The United States Mint’s first-ever $100 gold coin is an official hit. New 2015-W $100 American Liberty High Relief Gold Coins are selling fast, with a waiting list for them now temporarily in effect. The coins will move to "Back Order" status soon, meaning more will be available.
Released today at noon, coin sales climbed over 64% of the 50,000 mintage in 2-1/2 hours and then topped 70% within 4 hours, according to Adam Stump, deputy director of the U.S. Mint’s Office of Corporate Communications. At that point, the Mint’s inventory ran out.
"We have taken orders for more than 35,000 coins and the website, which currently shows ‘Unavailable’ should be updated at some point in the next day that the item will be on backorder," Stump said in an email.
Here’s the Mint’s description of Back Order:
"When products are in ‘Back Order’ status, this means that the product is available for sale, however there is no inventory in stock and a future ship date is displayed on our website. Products in this status can still be ordered online or through the Customer Contact Center."
The one-ounce, .9999 fine gold coin isn’t exactly cheap at $1,490.00. But buyers did catch a bit of a break since it just missed opening $50 higher. The Mint didn’t, as that represents a $1.75 million difference to them based on a 35,000 total. Coin sales for that same amount do tally to a sizable $52.15 million in gross revenue.
It’s a home run for the Mint, as was the agency’s website performance while ordering. We haven’t heard of any complaints from customers and, for us, it was nothing but smooth sailing despite the obvious behind-the-scenes traffic.
"The high volume in such a short amount of time shows customers were able to get into the system and complete their order quickly whether it’s an average coin collector or a dealer," Stump added.
With that said, the Mint’s website is currently showing the coin as unavailable, giving the potential impression that it has sold out. Skipping the "Currently Unavailable" status and going straight to "Back Order" status would have kept orders flowing and reduce confusion.
To join the high-relief $100 gold coin waiting list, visit the Mint product page for it right here.
