Collectors didn’t have a lot of time on Thursday to order the new 2016-W Mercury Dime Centennial Gold Coin. The 24-karat gold coin went on back order after about 20 minutes and then became unavailable by the 40-minute mark.
"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," U.S. Mint spokesman Michael White said in a brief statement.
The U.S. Mint set the mintage of the highly-anticipated collectible to 125,000 and it imposed a household ordering limit of 10 pieces.
Many who ordered or tried needed patience. A number of buyers described their difficulties in ordering online because of the volume of traffic, saying they experienced website sluggishness and connection timeouts — especially within the first 10 to 15 minutes.
Curiously, Mint officials didn’t have significant stats available for CoinNews at this writing, such as how many coins sold in the very early going or how many were at its fulfillment warehouse for shipping. We’ll offer more information here as it becomes available.
At $205 per coin, excluding shipping and if they all sold out, the United States Mint would take in orders totaling more than $25.6 million. The collector coins are already selling in the secondary market at significant premiums. Those in original packing have prices from around $295 to $350 while early release MS70s are listed from around $400 to $600.
The gold Mercury dime is one of three .9999 fine gold coins the U.S. Mint will release in 2016 to celebrate popular designs introduced 100 year ago. Launching later in the year are the gold Standing Liberty quarter and the gold Walking Liberty half-dollar. (See mock-ups of these gold coins.)
The centennial issues are struck to weights of 1/10 oz. gold for the dime, 1/4 oz. gold for the quarter, and 1/2 oz. gold for the half-dollar. The 1916-dated coins bearing the original designs have a composition of 90% silver and 10% copper.
Knowing how federal government agencies operate, they probably only sold 12,500 and someone transposed a 0 to make it 125,000…and now they’re trying to figure it out!!!
Well, I put my email addr in the remind me box. Last time I did I never heard anything even though I went back to the website another day and was able to order the coin I was after anyway. Maybe their remind me box has been implemented by now. I think what U.S. Mint spokesman Michael White meant to say was “The status of the Mercury Dime 2016 Centennial Gold Coin will remain as currently unavailable until all flipper, dealer, and TV show hosts have culled all the 70’s out of their orders and the remainder that they’ve returned… Read more »
IF thsi was a 20minute selllout it is a major schtupping of the collector community @ this time- how many households need 10 coins? The mint is slowly killing off people collecting coins, which is kind of a reflection of the diminishing #s of collectors v. speculators, flipper$ & “investors” I got 2 @ 9:10 because I thought I could get more later…..but like the JFK gold 1/2 the ? is will this dime have ‘legs’…….
Thanks for the update. Hope I get my order filled with ‘mint’ condition and not some big companies returns.
Mike Unser – Like you, I find it curious that the U.S. Mint didn’t release first day sales figures as they have in the past (they even issued first few hours sales figures sometimes to the press for past coins) You must feel left out of the inside info loop for sure as they wouldn’t even tell you how many coins were ready for shipment at the vendor fulfillment center in Memphis. Strange indeed ! FYI CoinNews readers- MCM in Sarasota, Florida where NGC is located is offering these gold dimes graded SP-70 in a choice of 5 different labels… Read more »
My orders been shipped!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I was told by the mint yesterday over the phone at 12:53 cst they were SOLD OUT. I got in talking with someone in 10 seconds. They didn’t even say sorry. Real class! Needless to say I buy more from the royal mint ( England ) than I do the USA. Sad but even though the low mintage and cost can be in the thousands, they do it right.
Hoping the price of gold not revalued upwards until we can order the next coins. Going to be dificult as is to pull the trigger with old price around $1300.
PCGS will be grading these as Mint State grades like MS-70, which is correct numismatic term for a business strike as the Mint calls this gold dime. L&C coin company in California got a photo mockup from PCGS showing their special centennial Mercury dime label with the MS grade. NGC is simply wrong calling them “specimen” coins with grades like SP-70. These coins do not have a special finish according to the Mint. PCGS is usually right which is why coins graded by them bring a premium over the same coins graded by NGC in the same grade in the… Read more »
Can the TV shows and other big dealers actually return coins they purchased and didn’t grade out at 69 or 70 to the US MInt? Seems if they come out of the Mint holder they would be unable to return them.
