The Mint's West Point complex in New York is taking measures to prevent the virus from spreading among its employees, and that will probably slow coin production there for the next 12 to 18 months, the document shows. The facility is no longer able to produce gold and silver coins at the same time, forcing it to choose one metal over the other, according to the document, which was presented to companies authorized to buy coins from the Mint last week.

"The pandemic created a whole new set of challenges for us to manage," the Mint said in the document. "We believe that this environment is going to continue to lead to some degree of reduced capacity as West Point struggles to balance employee safety against market demand."

To cope with demand, the Mint is now asking dealers to provide their 10-day and 90-day forecasts for demand for the first time ever. That will allow it to decide what products to make as some are more labor-intensive than others, according to the document. If the Mint decides to make one-tenth of an ounce of gold, for instance, it must cut production of American Eagle Silver coins.

No Shortage of Gold or Silver

This story is sure to bring out all sorts of silliness regarding a shortage of physical gold and silver as well as conspiracy theories regarding how much gold is in Fort Knox.

Also look for nonsensical articles on the alleged price difference between paper gold and physical gold.

Unobtanium?