United States Mint officials have finally released sales figures for the 2017 Congratulations set. According to the Numismatic Sales Report for the week ending April 16, Mint customers purchased 74,497 of the 75,000 sets made available.

That total may not represent the actual number of sets purchased during the two minutes they were available at the Mint website on April 4. The later announced total might actually be somewhat smaller than the original total because of orders rejected due to problems with a customer's credit card or because of some returns of sets.

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The Mint offered the set beginning at noon Eastern Time April 4 and within two minutes, had accepted enough orders to exhaust the maximum mintage of 75,000 sets. The super-fast sellout time was the result of the decision by Mint officials to place no household limits on purchases, a decision that some collector customers saw as benefiting commercial buyers to the detriment of individual collectors.

While Mint officials have not answered Coin World’s questions about large purchases of the sets, some firms are offering multiples of the sets in both original packaging and with the set’s key draw, a Proof 2017-S American Eagle silver dollar, encapsulated and graded by third-party grading services, all priced well above the issue price of $54.95. The same coin will be offered in the 2017 Limited Edition Silver Proof set later in the year, at a price expected to be several times the price of the Congratulations set.

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The possibility remains that the unsold sets could be offered again at a future date, a Mint spokesman said earlier.