US Mint Sales: Grand Canyon Silver Coin Sold Out, Bullion Coins Soar

Grand Canyon National Park 5 Ounce Silver Uncirculated Coins sold out Wednesday and the latest United States Mint sales figures provide the debut performance of the Glacier Quarter Three-Coin Set.

In other sales highlights, collector products took a back seat to investment-grade bullion coins which soared in August.

United States Mint Bullion Coins Rally in August

U.S. Mint bullion coins rallied in August. Each of the one-ounce bullion coins registered their second best monthly totals of the year. The feat is astonishing as August is typically a slow month for bullion as compared to the seasonally stronger fall and winter months. In sales:

• 24-karat American Gold Buffalo bullion coins rose 28,000 in August, more than doubling the previous month. The 2011-dated issues were introduced in March, which remains the top month with sales of 38,000.

• One-ounce 22-karat American Gold Eagle bullion coins advanced 103,500 in August, substantially surpassing all but the 2011-dated introduction month of January. Across all sizes, 112,000 ounces sold in August. In contrast, 64,500 ounces departed United States Mint inventories in July and 61,500 ounces in June.

• American Silver Eagle bullion coins reached 3,679,500 in August, easily marking the second best month in 2011 and coming in as the fourth best selling month since the series was introduced in 1986. January 2011 continues to hold the record at 6,422,000, followed by November 2010 (4,260,000) and December 1986 (3,696,000).

Grand Canyon Silver Coin Sold Out

The United States Mint moved the Grand Canyon silver coin to the sold out, or no longer available, section of the website. Released on June 29, the five ouncer is the fourth issue in the collector series and the slowest one to sell out. Although, according to the United States Mint sales report from last week, the Grand Canyon coin had already topped its published maximum mintage of 27,000 by 154. Another 620 were added in the latest round, giving the Mint even more room to bring the total back toward 27,000 when it processes returns and cancelled orders.

Until the 2011-dated coins are launched, the Mount Hood National Forest 5 Ounce Silver Uncirculated Coin is the only issue in the series that is available from the Mint. It advanced 303, or less than half of its previous weekly gain of 640. Mount Hood’s total stands at 19,645, leaving 7,355 left.

Glacier Quarter Three-Coin Set Sales Debut

The Glacier Quarter Three-Coin Set was released on Wednesday, August 24. Collectors grabbed 10,620 during its debut period, giving it a mostly comparable start to the first six sets. Past openings include Hot Springs at 10,684; Yellowstone at 11,115; Yosemite at 11,441; Grand Canyon at 12,418; Mount Hood at 11,282; and Gettysburg at 12,500.

Weaker Gold and Silver Collector Product Sales

Volatile gold and silver prices coupled with United States Mint product suspensions seemed to have finally taken a toll on sales of collector gold and silver coins. A few examples:

• 2011 Proof American Silver Eagles were suspended for most of last week. While logging mid 30,000 gains during each of the previous two weeks, their latest weekly advance was cut by two-thirds to 10,593.

• Sales fell for silver medals in commemoration of the 10th anniversary of 9/11. Each of their three previous weekly gains hit at least 17,000. The latest was just 418. West Point struck 9/11 Silver Medals are now at 95,637 while Philadelphia minted medals are at 56,679.

• One-ounce 2011 Proof American Gold Eagles added 255. The last two weekly increases were 2,104 and 1,255.

The Mint’s top five numismatic product sellers have significantly lower totals than previous weeks in August.

Top five United States Mint selling products:

1. Glacier Quarter Three-Coin Set (+10,620)
2. 2011 Proof American Silver Eagles (+10,593 versus prior +36,981)
3. 2011 Proof Set (+5,377)
4. 2011 Mint Set (+2,999)
5. 2011 Silver Proof Set (+2,173)

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 Wednesday, August 31, 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 Tuesday, August 30.

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 August 29, 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 United States coins page.