Sort of like buying a new suit or dress, wearing it to a wedding or other event, and then returning it the store for a refund. Pretty tacky and cheap, if you ask me, and even worse if the Mint and the store allow it to happen.
This is all a game. The US Mint got its money as well as NGC, PCGS, with their gimmick labels (that the US Mint doesn’t even support), dealers with their long line of buyers to fill their orders and of course the flippers, aka “investors”. MCM paid about $230. per buyer to click through a couple ordering steps. Not a bad deal and still no coin. Collectors? Well, hopefully they were available for 40 mins after the hour to snatch one, otherwise, too bad. But people are looking for a place to park money and so gold and silver is… Read more »
What sour grapes… I bought ten an will share with friends who could not get them in the twenty minutes.. I am just a hobbyist with a credit card.
I can’t imagine that too many coins would be returned unless they have an easy to see defect. Most people including dealers would have a hard time picking out ms70’s over ms69’s especially on a small coin. If these are sold out, the mint also may not have more to replace them with and would just issue a refund. So you would be better off just selling it raw. I also would advise anyone who wants one of these to wait a few months as the price will probably go down. The TV show dealers and other large dealers were… Read more »
Pete the Fed – It is all a big game as far as the biggest t.v. show dealers go like HSN & Coin Vault. They order the max & have family, friends & customers also order the max for them. Then upon receipt they overnight ship them to NGC, PCGS & ANACS who they have exclusive deals & exclusive labels with & they grade them in 48 hours or less & don’t slab any coins that don’t get a 69 or 70 grade. Then the grading services send them back to the dealers overnight. Then, the leftovers with problems are… Read more »
Last sentence, coin composition I think is incorrect
Good for you Jerry limb. Spend that money dude, who cares. Not sour grapes at all, no need. As that same MCM will slash those graded coins in November / December as they are moving inventory for 2017. Its called “flash sale”. You don’t buy for a profit, you profit when you buy! haha…
Says 90% silver 10% copper
Guess not too many of us true collectors left. I have yet to sell a coin I have collected. Will be left to my grand children.
Hobby vs Flippers ,collector vs dealer, who is the real big winner ? Answer: the company who supply gold blank to US Mint!
All this talk about 69 or 70 grade coins. We are all missing the real point here. Isn’t it sad everyone, that the Mint, with all it’s high tech equipment and quality control, even puts out flawed coins! I mean normally the difference between a 69 or 70 most times is unnoticeable(especially on something this small), that I can live with. It’s like the fiasco of last years UHR Liberty’s. Those were the worst coins I ever bought (and then returned). I complained several times to the Mint and never got any satisfactory response. I have seen in general more… Read more »
Due to the gold Mercury Dime being the first release of the three 2016 commemoratives – and their relative low price compared to the quarter and half – IMHO the demand (and prices) for these 1/10 oz. coins will not fall off significantly.
But my question is: Will the Standing Liberty gold coin even have a date? Most of the Standing Liberty quarters that I have seen, have no date on them!
Type 1 and Type 2 Standing Liberty but both had dates I believe unless the date worn off…..I could be misunderstanding what you are asking
I was 100 percent prepared!!! I was at my computer 10 minutes before they went on sale. The night before I verified my address, my credit card information, and I made sure I remembered my username and password. Lol I hit the refresh button exactly the time of sale. My computer stalled so I tried my cell phone, it stalled. But finally I got through and my order was placed 10 minutes after and I am proud to say that I am the proud owner of two very beautiful coins. The mint ship them out today!!! If my mom was… Read more »
The real truth from a very reliable source is the US mint preshipped prior to the official release date thousands and thousands of the gold mercury dimes to the grading companies (NGC/PCGS). This is why the mint sold out of them so quickly.
