning. As soon as noon hit the website immediately became unresponsive. The website kept losing connection and acting sluggish. It was worse than web browsing on an old dial up modem. It took me about seven tries and fifteen minutes to place an order. I felt lucky once it finally went through.

  3. Resellers are already gouging people on ebay. Some have listed available quanitities well above the limit of 10. Another big fail by the mint IMHO.

  4. I also experienced multiple problems with the US Mint website for the first 15 minutes or so. I was kicked out of the site several times in 3 different web browsers before I was able to successfully place my orders for the new Mercury 24K Gold Coin. The good news is according to my US Mint account order history, it looks like all of my orders were accepted and are being processed.

    • Lucky you. I had to turn to Ebay to get one. The guy had over 15 available so somehow these guys are flooding the system with multiple buys. Last year I called and complained to the Mint and they acted like I was inconveniencing them. I was buying 2 each of all their offerings. As a result I dropped all my subscription down to 1. Next year will be zero. But they are selling out so I’m sure they see no need to even fix their website to handle the load…

      • Bart, I have to tell you that I received an email from a business (that I previously bought a coin from) that offered their clients $25 per coin if we bought these from the mint and “resold” it to them . That’s probably how they get more than 10 to sell.

  5. Please remember the launch of Obama Health Plan,
    This is a government web site.
    A business could not function this way and stay in business.
    Sorry about the sarcasms.

    • Exactly true. A business in the real world would not survive under the “quality standards” of our fed gummint (ha, not too bad of a pun). You have no reason to apologize, anybody who follows our fed govt should be livid with them, not apologizing. Altho, the US mint actaully rates quite high w respect to the various gummint agencies. I also give good grades to NOAA and USPS (the workers in the trenches, not the policy makers).

      That said, nobody’s gonna get canned at the mint for any probs w this release, they are all gonna get a paycheck next week, and they don’t have to fool w obamacare.

  6. What diameter is the coin really? I know what the article says it is, here and in other articles, but the US Mint website states the diameter as something different. I’d put the actual size here, but think the author should do that task.

    • The article was already corrected to say the coin’s diameter is 16.50 millimeters, per the specifications listed on the U.S. Mint website.

  7. I was disconnected about 10 times trying to purchase my two coins. I had to re-enter my cc info 3 times even though my info was stored in my account. The sale went through after about 8 minutes thanks to quick typing on my part. I think there was a slight gap in orders and mine was luckily timed in the gap. Funny thing is the cc I entered was not the one that was ultimately billed.

    It’s a shame that luck plays such a part in ordering from the mint’s website.

    I too hate that the scalpers seem to always beat the system leaving us little guys with the scraps. The mint doesn’t care since they still sell all their product…and processing orders for 10 or more coins costs them less effort and manpower than 10 separate sales.

      • Usually it is cheaper paying the mint up charge, as opposed to paying the secondary market up charge. I would rather get them from the source, through the mail.

  8. I logged on, ordered 10 and about 10 minutes later, saw they were on back order. Had no problem whatsoever ordering these. Neither did a friend of mine. Only took 1 try for both of us. I’m sure many “collectors” or “non flippers” got theirs.

    Quit crying about how it’s hard for true collectors now-a-days. Not true

  9. I mean, I’m sure lots of people missed out, but “you snooze, you lose”. I was ready for this. Made sure my cc# was already attached to my mint website account. Filled out a profile with my shipping and billing address all last night.

    I basically logged on, put 10 coins in my cart, clicked confirm and BAM! Done. Took less than 2 minutes.

      • Your bitterness is palpable. Avoid bitterness, people–it’s an unappealing character trait.

        Some of us have real jobs where we work all day using computers connected to the Internet, which we’re allowed to make use of for occasional non-work purposes. That doesn’t make us any better or worse than anyone, just, in an instance like this, luckier than those who don’t have that luxury.

        And believe it or not, some people bought 10 of these coins not with an intent to flip, but because they like the idea of owning an ounce of gold in this form.

        Basically if your order went through for the number of coins you wanted, you’re happy, and glad that there was a limited (albeit high) mintage. If you missed out, you think they should have minted to demand.

  10. I ordered two and received a confirmation by email with little issue. Now I’m waiting to see if the quality is worth the high premium.

  11. At 11:00AM CDT I refreshed the screen and started placing my order for 10 of these great little coins, one third of the way through the ordering process the site crashed, so I hit my blue back-up tab to recapture the US Mints ordering screen. This occurred two more times along the way, I was finally able to place my order and had e-mail confirmation by 11:09AM. I should be able to cut this time in half when the Standing Liberty Quarter launches, now that I know what to expect. I hope my post helped you. Any tips would be welcome.

    • Hi, Here is an update. It has been one week since I placed my order for these historic coins. They were shipped today and will arrive tomorrow 4/29/16. That’s one day UPS shipping for just $4.95. This was an awesome experience. I have my fingers crossed that two will grade MS70PL and the rest MS70’s by PCGS. I will let you know how they really grade.

  12. Its all for just the dealers. Actual collectors are at work or school at these sale times. By allowing 10 per house hold you killed any chance of a collector buying one. Hell can freeze over before i buy one from a dealer Im sure HSN will have 50 or a100 to sell. Your killing it for collectors.

  13. Yeah, the mint is trying to push out the “real collectors” and do all of this for dealers.
    They also put tracking devices in all of the coins, too, so that when the government tries to take back all of the gold, they know where it is.

    It’s almost as if all of these people complaining are actually trying to discourage others so there is less competition, when flipping coins.

    I’d consider myself a “real collector”. I ordered these when I was at work. Told my boss about a week ago that this was important and that I would need a few minutes to order them. It’s all about being prepared, people. I thought this was all very well done by the US Mint. And they made a killing on them. Lets just hope the coins are nice!

