US Mint Sales: Sets Active, Bullion Silver Eagles Top 30 Million

United States Mint numismatic product sales rebounded last week, led by sets and Silver Eagles. According to the latest Mint figures, 52 numismatic products outperformed their prior weekly gains as compared to 11 in the previous report.

Silver Eagles were in the news due to the September 15 release of the uncirculated version following a two year hiatus. Demand was strong, with debut sales at 184,967. That translates to nearly $11.2 million in revenue in the first five days.

Bullion Silver Eagles quietly reached their own milestone Monday, topping 30 million in sales this year. Last year’s annual record of 34,662,500 is in jeopardy, although the 2011-dated Silver Eagles are struggling as of late. Their September tally is hefty at over 1.4 million, but that is well short of August’s halfway point — and more than half of this month is already history.

Sales of United States Mint sets were exceptional with 10 of 13 performing better. 2011 Proof Sets showed the best weekly improvement at 7,218 versus the previous 4,063. The sets stand with a total of 829,713, which is well shy of the still-for-sale 2010-dated sets at 1.09+ million. Collectors purchased more 2011 Silver Sets as well, with those increasing 2,974 to 458,286 against the prior weekly pick-up of 1,869.

Sets and Silver Eagles held the top five numismatic selling spots for the Mint.

1. 2011-W Uncirculated American Silver Eagles (+184,967)
2. 2011 Proof Set (+7,218 to 829,713)
3. 2011-W Proof American Silver Eagles (+5,785 to 746,731)
4. 2011 Mint Set (+3,044 to 427,014)
5. 2011 Silver Proof Set (+2,974 to 458,286)

Despite recent price reductions, sales of many United States Mint gold coins weakened. The one-ounce 2011 Proof American Gold Eagle has been having a rough time, obviously going through some accounting corrections. While jumping ahead in August with a couple of weekly bursts in the thousand and two thousand range, they are limping in September. Their latest total (29,844) was actually trimmed by 80, and they advanced a slim 7 in the previous round.

Newer price cuts were implemented earlier Wednesday (again) across all of the Mint’s numismatic gold coins. Two straight weeks of reductions should support improved sales going forward.

Sales of September 11 National Medals from West Point were also depressed, falling 2,132 to 99,127. The Philadelphia-produced medals rose 628 to 60,897.

The latest US Mint sales figures for bullion and collector coins and sets are available in the following tables:

US Mint Sales: Bullion Coins

*The as of date for US Mint sales of 1-ounce and under bullion coins is Tuesday, September 20, 2011. For reference, 53,000 of the 2010-dated 1-ounce Gold Eagles remained for sale earlier this year and are included in the overall totals. The bullion sales figures also include 469,500 of the 2010-dated Silver Eagle bullion coins sold in January.

**The US Mint does not offer weekly per coin sales totals for the Olympic, Vicksburg and Chickasaw America the Beautiful 5-ounce Silver Bullion Coins. The individual totals listed above are as of Monday, September 12. As of Monday, September 19, the US Mint has sold a total of 382,100, or 900 more than the individual numbers combined.

The following are the latest tallies for US Mint collector products:

US Mint Sales: Numismatic Products

*NLA – No Longer Available.

The collector coin sales figures above have an "as of date" of September 19, 2011. Visit the United States Mint website at http://www.usmint.gov/ for more information on any of the above products, or this site’s U.S. coinage page.