The U.S. Mint posted the following on its Facebook page at 11:30 PM on Thursday, May 27, 2021:
For those who do not access Facebook, the following is the complete text of the announcement:
In the interest of properly rectifying the situation, the Mint is postponing the pre-order windows for the remaining 2021 Morgan and Peace silver dollars that were originally scheduled for June 1 (Morgan Dollars struck at Denver (21XG) and San Francisco (21XF)) and June 7 (Morgan Dollar struck at Philadelphia (21XE) and the Peace Dollar (21XH)). While inconvenient to many, this deliberate delay will give the Mint the time necessary to obtain web traffic management tools to enhance the user experience. As the demand for silver remains greater than the supply, the reality is such that not everyone will be able to purchase a coin. However, we are confident that during the postponement, we will be able to greatly improve on our ability to deliver the utmost positive U.S. Mint experience that our customers deserve. We will announce revised pre-order launch dates as soon as possible.
Sources reported that unhappy collectors “besieged” the U.S. Mint with email and telephone calls following their latest ordering fiasco. The sources also said that the offices of several members of congress contacted the U.S. Mint after hearing from their constituents.
One source said that collectors contacted the Treasury Office of Inspector General (OIG) and prompted them to question U.S. Mint management on the problems. I have not been able to confirm this story.
Too bad ANA leadership did not take a leadership role on behalf of the hobby.
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Scott
I question whether there really is silver shortage since I have purchased two silver coins in recent weeks frrom the Royal Canadian Mint and have had no problems.
Of course there’s no silver shortage. There is a shortage of smarts at the U.S. Mint, however. That is already proven.
Kurt: All of the “experts” that are not associate with the U.S. Mint acknowledge there is a silver shortage. The shortage is a result of reduced mining operations during the pandemic and higher demand. Although some mints have a silver supply, demand for gold and silver from the U.S. Mint is higher than any other source. In fact, a precious metals dealer said that investment silver is difficult to come by. This includes Silver Maple Leafs, Britannias, and Libertads.
When coins and medals are made, that silver does not disappear or evaporate. It’s still there and it’s still available. It’s merely being withheld by its owners. That, to me, is not a shortage; it’s a failure of the market to operate.
Silver is a shortage in the sense that it is not available for the US Mint and all other mints to manufacture coins. It’s the same problem as the computer industry. There is not a shortage of computer chips. There is a shortage of chips that can be used to manufacture devices. It’s macro versus micro.
This is a direct quote from a Mint message:
“In a message released Friday, May 28, we made reference to a global shortage of silver. In more precise terms, the silver shortage being experienced by the United States Mint pertains only to the supply of silver blanks among suppliers to the U.S. Mint.”
Admitted. No real global shortage at all. Just among their pre-ordained non-open market chosen suppliers. Sheesh! A shortage created by their own decision making processes.
It is not the same as the coin shortage and it is not just the supplier(s) to the U.S. Mint. The shortage is in the amount of peak silver on the market. Peak silver is the silver dug out of the ground in its raw form before it is smelted. The worldwide production is peak silver is down because of the surge in buying for both investor and industrial silver. Remember, the pandemic continues to affect the ability of mines to run at full capacity. If the mines are not running in order to meet the demand, then there will be a shortage of silver coming to the market. Supply is not able to meet the demand.
Before you say, “just melt junk silver for,” it is against the law. The law says that the U.S. Mint shall use silver mined from U.S. sources purchased at prevailing market rates where practicable. It is not practicable for the U.S. Mint to purchase silver elsewhere. Why? Politics! Go tell a silver state congress critter that the federal government is not buying silver from their state and see how fast investigations begin! If you want the U.S. Mint to melt junk silver for coins, you’ll have to bring back a modern-day equivalent of the Pittman Act.