Sales levels for United States Mint gold and silver bullion coins remained surprisingly resilient in March. During the month, the one ounce American Gold Eagle and one ounce American Silver Eagle were available for precious metals investors.
Recent reports from other world mints have indicated sharp declines in sales levels for gold bullion coins compared to the prior year. The Austrian Mint reported an 80% drop in sales for all gold coin types for the first two months of the year. The Royal British Mint reported a 50% decline in gold coin production for the first quarter.
By comparison, the US Mint has experienced a much more modest decline in gold bullion sales and an increase in silver bullion sales.
The table below presents sales figures for United States Mint bullion coin sales for March 2010, along with year to date sales totals. This report includes bullion coins sales only and does not reflect numismatic product sales, which are reported separately.
March 2010 US Mint Bullion Coin Sales
| March 2010 | Full Year 2010 | |
| American Gold Eagle 1 oz | 102,000 | 271,000 |
| American Gold Eagle 1/2 oz | 0 | 0 |
| American Gold Eagle 1/4 oz | 0 | 0 |
| American Gold Eagle 1/10 oz | 0 | 0 |
| American Silver Eagle 1 oz | 3,381,000 | 9,023,500 |
| American Gold Buffalo 1 oz | 0 | 0 |
The US Mint sold 102,000 ounces of gold bullion for March 2010. This is up from the prior month when 84,000 ounces were sold, but down from the year ago period when 136,500 ounces were sold. For the first quarter of 2010, the US Mint sold a total of 271,000 ounces of gold. This compares to sales of 342,000 ounces in the first quarter of 2009, measuring a decline of 20.8%.
The US Mint sold 3,381,000 ounces of silver bullion in March 2010. This is up by more than 50% from the prior month when 2,050,000 ounces were sold. It is also up from the year ago period when 3,132,000 ounces were sold. The 2010 first quarter sales total of 9,023,500 ounces represents an increase of 26.1% over the 2009 first quarter sales of of 7,157,000.
The dark lining to the strong performance of the US Mint's bullion coins is the doubt cast upon the status of related collectible offerings. Unless the US Mint is able to satisfy the full public demand for bullion coins, they will not produce collectible proof and uncirculated Gold and Silver Eagles. These offerings were canceled for 2009 to the disappointment of many collectors.
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Mike,
Is it possible that these coins are going overseas? I wonder if the Chinese are using our public availability laws to exchange their paper dollars for our bullion products? Does the law say that “public demand” referrers to American demand or can anybody play? Could our proof ASEs be held hostage to international finance?
This is a good question for your intrepid research.
I’m rather confused by this article. The Mint website is reporting 3,381,000 Silver Eagles for March and 397,500 for April.
Sorry about that. Figures are for March 2010.
I posted this comment last night on Coin Network to a post regarding “proof” SAE’s and thought I’d post it here too.
I don’t understand why this excuse of “we can’t produce Proof SAE’s untill public demand has been met” has just come into play as of 2009.
In years that the Mint produced Proof SAE’s (1986-2008) they usually were went on sale in January of each year (2008′s available in January 2008.)
So somehow, the Mint had been able to magically pre-determine that demand for the bullion SAE had already been met in January for the whole year. The excuse they use now is a joke!!
Why hasn’t Congress added an amendment to one of the many bills regarding coins each year to address this situation?
If I recall, last year Congress had to make an amendment to allow the Mint to sell 2009 dated Lincoln cents in 2010 because the langauge of the original bill did not address that.
So, on the one hand, maybe we have not done a good enough job of letting our Representives know what we want…but on the other hand….why should Congress be soo involved in what the Mint does…Congress should be working on much major issues like jobs.
It just seems that the Mint should have more discretion in what they produce! And why hasn’y Moy conveyed this to Congress?
Can anyone explain how the Mint determines “public demand has been met”?
9 milion silver ounces – this shows that the financial crisis isn´t over…
The reason there has been a decline is because the “buzz” is wearing off, and Washington is claiming that the economy has been saved! However, I think the reason the US Mint has fared well is because the Eagle is one of the top selling coins, and holds its value much higher than other coins. So don’t be fooled about the saved economy. I know I’ll still be collecting silver.