That would stink if they are arbitrarily sending percentage to the grading sweat shops and biggy dealers prior to public, I.e. the little fish, even getting a chance. I’m going to be frosted again if they don’t fill my order and hearing the deep pockets have special priority.
I received my order and noticed it’s coming via FedEx . In the past coins came thru ups. What happened, did the mint change carriers? I was happy with ups.
They might be spreading the shipping business around….
Rick – The Mint uses UPS for the 17.95 expedited shipping (3-5 business days) & Next Day UPS signature required by 10:30am for $20.95 which I always pay extra for, just for peace of mind. I used their budget shipping of $4.95 once on my smallest order ever & it went by what is called Fed Ex SmartPost which is a service partnership between Fed Ex & the USPS & it took 12 days from the day it shipped from Memphis, Tennessee to get to me in Austin, Texas! That is why I don’t mind paying $20.95 for next day… Read more »
Seth Riesling
I was wondering how MCM had these coins ready to ship. I was thinking, “hey, maybe it is true that the Mint is sending some coins out early to the dealers.” But that really didn’t seem possible. I mean some people think our government is crooked and corrupt but there is no way the Mint could send thousands of coins out early to anybody without someone, somewhere, blowing the whistle on the Mint.
I put my name on the ‘remind me’ feature on the mints website MONTHS ago, hoping to be able to get one on the day it went on sale. I got the reminder email on FRIDAY, a day after it went on sale. The mint is a joke.
They should either set up a lottery system or limit purchases to ONE coin for the first few days so that people who really want them can buy them. Right now its all dealers with bots who flood their website and buy up all the coins for flipping.
I placed three separate orders; One has already shipped and the other two are still “Processing.”
Anyone come upon a “First Day of Issue” label for the dimes? Just curious, since I decided a while back not to get any of the 3 tribute gold coins.
Tinto –
First Day of Issue labels are just a grading company gimmick that means nothing & is not recognized by the U.S. Mint. It only means something if it is a first day issue coin & stamp cover issued by the Mint with USPS official postmark. If some collectors pay a premium for those meaningless four words on a U.S. Mint coin graded by one of the third-party coin grading services, then good luck when you try selling them to a dealer! They don’t pay extra for those words as they know better IMHO.
Happy collecting!
-NumisDudeTX
Modern Coin Mart has six different labels with (First Releases) & (Early Releases) by NGC. Prices are $419 & $339 for a 70 & 69.
FYI CoinNews readers – I am watching HSN coin collector show live right now & Mike Mezack just said he got 1,000 of the gold Winged Liberty Head (“Mercury”) dimes & will offer them on the HSN website at noon on Wednesday April 27 if you want to be ripped off badly. He refused to state a price just now. He says he is the only dealer with first day of issue 2016-W gold Mercury dimes from the U.S. Mint! What a sad ripoff HSN coin collector show is. I feel so bad for the naive “collectors” he sells his… Read more »
Par for the course with the mints reputation. I also was supposed to be notified when these coins went up for sale and received nothing. I only found out they had a sellout a day later from reading it in CoinNews.
The lowest priced one on eBay at the moment is $286.05 and that’s from someone who bought them presale.
HSN has 1,000 coins and CSN has 1916 all SP70. That means Mike and his crew got 2,916 in all. Now how did CSN get 1916 SP70. The same number as the 1916 Mercury Dime? That just does not sound right. Are all 1916 real 70s? I mean what are the odds of that coming out like that. BUYER BEWARE FOR SURE!!
I placed an order within the first 15 minutes or so, I think it was. The mint’s site was not running well, and I got a couple confirmation e-mails (one did not have the correct items and did not total correctly), but then Friday I got an e-mail saying my original order was shipped . . . so far, so good. I ordered four items total. According to USPS, they will be here on Tuesday….I agree a lower household limit makes sense, and I also hate that dealers seem to get items in bulk beforehand. If demand is going to… Read more »
I am with you. I would love to see other coins like this too. I think a platinum Morgan & platinum peace dollar would be amazing!!!
