Monday Morning Brief for May 31, 2021: Collectors are Mad

All those calling our offices and almost all of those emailing us were unsuccessful in acquiring both of the coins.

In my Mint Sales commentary in the May monthly problem of Coin World, I wrote,"With merchandise limitations relatively high in 175,000 and 200,000 bits per issue, customers might have a decent chance at purchasing the coins that they want." After seeing the results of this first of three declared offerings, I am not so sure that my forecast was true.

I had been true when I composed in precisely the same column"When the sales days to the coins arrive, anticipate the U.S. Mint site to be jammed with customers attempting to purchase the coins"

Our Letters to the Editor and Guest Commentaries this week, as I suspect they will for weeks beforehand, represent the anger of consumers who feel threatened by Mint officials. Seeing traders offering multiples of the coins at prices well over issue price, one can understand why many collectors think as they do.

Some of those ire is directed at Mint Director David Ryder, now serving in his second semester in the office. A lot of readers want him fired, not just over this app but also as the other coin programs under his watch sold out quickly. Some want everyone linked to the marketing choices surrounding the Morgan dollar app driven from the Mint.

Getting a limited edition right is challenging. Mint officials, nevertheless, should have left these limited-edition coins less restricted. That would have made a lot of our readers, and Mint customers, happier than they are now.