Sales of the 2014 50th Anniversary Kennedy Half-Dollar Silver Coin Collections jumped out of the gate. Now, they’re not moving at lightning speed like the curved Baseball silver coins did in March, but they’re selling fast.
Released on Tuesday at noon, collectors gobbled up the set of four silver coins with 85,670 ordered by midnight. That’s 28.6% of the available 300,000 claimed within the first 12 hours.
Early Sales Statistics
Here are some of the statistics captured by the Mint throughout the first day of Kennedy collection sales:
- As of 12:10 p.m., the site processed at 14 orders per second. By day’s end the number peaked to 24.9 orders per second.
- By 12:30 p.m., the system processed approximately $3.6 million in sales and 36 thousand units sold.
- Between 12:00 p.m. – 1:00p.m., the online catalog handled more than 272,000 page views.
Ordering System Works
More importantly for the Mint, they scored a win with the new website and its ability to handle traffic during peak hours of a highly anticipated release. U.S. Mint customers from around the web voiced their positive experience, describing speedy and effortless transactions — a 180-degree turnaround from the past pains of website crashes and online waiting rooms.
"Transaction went very smooth," CoinNews reader S. Buckles commented. "The whole ordering process took less than two minutes! Very impressed with the Mint’s new website. Keep it up!!!"
"Yes, for all the grief I’ve given the Mint (deservedly, imho) I will have to give them kudos for this smooth ordering process on this highly anticipated item," CoinNews reader Kevin said in part.
Everyone involved in designing and getting the new ordering system out the door has to be happy, and the Mint appreciates the roundly good reviews.
"We’re obviously delighted over the overwhelmingly positive reaction by our customers to our new order management system," said Tom Jurkowsky, director of the U.S. Mint’s Office of Corporate Communications.
"Many people don’t realize that the Mint is one of the top 100 online retailers in the country, and the order management system we’ve designed and put in place is one that reflects that status," Jurkowsky added.
Kennedy Collections Already Shipping
Just as delightful for customers, Kennedy collections are already shipping. As of 8:30 p.m. last night, the Mint said that approximately 14,000 orders had been shipped from its distribution center.
"I also must give the Mint an ‘A’ for the new ordering system!," said CoinNews reader RonnieBGood. "I was allowed to log in at 11:58 am and place my order at 12:02 pm! My order of 5 is listed as shipped within 7 hours of my order being placed!"
Last week the U.S. Mint said that 180,000 collections were prepared for immediate shipping. It appears customers who ordered early will have their sets within days.
2014 50th Anniversary Kennedy Half-Dollar Silver Coin Collections may be ordered online from the Mint here, or by calling 1-800-USA-MINT (872-6468). They cost $99.95.
This coin news article was updated to include new U.S. Mint sales statistics.
