Perth Mint Gold and Silver Bullion Sales Higher on New Releases

During the month of September, gold bullion sales at the Perth Mint reached their highest monthly level of the year and silver bullion sales came in at the third highest monthly level of the year. These results come amidst the release of new designs for popular bullion coin series.

On September 1, 2014, the Perth Mint launched the 2015-dated Australian Kookaburra silver bullion coins. To celebrate 25 years of issue, the original reverse design from 1990 was used along with a dual date of “1990-2015” and a “P25” mint mark. A maximum mintage of 300,000 1oz coins was established, with 10oz and 1 kilo coins available without a maximum.

Also on September 1, the Perth Mint released the Australian Lunar Series II Year of the Goat gold and silver bullion coins. The silver coins were offered in 1/2oz, 1oz, 2oz, 5oz, 10oz, 1 kilo, and 10 kilo sizes with a maximum mintage of 300,000 for the 1oz size. The gold coins were offered in 1/20oz, 1/10oz, 1/4oz, 1/2oz, 1oz, 2oz, 100z, 1 kilo, and 10 kilo sizes with a maximum mintage of 30,000 1oz coins.

For September, sales of gold as coins and minted bars reached 68,781 troy ounces. This amount was up sharply from the prior month when sales had reached 36,369 ounces. The amount was roughly flat compared to the year ago period of September 2013 when sales had reached 68,488 ounces.

Year to date gold bullion sales are now 371,244 ounces, trailing the total sales from the year ago period of 561,031 ounces.

Sales of silver as coins and minted bars reached 756,839 troy ounces for September. Despite the typical boost provided by new design releases, the monthly sales were down compared to the prior month when sales had reached 818,856. The sales were also down compared to the prior year period of September 2013 when sales had reached 961,977 ounces.

For the year to date, silver bullion sales are now 5,582,019 ounces. This falls below the total sales from the comparable year ago period of 6,124,076 ounces.