eLetters

What would be the best way the Mint could sell hot-ticket items so that the average collector could obtain them?

Eliminate discounts and bulk sales, allow two per household, address and raise quantity produced.

Fritz Clemens Twinsburg, Ohio

The U.S. Mint should operate on a strike-to-order basis. A lottery for limited mintage issues will not work. About the same number of people will be disappointed with a lottery, they just won’t all be at the end of the line; instead, the disappointed will be distributed throughout the line. A lottery is also a form of gambling, which is off-putting to some people. With a strike-to-order basis, the U.S. Mint declares a fixed ordering window (e.g. four hours, eight hours, 24 hours, etc.) and strikes only the number ordered and paid for within that period. This avoids the vast majority of disappointed collectors, and the U.S. Mint does not end up with surplus inventory. There may still be a few disappointed collectors, but they simply missed the ordering window.

A strike-to-order basis also eliminates artificial rarities since initial demand is satisfied. During the ordering window, a buyer may