The United States Mint has sold 110,500 one-ounce American Buffalo $50 Gold Bullion Coins since they were released on Thursday, Oct. 15, 2009.
To place that in perspective, in less than two weeks bullion dealers have purchased 64.2 percent of the total (172,000) that was sold in all of 2008.
There appeared to a touch of dry spell in sales for several days. The US Mint generally updates bullion figures daily, but the Gold Buffalos remained at 86,000 from last Wednesday until Tuesday morning when the tally jumped to 106,500. By close of business Tuesday, numbers were at 110,500.
The Mint will begin selling the collector proof Buffalo coins this Thursday at noon ET. Demand is expected to be fierce. No order limits are in place.
The other available gold bullion coin from the Mint is the one-ounce American Eagle, which has been on sale all year. 1,056,500 of these have been sold, with 102,500 in the month of October (as of this writing). The Mint announced it will offer fractional 2009 American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins in the one-half ounce, one-quarter ounce, and one-tenth ounce weights on December 3. No collector versions will be minted in 2009.
The following table shows 2008 and 2009 Gold Buffalo sales as well as 2009 American Eagle Gold sales.
US Mint Sales of 1 oz Bullion Coins
| 2008 Gold Buffalos | 2009 Gold Buffalos | 2009 Gold Eagles | |
| January | 21,500 | 0 | 92,000 |
| February | 6,000 | 0 | 113,500 |
| March | 15,000 | 0 | 136,500 |
| April | 13,000 | 0 | 147,500 |
| May | 5,500 | 0 | 65,000 |
| June | 5,500 | 0 | 116,000 |
| July | 9,500 | 0 | 86,000 |
| August | 34,500 | 0 | 82,000 |
| September | 36,000 | 0 | 115,500 |
| October* | 0 | 110,500 | 102,500 |
| November | 25,500 | – | – |
| December | 0 | – | – |
| Total* | 172,000 | 110,500 | 1,056,500 |
*Figures as of Oct. 27.
The US Mint sells bullion gold coins for a small amount over the current spot price of gold, but only to authorized purchasers. The authorized purchasers in turn resell the coins to coin dealers, precious metal providers and/or directly to the public.
For more information on the coins, refer to 2009 Gold Buffalo Coins.
