Deliveries speed up

Collectors are generally fair when it comes to evaluating the performance of the U.S. Mint, though newcomers to the hobby might wonder about it after being exposed to collector comments about the Mint in recent months. This year the Mint has not been receiving good marks from its customer base.

There have been long waits for certain products and sellouts that prevented some buyers from getting what they ordered at all.

This is certainly a headache for the U.S. Mint.

Good news, though, seems to be that deliveries of the two-roll sets of the Lincoln Formative years cents have been occurring very rapidly and I am receiving e-mails and letters telling me of this fact.

Does this mean the tide is turning in the Mint’s favor? Are whatever problems and glitches there were now over? I hope so.

Complaints are a useful function for anybody in the business world because nobody is perfect. Complaints help find and fix weaknesses. But airing them in public as collectors do might raise an eyebrow or two among noncollectors who might stumble into our discussions.

Life cannot be all public relations, but it doesn’t hurt to keep an eye on the public relations impact of dissatisfied Mint customers so that we can continue to correct problems and thrive as a hobby.