I know some of you guys are slightly critical of the U.S. Mints, but I have long been critical of ours, the Royal Mint, or the British Royal Mint, as it sometimes styles itself. This past week, it issued press releases about a new coins, a 50 pence with Peter Rabbit, a character from Beatrix Potter's childrens' books. Although it had already issued one cupro-nickel version, the second coin in the series includes a silver proof version, with colour printing; and it does look cute. It seems that the Mint was unprepared for the great interest in it, as its website was swamped by demand for days. I took a few screenshots, this is one example: https://www.flickr.com/photos/lawrence_chard/25078938940/in/dateposted-public/ Followed a day later by: https://www.flickr.com/photos/lawrence_chard/24784239523/in/dateposted-public/ Wouldn't you think a government owned organisation would have spare capacity solutions for its website? Many internet server companies offer extra server capacity to cope with peak loads. and... Would you perform "scheduled maintenance" at a time of peak demand? We are hearing that the coins may not get delivered before June. How does this all compare with the US Mints?
Yep. US Mint's about the same...along with the roll-out of the ACA's website a few years ago (a severely watered-down version of your NHS). Any webpage can get overwhelmed if the people setting it up don't prepare for it correctly. I guess they didn't foresee the popularity of a Beatrix Potter design?
