The United States Mint is the world’s largest producer of precious metal coins, by volume, each year. Its sales figures are closely watched by many as a sign of the health of the industry overall. In this post we’re looking at the latest sales figures available from the US Mint regarding its bullion and proof programs.
Bullion Coin Sales
To date in September, US Mint bullion products have posted their strongest gains since the end of June and first week of July. Gold coins surged by 25,000 ounces in the most recent week of sales figures from the US mint, with 22,000 ounces in the American Gold Eagle bullion release and 3,000 ounce for the American Gold Buffalo coin.
So far in September, sales were up slightly compared to August for the ½ oz. and ¼ oz. American Gold Eagles, and down significantly for the 1 oz. and 1/10 oz. American Gold Eagles. American Gold Buffalo coins were down by 1,500 coins in September compared to August, with strong sales to date for 2016 of 139,000.
Silver bullion coins shot up significantly over the past week, going from 177,500 ounces to 745,000 ounces for the latest week in September that data was available. The American Silver Eagle led the way with 740,000 ounces, with America the Beautiful coins advancing 5,000 ounces.
In fact, the American Silver Eagle passed the 30-million mark Tuesday of this week, reaching a 2016 sales total to date of 30,155,500 coins. To date, 1.255 million American Silver Eagle bullion coins have sold in September, just behind the 1.280 million in August.
The bullion version of the 2016 Theodore Roosevelt ATB Silver Coin is slowing, with sales of just 2,500 in September compared to 27,500 in August.
Collectible Coin Sales
We’ll start where we left off, with the ATB Theodore Roosevelt Coin. The bullion version might be moving slowly, as expected, by the collector’s version is hot at the moment. Roughly 1,951,520 coins sold in the first week the collectible version was available to order. However, that figure is the lowest initial sales since the 2014 Everglades National Park release.
The 2016 Standing Liberty Centennial Gold Quarter, the second release in the 24-karat gold series honoring the centennial of some of the nation’s greatest historic designs is off to a strong start. Released on Thursday, September 8th, the coins had first-day sales of 47,884 and opening weekend sales in total of 53,378 after an addition 5,494 sold over the first weekend. Just 100,000 of these coins have been allotted for sale.
Now the coin everyone looks for, the Proof American Silver Eagle and its brilliant 30th Anniversary edge lettering release. The US Mint announced earlier this week that sales for the first three days reached 322,317 pieces. That’s the highest figure for the series’ opening days since the 2011 issue reached 367,623, albeit over a six-day period, not three.
As you might expect for a 30th anniversary release, the Proof American Silver Eagle is available at $53.95 as the initial issue price, which represents a $5 increase from 2015 and the highest issue price since 2013’s $62.95.