    People were saying just 24 hours ago “ahhh, the mintage is too high! It’ll never sell out!!!”. This is the first Winged Liberty Dime in decades for god’s sake! If you actually thought this wouldn’t sell out, and you missed out because of that, that’s YOUR BAD. NOT the Mint’s fault.

  14. I had problems with the Mint website too but it wasn’t their fault, the server response time was simply bogged down with requests. I had a challenge getting the cart to update my address but it did work after 5 minutes of constantly trying. I got my 10! Sorry to those who didn’t get one in time. These will probably my be going for $300+ once a sell out confirmation is announced.

    • Actually it is their fault. We constantly give excuses for them yet you would never give a company that much slack nor should you. And that is why businesses scale up to meet demand. They either do that or they fail. Unfortunately the Mint has a monopoly on this. I’m done with it after the past of the Presidential coins. And I will get in line and buy 10 each of the final 2 Gold Special Editions so that someone else doesn’t get even one.

      • I agree it is their fault. They do need to upgrade their server to handle that kind of traffic. I had my system crash about 5 times, with all of my info stored on the site.I have been a customer since 2006. I went to checkout, and had to redo it at least 4 times before my order went through. But if you have ever tried to order from them in the past when something like this comes out that is what to expect, until they get a better server. I do however think the limit of 10 was a little much. Usually the limit is 5 on items like this. I am a collector, not a seller, and I am thankful that I got my order through. If at first you don’t succeed, just keep trying until it works.

    • From Michael White of the Mint’s Office of Corporate Communications:

      “The status of the Mercury Dime 2016 Centennial Gold Coin will remain as currently unavailable until all order reconciliations and order cancellations have been processed.”

  15. My family order for 10, plus the 2016 Silver Proof Set for me, went thru at 11:13AM Central. The site crashed at least ten times with an error message and I was using the telephone with the same results. But perseverance prevailed. NOT on back-order!

  16. I lodged a complaint with the mint. Didn’t they know this would happen? A small collector like myself didnt stand a chance. I love collecting, but was sold out to the ebay users who had faster speed internets or more purchasers who will buy the coin and gouge people on ebay. Does the mint make money off this? do they care? Is it all about them getting the funds, or do they care about their members? I didnt stand a chance, I could not get on and they were sold out instantly. Why wasnt a popular coin like this offered by ascertaining the people who wanted them? Why were they selling 10 at a time when collectors like myself couldn’t get even 1? I guess its a branch of the federal government, they don’t have to care. They achieved their goals and small collectors like me are stuck to either pay outrageous fees to resellers or go without. I don’t even know why they marketed the coin in the first place. Its completely unfair.

  17. I am not a big dealer I had my computer my I pad and my phone all logged in. All my information was saved on my account ahead of time. I had got kicked out several times but I was able to snagged 3 by 1205

  18. From Michael White of the Mint’s Office of Corporate Communications:

    “The status of the Mercury Dime 2016 Centennial Gold Coin will remain as currently unavailable until all order reconciliations and order cancellations have been processed.”

  19. Recheck your order status folks. I was able to order 1 Mercury Gold dime and some other items.
    I got 2 email confirmations saying I got all my items. I then went to order status and it showed I was good on ALL items. I called and spoke to Cust Service yesterday and they confirmed I was good on ALL items. I checked order status yesterday, last night and this am. And then…30 seconds later….my order status on the site said $0.00 for the Mercury Gold dime and reduced my order total $ by $205. Huh? Contacted the mint and go thru to someone. Answers were vague and nothing specific. Was getting very general language vs specifics about my order. And no, my credit card is fine so its not that. Seems as though, they confirmed it and then unconfirmed it. What’s frustrating is – its clear the mass eBay sellers and HSN and Gold bullion sellers somehow gamed the system to go way beyond the HH limit of 10 and its the real collectors that just want one darn coin that get screwed.

    • Actually, I get emails from a business that I had previously bought a coin from, and they sent out emails saying they would pay people $250 to buy 10 coins from the mint and sell it to them. That’s $25 per coin.
      This piqued my interest, so I went to the website around 9:10 am Pacific time and was able to buy 1 coin without any problems. Well, the only problem I had was that I entered my credit card incorrectly. I fixed it and completed the purchase. Not a problem at all. I used my phone to make the purchase.

  20. I only wanted one.

    Why are there production limits on a historic coin?

    The US Mint, of the dealer, by the dealer, for the dealer.

  21. Bart’s comment say’s it all . . , Coin Collecting is suppose to be Fun “. I was lucky , I finally got thru on my computer and was able to purchase a coin . That said , I had to try using both my home and cell lines as well as my computer to do it though .The U.S. Mint defiantly should set a limit of one per customer on such Commemorate Coins .

  22. I was online and logged in at 1150 am . As soon as I was allowed by the site I ordered two coins . The site immediately crashed repeatedly until it took order and then said please wait while processing… I waited I never got the coins … A nightmare. Problem reported here….. Third world US government computer technology.

  23. Coin collecting has been used pretty much as a money maker for a large number of years. Do you really think ten dollars worth of silver is worth the price you pay. Thirty dollars or more is a crazy profit maker. DEALERS HAVE BEEN GETTING MOST OF THE COINS FOR YEARS AND RIPPING THE COLLECTOR OFF. then AFTER YOU PAY THEIR BIG PREMIUM yous see the price drop later so it is less than mint cost.

  24. I ordered 1 Gold Mercury dime centennial coin. I received it today and it has a MAD clash. I guess I got luck getting an error coin version. You can see the MAD CLASH with out magnification.

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