The United States Mint is announcing the addition of a new virtual waiting room (Waitroom) to our catalog website. The Waitroom will ensure a better user experience when we release our most popular products. The Mint will deploy the Waitroom whenever we expect site traffic to exceed its capacity so that the site can effectively take and process orders. If you have ever purchased high-demand concert tickets or a highly anticipated video game console, then you have probably experienced a virtual waiting room.
The Waitroom will premiere on March 2 with the release of the 2023 American Eagle One Ounce Silver Proof Coin (W) and the 2023 Congratulations Set.
Here’s what to expect:
- Products release at 12:00 PM ET.
- Just before the release, all customers on the site will be moved into the Waitroom and assigned a random position in line. Each visitor on the site at that time will have an equal chance of being either first or last in line.
- At 12:00 PM ET, the Waitroom will begin letting site visitors onto the catalog website as quickly as possible while simultaneously ensuring the site’s traffic does not exceed capacity.
- Customers who arrive on the site after the 12:00 PM ET release time will be added to the end of the line in the order in which they arrived.
- The Waitroom will remain active until site traffic returns to normal levels.
Important Tips
There is no benefit to “camping out” on the site by arriving hours early on a release day.
Regardless of the time your session started, everyone on the site just prior to the 12:00 PM ET release will be given equal treatment by receiving a randomly generated position in line.
Once you are in the Waitroom, you will be given an estimated wait time based on your position in line.
Do not refresh the Waitroom page or close your browser. If you do, your session will refresh, causing you to re-enter the Waitroom at the back of the line.
Complete your transaction on the Mint website as quickly as possible.
To prevent inactive sessions from taking up places in line, we will limit customers’ time on the catalog site after exiting the waiting room. If you have not placed your items in your cart and started checking out within 10 minutes, you will be moved back to the Waitroom at the back of the line. Nearly all transactions on popular release days take less than five minutes.
Product availability is not guaranteed to customers who enter the waiting room.
To avoid the Waitroom entirely and ensure the continuity of your collection, we strongly suggest you subscribe to your favorite products in advance.
We thank you for your patience and patronage as we continually strive to provide a better and more equitable Mint website user experience possible.
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About the United States Mint
The U.S. Mint was created by Congress in 1792 and became part of the Department of the Treasury in 1873. It is the Nation’s sole manufacturer of legal tender coinage and is responsible for producing circulating coinage for the Nation to conduct its trade and commerce.
The United States Mint also produces numismatic products, including Proof, uncirculated, and commemorative coins; Congressional Gold Medals; and silver and gold bullion coins. The Mint’s numismatic programs are self-sustaining and operate at no cost to taxpayers.
