More UHR Double Eagles Arriving

More collectors are reporting that their 2009 Ultra High Relief Double Eagle Gold Coins have arrived or are shipping. This now includes collectors who placed the orders on the first day of sales.

Although the US Mint has stated that orders would be shipped on a "first-come, first-served" basis, it's still not clear whether there is any rhyme or reason to their shipping. Over the weekend, I wrote a post regarding the order of shipments and included a survey to try to determine which customers were receiving their coins. I closed the survey this morning and present the results below.

	Total	Received Coin	Percent
Ordered in the first hour	245	20	8.16%
Ordered after the first hour, but in first day	163	7	4.29%
Ordered on the second day	23	13	56.52%
Ordered after the second day	30	10	33.33%

	Dates Coin Received
Ordered in the first hour	2/9, 2/11, 2/25, 2/26, 2/27, 3/2 (5), 3/3 (9)
Ordered after the first hour, but in first day	2/25 (3), 2/26, 2/27 (2), 3/3
Ordered on the second day	2/25, 2/26, 2/27 (6), 2/28, 3/2
Ordered after the second day	2/27 (3), 2/28 (2), 3/2 (5)

Based on this survey, a much greater percentage of people who ordered their coins on the second day or after the second day have received their coins than people who ordered in the first hour or first day. This trend is starting to reverse as more people who ordered within the first hour are finally receiving their coins. Of the twenty people in the "first hour" category who received coins, 14 of them were received in the past two days.

Based on the data and the dates reported, we can try to reverse engineer what may have happened. Initially, customers who ordered coins first were receiving coins first. This is supported by the 2/9 and 2/11 receipt dates for customers who placed orders in the first hour. No customers who ordered after the first hour reported receipt dates this early.

After a two week lapse, shipping resumed but coins were shipped to customers across every category, most heavily for the "second day" and "after the second day" categories. Ironically, this took place after the US Mint's email which specifically stated that coins would be shipped on a first-come, first-served basis.

Also of note, customers receiving their coins over the past few days are still reporting that UPS is dropping the packages on their doorsteps with no signature requirement.

As more collectors have their Ultra High Relief Double Eagles in hand, some of the negativity about the US Mint seems to be subsiding. However, I don't think waiting for the coins was what upset most people-- from the outset customers were warned that it might take six to nine months to deliver. What upset customers was the barrage of emails providing conflicting shipping dates, shipment and website security issues, the inability to get satisfactory answers by phone, and the overall lack of communication.

The US Mint might see a temporary respite from customer complaints because they have shipped their coins, but they have not really addressed the underlying issues and broader issues which caused most of the recent problems. When I wrote the post Message to the US Mint: Your Customers Are Not Happy, I intentionally tried to play up these larger issues which have not gone away in the least.