Christopher Williams & joera – Mike Mezack also works for Cable Shopping Network doing their coin mail order catalog & television infomercials for them on the History channel & CNBC business news cable tv channels. He has exclusive labels from ANACS with “first day of Issue” for HSN & “a first strike coin” for CSN customers, both with limited edition serial numbers which mean nothing just like first strike or first day. He is offering them online at CSN in the ANACS holders graded SP-70 for $499.95. These are not specimen (SP) coins since the Mint said they are regular… Read more »
Seth
LOL, sounds like a plan. We need to keep the people that work for places like HSN and CSN on their toes. Let’s see if they can think quick. You got to love it.
Jerry Limb – Any way I can buy one off you since I missed out? Anyone else open to that? I am bummed I didnt get one.Thank you.
Rick – Sounds like a good idea and they have that capability – if anybody at the mint cared. There’s no director of the mint and the stand-in is only interested in keeping his job and the mint generating coins enough to satisfy the hoarding public. Collector coins are only an after thought except for the commemorative coins and medals that Congress legislates. That’s why you see poor quality “collector” coins, screw-ups in packaging, and no visibility into current practices which for example results a product schedule that only goes out one month in advance and contains so many TBDs.… Read more »
Here’s what I just learned from the US Mint: [Rachel K.] No one is allowed to pre-purchase any of our coins before they release. Everyone was held to the Household limit of 10 once the coin released. [Rachel K.] We do not give special preferential treatment, everyone who wants a coin has to purchase it after the coin releases. when asked if the item could really sell out in 20 minutes, she replied: [Rachel K.] That is correct. It sold out incredibly quick. [Visitor] It’s just odd that they were available for sale from some companies before the thing even… Read more »
MCM says they will start shipping graded centennial mercury coins in May so they are NOT ready to ship as of now.
New guy to CoinNews here. My second post only. But I finally may have found an outlet for something I have always wanted to share. I hope I don’t offend anyone as it is just my own personal opinion: I never really was ever turned on by the SP69, SP70, SP-whatever-number that was applied to brand new coins of the US Mint. I always think to myself, “Wait, the coins are proof…they are relatively pretty peachy with no grading. So what is the thrill of being able to sift through a boatload of coins that you may have purchased to… Read more »
Merc sales are 122,510 per the preliminary sales report, which represents 98.00% of mintage.
You can call this puppy all but SOLD OUT.
If the mint wanted to get on the good side of the collectors they would put a limit of 1 coin for the first 24 hours and then up it to 5 or 10. That way more of us small time collectors would have a chance at purchasing one.
The Mint in the past has put a 1 per household limit on a few products. The 2009 Lincoln Coin & Chronicles Set had a limited mintage of 50,000 & had 5 Proof coins in it & nothing else really special & all 5 coins in the set were available for purchase separately, but the leather-like book-type packaging with an actual photo of President Lincoln surrounded by a copper metal oval-shaped frame made it a HOT item. They sold out on first day. So we know the Mint has put & can put a 1 per household coin or set… Read more »
Lou Hoover proof sold out, perhaps the most gruesome 1st lady ever, she looks like such a ol biddy battle ax, Herb was a real POS but look what he came home to, Caitlynn Hoover….
Mike Unser –
Did the U.S. Mint confirm first day sales of this gold Winged Liberty Head dime yet to you? There is word on the numismatic grapevine that they might have a few thousand left to sell at a later date. They are still listed as “currently unavailable” on the Mint’s website.
-NumisDudeTX
Mint State Gold Investor Education Weekly Market Report 4/25/16 The U.S. Mint released the 1/10 ounce 100-year Mercury Dime 2016 Centennial Gold coin. The mint sold all 125,000 coins in 45 minutes at $205 each. Due to the high initial demand, we are seeing dealers offering pre-sales on this coin for around $400-600 a coin in SP70. There are five excellent reasons that we do not recommend the purchase of this new issue right now. 1. The U.S. Mint issued 125,000 of this 1/10 Gold coin, a large amount. 2. The current dealer asking price is over 3 times the… Read more »