The United States Mint will begin accepting orders for the 2014-dated American Silver Eagle bullion coins on January 13, 2014. Coins produced at both the West Point and San Francisco Mints will be available, although sales will be subject to the US Mint’s allocation program which rations available supplies amongst authorized purchasers.
The start of sales for the 2014-dated coins follows an extended gap in availability for the popular bullion product. The US Mint made their final weekly allocation of 2013-dated coins on December 9, 2013. For several weeks leading up to this date, available quantities had been lower than typical, presumably since production had partially shifted towards 2014-dated coins. The start of sales for the 2014-dated coins on January 13, 2014 leaves more than a one month gap in availability that will likely add pent up demand to the already seasonally high demand for the coins.
According to information recently distributed to authorized purchasers, the West Point Mint will have an inventory of 2014-dated Silver Eagles produced at both the West Point and San Francisco facilities available on January 13, 2014. Orders for the opening day will be fulfilled randomly with boxes sourced from either of the two mint facilities.
Going forward, the San Francisco Mint will continue to produce Silver Eagle bullion coins on a weekly basis which will be transported to the West Point Mint for final fulfillment. Authorized purchasers will not be able to specify the mint facility for their orders. The coins can be identified to their production facility based on the unique “banding” included on the green outer storage boxes.
The US Mint anticipates that they will have approximately 3.5 million coins to allocate on January 13, 2014. They have indicated that allocated quantities for the following week will be much lower. The initial amount of coins available will be lower compared to the prior year.
Last year, the US Mint recorded sales of nearly 4 million Silver Eagle bullion coins on the opening day of availability for the 2013-dated coins. The strong opening was followed by a temporary sell out, with sales resumed under the allocation program which remained in effect throughout the year. In January 2013, Silver Eagle sales had totaled 7,498,000 coins. Full year sales would reach 42,675,000 coins, setting a new annual record.
Last year they sold 6 million coins before the ran out, of bullion and they only shut down production for 3 weeks. What was the point of stopping sales if they can not even allocate enough bullion to meet last years known demand?