The United States Mint announced finalized sales figures for some of its 2016-issue major bullion and proof programs weeks ago, but the final numbers for all programs are in and there are contrasting stories of success and failure (more accurately downturns) across its many popular annual offerings. The following paragraphs wrap up sales figures across the American Eagle Series, American Buffalo, and America the Beautiful coins for major bullion and proof issues.
American Eagle Bullion Coins
After flying high for years, the 2016 American Silver Eagle finally found the ceiling as the 30th anniversary release of the immensely popular silver bullion coin program failed to set a sales record for a third-consecutive year. Of course, judging the American Silver Eagle by its massive successes of the past eight years is hardly fair, so the 2016 American Silver Eagle should be viewed in context.
The United States Mint saw sales of 37.7 million ounces of 2016 American Silver Eagle bullion coins, marking the fifth highest sales year in program history. The first half of the year was marked by a record pace for the coins, but demand dropped in the second half of the year. The reality of the situation is that the market is saturated with popular coins, and the American Silver Eagle can’t possibly set records every single year.
American Eagle Gold coins hit their strongest sales goal since 2011, moving 985,000 ounces of 2016 American Gold Eagle coins. The three most popular sizes in the four-weight program sold out by December 6th, with YoY sales jumping 22.9% in the American Gold Eagle bullion program from 2015. The most popular coins in the American Gold Eagle collection were as follows (in order, total coins NOT ounces sold):
- 2016 1/10 oz American Gold Eagle – 925,000
- 2016 1 oz American Gold Eagle – 817,500
- 2016 ¼ oz American Gold Eagle – 152,000
- 2016 ½ oz American Gold Eagle – 74,000
The American Platinum Eagle bullion coin made a successful return in 2016. After sitting on the shelf for years during the recession, and again in 2015, the 2016 American Platinum Eagle had strong sales of 20,000 ounces in total, with coins available only in July and August.
American Gold Buffalo
Celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2016, the 2016 American Gold Buffalo Coin sold bullion units of 219,500 ounces for the year to earn its fourth best annual total in program history and mark a 0.5% increase in sales from 2015.
America the Beautiful Silver Bullion Coins
The ATB Series from the US Mint is among its most popular, and proved that again with the 2016 ATB Silver Coins. The five new designs released in 2016 totaled sales of 285,900 coins for the year, hitting the second highest sales mark in program history, and posting a 34.5% increase from 2015’s total of 212,600 coins. The program’s best year came in just its second year of availability in 2011 when it sold 465,100 coins. The following is a breakdown of the sales of 2016 ATB Silver Coins by design (in order of popularity):
- 2016 5 oz Shawnee Silver Coin – 105,000
- 2016 5 oz Cumberland Gap Silver Coin – 75,000
- 2016 5 oz Theodore Roosevelt Silver Coin – 40,000
- 2016 5 oz Harpers Ferry Silver Coin – 38,100
- 2016 5 oz Fort Moultrie Silver Coin – 27,800
Popular Numismatic Collections
Bullion sales were strong, by in large, for the United States Mint in 2016, but the story wasn’t exactly the same across its lineup of proof and uncirculated coin collections. 2016 Proof American Silver Eagles, with the commemorative first-time use of edge lettering on US Mint coins for the 30th anniversary, were down significantly from 2015.
The 2016 Proof American Silver Eagle finished December with 3,954 units sold in the closing weeks, but an annual total of 525,386 proofs sold, down from 699,623, and down significantly from the 2014 high of 894,614 coins. The drop marked a second consecutive year of declines for the coin.
2016 Burnished American Silver Eagle coins didn’t fare much better, finishing the year with just 163,882 coins sold. That’s also a second consecutive year of declining sales for the burnished program, which dropped from 224,532 in 2014 to 201,188 last year (2015), and now fell again for 2016.
The 2016 Proof American Gold Eagle coins saw both gains and declines from 2015, with the ½ oz and 1 oz American Gold Eagle coins down from last year, while the 1/10 oz, ¼ oz, and 4-coin collector’s set surged. The following is a breakdown of 2015 to 2016 sales (2015 sales):
- 2016 1 oz American Gold Eagle – 21,619 (down from 22,734)
- 2016 ½ oz American Gold Eagle – 5,342 (down from 5,902)
- 2016 ¼ oz American Gold Eagle – 7,135 (up from 5,857)
- 2016 1/10 oz American Gold Eagle – 21,619 (up from 16,851)
- 2016 American Gold Eagle Proof Set – 15,693 (up from 9,918)
Impressive in 2016 was the performance of the 2016 Burnished American Gold Eagle, which rose from 6,533 to 6,887 in 2016. That’s a third straight year of gains dating back to 2013. The 10th anniversary 2016 Proof American Gold Buffalo rebounded from a down year in 2015, selling 16,591 coins compared to 20,557 in 2014, to finish with 21,878 coins in 2016.
The 2016 Proof American Platinum Eagle nearly tripled its modest sales, moving from 3,881 in 2015 to 9,151 for the 2016 issue. Not only is that nearly triple last year’s figure, but it’s also nearly double the 2014 issue of the American Platinum Eagle proof offering.
America the Beautiful coins continued a downward trend in proof mintage that set in during late 2015, affecting the final release of the 2015 collection. Each new release in the 2015 ATB Silver Coin Series met with shrinking demand, and that carried over into 2016. While the Shawnee Silver Coins jumped compared to the 2015 Saratoga Coins, the 2016 Cumberland Gap coin was down as the 2nd release, with a bump for the Harpers Ferry and Theodore Roosevelt coins, with slumping sales greeting the Fort Moultrie coin. Totals for each (in order of release first to last)
- Shawnee: 18,781
- Cumberland Gap: 18,713
- Harpers Ferry: 18,743
- Theodore Roosevelt: 18,917
- Fort Moultrie: 15,953
These figures for the 2016 ATB Silver Coins are down significantly on average from the nearly 24,000 coins per design release in 2014, and also lower than the average of roughly 20,000 coins per design in 2015.
Finally, the other big coin collection of note was the 2016 Centennial Gold Coin collection celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Mercury Dime, Standing Liberty Quarter, and Walking Liberty Half Dollar. The Mercury Gold Dime coin sold out its entire allotment of 124,910 coins by the end of 2016. The Standing Liberty Gold Quarter finished with 86,351 coins sold to date by January 1, 2017, and the Walking Liberty Gold Half Dollar had sales of 59,769 coins through the same period.
