US Mint Sales: Sets and Gold Coins Big Gainers

The United States Mint reported a second week of rising sales, as the 2010 Proof Set attracted buyers en masse and cheaper prices lifted gold coin products.

Proof gold Buffalos rallied higher for a second straight week, and demand climbed for all eight First Spouse Gold Coins — that has not happened since the beginning of June when the Jane Pierce options were issued. There may be other reasons in play, but their price cuts last Wednesday were a factor.

Bullion 1 oz American Gold Eagles jumped 57,000 in seven days, handily leading all gold coins. A big pop? Yes. It took the first twenty-one days in July before they reached 85,000. Fractional 1/2 and 1/4 oz sizes have been stuck in the mud since the 19th, and the 1/10 oz size since the 16th. Still, consider this… if the U.S. Mint sells just 5,001 more ounces, July will rank as second best sales month in 2010 for Gold Eagles, right behind May. That is an accomplishment for a month that is historically one of the sleepiest of the year for the series.

2010 Proof Sets launched last Thursday. Their four-day sales debuted at 296,374, registering a higher daily average than 2009 Proof Sets which the Mint first reported at 437,178 through seven days. Other than stating the obvious — they are selling well — it is too early to place much emphasis on the numbers, however. Numismatic product orders tend to drop sharply as subsequent days from their launch pass. The 2010 Mint Set is a great example. They were released on the 15th and collectors purchased 200,764 in four days. One week later, as this report shows, their numbers increased by a much smaller 46,321.

For a second consecutive week, America the Beautiful Quarters Proof Sets surged. The clad set gained 5,884 versus 4,408 to 170,299 while the silver set rose 7,261 compared to 5,098 to 143,072 — almost half that of the 2009 DC/Territories Quarters Silver Proof Set.

The following sales tables provide a breakout of the most recent U.S. Mint coin sales figures.

US Mint Collector Coin Sales

(Data compare previous to current Mint sales reports)

*NLA – No Longer Available.

The collector coin sales figures above have an "as of date" of July 25, 2010.