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The Royal Australian Mint (RAM) has announced a ballot system for its sale of collectable coins after prices skyrocketed for a recently released limited edition set.
RAM stopped the sale of a 14-coin set of 35th anniversary $2 coins in December, after Aussies queued overnight to acquire it and collectors reported issues trying to buy over the phone.
The sets were being sold by RAM for $235 but, in the days following the highly anticipated release, they began popping up on resale websites for as much as $1500.
The saga was just the latest example of RAM struggling to keep up with what it says is “exceptionally high volume of traffic” on release days.
Its online store has repeatedly crashed and the mint said it needed “a better, fairer system to make our products available to the Australian community”.
Now, RAM appears to have found a solution, announcing it will begin selling limited edition coins via a ballot system.
It has partnered with EQL, an e-commerce platform that claims to prevent site crashes, stop bots and scalpers and streamline payments.
Collectors will be able to register their interest in a particular item online before the coins are distributed to registered buyers at random.
How to enter the RAM ballot for the anniversary $2
A mintage of 35,000 anniversary $2 coins were made available last year, 6000 of which are still in RAM’s possession and will go on sale later this week.
The limited edition set celebrates the 35th anniversary of the $2 coin, featuring 14 reproductions of iconic commemorative designs that have appeared on the coin’s reverse throughout its history.
They include a 2023 version of the 2012 Remembrance Day red poppy design, 2015 Lest We Forget design, 2018 Invictus Games design and 2020 Firefighters design.
Complete sets now sell for between $300 and $600 — about double their original value.
A ballot to buy the remaining sets will be created on EQL at 8:30am on Wednesday.
Buyers can register and enter the ballot, going through a multi-step security verification process to “confirm you are human and slow down bots”.
Purchases are limited to one product per person and buyers will need to provide their payment and address details.
Once the ballot has closed on December 18, buyers will be notified of whether they were successful. If they are, payment will be processed and the rare coins mailed out within seven to 14 business days.
Not all coins will be sold through the ballot system, which only applies to online orders, RAM said. Aussies will still be able to buy coins in person at the mint, over the phone and through registered agents.
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