Difference Between Sovereign Mints and Private Mints

If you’ve been studying precious metals for a bit, you likely have encountered mentions of both sovereign and private mints. Both are producers of precious metals products, and there is some overlap between the two, but sovereign mints and private mints are two very distinct institutions.

Key Differences From Government vs. Private

Sovereign Mints

Sovereign mints are arms of sovereign governments. Since they are part of a recognized nation, they are owned and operated by the government or its authorized agents.

Here are the primary functions of a sovereign mint:

• Produce the coined currency pieces for their home countries.
• Distribute their created coins to the public for use in trade.
• Create and authorize the design for all official coinage from the nation.
• Maintain strategic control over the nation’s relevant precious metals reserves.
• Ensure that all coins in circulation meet established quality standards.
• Produce official bullion coins for investors and collectors as a revenue generator.
• Produce commemorative coins to celebrate national events and figures.

Examples of Sovereign Mints

United States Mint

The US Mint is the issuing body for all the official coins of the United States of America. It issues both circulating and specialty coins to the public, albeit in different ways.

There are four US Mint production facilities around the country. They are located in Philadelphia, Denver, San Francisco, and at West Point. In addition, the Mint maintains its strategic precious metals reserves at Fort Knox in Kentucky, and administers its programs from its headquarters in Washington, D.C.

In addition to the humble penny, dime, quarter, and nickel, the Mint issues several popular coins for investors or collectors. Some of these products include the Gold Eagle, the Silver Eagle, and the Gold Buffalo.

Royal Canadian Mint

The Royal Canadian Mint is the official mint of Canada. It is technically a Crown corporation, meaning that it has a blend of both public and business objectives.

Effectively, though, it releases the official circulating and non-circulating coinage for use and purchase by the Canadian public. It disseminates its products to the Canadian citizenry from its locations in Ottawa and Winnipeg.

Canada uses six denominations of coins – 5¢, 10¢, 25¢, 50¢, $1, and $2. The Royal Canadian Mint has distinguished itself on the global stage by the purity of its bullion coins. The various iterations of the Canadian Maple Leaf – gold, silver, platinum, and palladium – are usually minted at a .9999 purity level, exceeding most products of other sovereign nations.

The Perth Mint

The Perth Mint represents a bit of an oddity in terms of a sovereign mint. For Australia, its official producer of its circulating coins is the Royal Australian Mint, an entity located in Australia’s capital of Canberra.

However, the Perth Mint – a holdover from Australia’s colonial days – is also an official sovereign mint, and is likely the better-known of the two corporations because of its products. Specifically, the Perth Mint produces the official numismatic and non-circulating coins of the Commonwealth of Australia.

One of the most popular products of the Perth Mint is the Gold Kangaroo – the iconic gold bullion coin of Australia. Another is the Lunar series of coins, which pay tribute to the Chinese Zodiac and are collectible both as sets and as individual pieces. Both of these are minted at a .9999 purity level, which allows the Perth Mint to remain a prominent alternative to the American Gold Buffalo and the Canadian Maple Leaf.

Austrian Mint

The Austrian Mint, or Münze Österreich, is the official mint of Austria. Because Austria is a somewhat smaller country, the Mint has but a single location. Its lone facility is in Vienna, the Austrian capital.

The Austrian Mint’s primary purpose is to issue the official coinage of Austria. Until 2002, the Mint produced the Austrian schilling. However, due to the country’s ongoing membership in the European Union, the Austrian Mint now produces the Austrian euro exclusively.

By far, the Austrian Mint’s best-known product on the world stage is the Austrian Philharmonic. This coin, minted primarily in gold and silver, pays tribute to the country’s vaunted symphony orchestra and, by extension, its deep and rich contributions to the musical world.

Private Mints

Private mints are, well, private. Instead of a sovereign mint and its status as a government entity, a private mint is a for-profit business that produces various precious metals products for investors and collectors.

So, a private mint has an avowedly different set of objectives than a sovereign mint. It seeks to make money by providing high-purity and/or custom precious metals pieces to those who desire them.

Because they are not official mints, however, you cannot get currency from a private mint. Their only products can be rounds or bars, which are valued only for their metal content and, marginally, for their designs.

However, you likely can find several offerings that emulate the designs of a country’s official currency. While they are not legal tender, they can sometimes offer a less expensive alternative to the genuine article.

Examples of Private Mints

PAMP Suisse

PAMP Suisse is one of the top private mints in the world. As you may have guessed, PAMP Suisse is a Swiss company, and was founded in Ticino in 1977.

PAMP Suisse’s primary offerings are its gold bars. There are several different bars that the company produces, including its namesake bar and the Lady Fortuna bars. All of these are minted at a .9999 purity level and are created with the highest levels of craftsmanship and technique.

PAMP Suisse also creates additional precious metals products, but they aren’t necessarily rounds in the traditional sense. Instead, they may be shaped into commemorative items like guitar picks, PEZ dispensers, and hot rod models.

Valcambi Suisse

Valcambi Suisse is another top private mint. It is also a Swiss corporation, and is older than PAMP Suisse by 16 years of service.

Like its contemporary, Valcambi creates all manner of bars and rounds in the common precious metals. In fact, Valcambi has a greater diversity of options, both in terms of their denominations and different products offered.

All of these products are minted at or near a .9999 purity level. You’re not going to be disappointed with a Valcambi Suisse purchase.

Johnson Matthey

Johnson Matthey is a venerable British company over 200 years old. It is a conglomerate, with numerous products and solutions that it offers to manufacturers or other industry professionals. Its precious metals products business, though incredibly popular and vaunted for its quality, was mostly an offshoot, and was divested to Asahi in 2015.

In doing so, the company created an unusual market for its older bars, where their metal content was no longer the sole determinant of their value. Instead, older Johnson Matthey bars share a kinship with collectible coins, in that their pedigree and provenance bears a value above the melt value.

You can still find new products bearing the Johnson Matthey name, however. There have been numerous collaborations between the company and various bar producers in recent years, and you can find JM gold and silver products if you know where to look.

Sunshine Minting

Finally, we cannot leave out one of the best American minters on the world stage. Sunshine Minting has been offering its products since 1979, and has risen to become one of, if not the, biggest suppliers of precious metals in the world.

The company’s primary business lies in silver, as its namesake is the Sunshine Silver Mine in Idaho. It is the largest supplier of blanks to the US Mint, and though its corporate headquarters are now in Nevada, it still maintains a facility and a deep connection to the silver mining in and around Coeur d’Alene.

Needless to say, the primary supplier to the US Mint for silver is a high-quality provider. All of its products are minted at the highest levels of purity and precision, and include silver rounds, silver bars, and gold bars.

Should I Invest in Sovereign or Private Mints?

There are reasons to invest in products from both types of mints. With respect to the comparison table above, it boils down to which of those elements is more or less important to you.

• Why buy sovereign – If you want to buy official products that may bear historic/numismatic value beyond the sheer melt value of the coins themselves or you want to be absolutely certain about the size, weight, purity, and design of your metal.
• Why buy private – If you want to buy as much precious metal as your budget allows or you want a greater degree of customization within your precious metal holdings.

Truthfully, your choice may vary over time based upon your finances and circumstances. So, don’t think about these two choices as right or wrong – it just needs to be right for you.

Conclusion

Regardless of how you want to proceed, we’re here to help. Let us know what kinds of products interest you, and we can work to find the best thing for you, be it sovereign or privately made.