February sales of American Eagle gold and silver bullion coins slowed from January but were sharply higher from a year ago.
No one logically expected United States Mint bullion sales in February to surpass those from January. The start of a year tends to be a superb time for American Eagles since that is when newly dated coins debut. It is the year-over-year totals that impress, especially for silver bullion, as shown in the following table.
| American Eagle Year-Over-Year February Sales | ||
|---|---|---|
| Gold Eagle (oz) | Silver Eagles (oz) | |
| Feb 2013 | 80,500 | 3,368,500 |
| Feb 2012 | 21,000 | 1,490,000 |
| Feb 2011 | 92,500 | 3,240,000 |
| Feb 2010 | 84,000 | 2,050,000 |
| Feb 2009 | 113,500 | 2,125,000 |
| Feb 2008 | 27,500 | 200,000 |
| Feb 2007 | 4,000 | 500,000 |
| Feb 2006 | 31,500 | 993,000 |
| Feb 2005 | 26,000 | 500,000 |
| Feb 2004 | 55,500 | 1,281,000 |
2013 American Eagle Silver Bullion Coins
U.S. Mint American Eagle silver coins notched strong sales even as buyers were limited in how many they could order. With initial Silver Eagle supplies sold out for a time in January, the U.S. Mint continues to ration dealer buying while it rebuilds inventory.
February sales of bullion Silver Eagles hit 3,358,500 coins, which was down more than half from January’s all-time monthly sales record of 7,498,000. Yet, the level is more than double the sales of 1,490,000 from February of last year. The series of 99.9% pure silver coins launched in 1986. Last month was the strongest February on the books.
2013 American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins
February sales of American Eagle gold coins totaled 80,500 ounces. That was well off from the 150,000 ounces sold in January, the highest monthly total since July 2010, but blasted past the 21,000 ounces moved in February 2012. Since October, monthly sales of the 22-karat gold coins have surpassed all prior year-over-year monthly totals.
American Buffalo Gold Bullion Coins
February sales of American Buffalo gold coins reached 11,500 ounces compared to 72,500 ounces from the previous month when sales were the strongest since October 2009. The year-ago total was 7,000 ounces.
American Eagle Palladium Bullion Coins
In a quick update, the U.S. Mint has said the American Eagle Palladium bullion coin study is ready for Congress. It is due to be delivered to Congress around the first week of March. If the study says the coins can be produced and distributed at no cost to the tax payers, the U.S. Mint will begin selling Palladium Eagles within a year of Congress receiving the study.
America the Beautiful Five Ounce Silver Bullion Coins
Finally, February sales of America the Beautiful Five Ounce Silver Bullion Coins totaled 14,340 coins, down from the previous month’s 28,960 coins but stomping the 300 coin amount from the same period last year.
The U.S. Mint continues to offer distributors a discount on older 2011-dated coins, making them sell faster than the 2012-dated issues. The 2013-dated coins have not been released.
ATB five ounce bullion coins have February and all-time sales where:
- 2011 Olympic Silver Coins were unchanged at 104,900
- 2011 Vicksburg Silver Coins advanced 4,200 in February for a total of 47,700
- 2011 Chickasaw Silver Coins climbed 4,240 for the month for a total of 39,900
- 2012 El Yunque Silver Coins added 2,100 for a total of 24,000
- 2012 Chaco Culture Silver Coins gained 3,800 in February for a total of 23,800
- 2012 Acadia Silver Coins were unchanged at 25,400
- 2012 Hawai’i Silver Coins were unchanged at 20,000
- 2012 Denali Silver Coins were unchanged at 20,000
Below is a breakdown of the latest U.S. Mint bullion coin sales by product type. For comparative purposes, added are monthly sales totals from a year ago and for February.
| February Sales US Mint Bullion Coins (# of coins) |
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Last Year February | January 2013 | February 2013 | YTD Sales | ||
| American Eagle Gold (1 oz) | 20,000 | 124,500 | 68,000 | 192,500 | |
| American Eagle Gold (1/2 oz) | 0 | 17,000 | 5,000 | 22,000 | |
| American Eagle Gold (1/4 oz) | 2,000 | 24,000 | 12,000 | 36,000 | |
| American Eagle Gold (1/10 oz) | 5,000 | 110,000 | 70,000 | 180,000 | |
| American Buffalo Gold (1 oz) | 7,000 | 72,500 | 11,500 | 84,000 | |
| ATB Silver Coins (5 oz) | 300 | 28,960 | 14,340 | 43,300 | |
| American Silver Eagle | 6.107M | 7.498M | 3.3685M | 10.8665M | |
All sales above are in number of bullion coins sold, not in the amount of ounces.
Does anyone know how much the mint discount is for the 2011 ATB 5 oz and why it is not being passed on to the public?
Boz, the 2011-dated ATB 5 oz bullion coins are sold by the U.S. Mint to its distributors for $8 per coin over spot compared to the normal $9.75. Distributors must order the five ouncers in 100 coin increments. As another comparison, the 1 oz American Eagle silver bullion coins are sold by the Mint for $2 per coin over spot.