Demand usually slackens for United States Mint bullion coins during summer months. That has not been the case so far for this year.
Bullion coin sales soared for a second month in a row, U.S. Mint figures for July show, with American Gold Eagles the highest in 2-1/4 years and American Silver Eagles the best since January despite a nearly 3-week suspension in sales.
Their increases were realized against a backdrop of tumbling precious metals with gold near a 5-1/2-year low at below $1,100 an ounce and silver struggling under $15 an ounce.
American Eagle Silver Bullion Coins
July sales of American Silver Eagles jumped 5,529,000; advancing 14.2% from what was a surprisingly high June total of 4,840,000. They leapt 180% above the year-ago level in July of 1,975,000. The tally came just 1,000 below January, a month in which sales are always strong since that is when coins with a year’s new date are issued.
American Silver Eagle sales were muted between July 8 and July 26 because the U.S. Mint ran out of inventory and had to rebuild its supply.
Silver Eagles total 27,315,000 through the first seven months of 2015, up 4.6% from the same period last year when 26,103,500 coins moved. Last year, the .999 fine silver coins ended at 44,006,000 for an annual record. They have been produced annually since 1986.
American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins
American Gold Eagles rallied 170,000 ounces last month, the most since sales of 209,500 ounces in April 2013. The mark more than doubles the prior month’s 76,000 ounces, which is well above par for the time, and it is nearly six times higher than a year earlier when sales ended at 30,000 ounces.
In the January to July period, Gold Eagles total 443,000 ounces for a 49.7% pick up over the 296,000 ounces delivered through the period in 2014.
American Eagle gold coins have a 22-karat composition and come in four size options — 1 ounce, 1/2 ounce, 1/4 ounce and 1/10 ounce. These correspond to denominations inscribed on the coins of $50, $25, $10 and $5. All sizes advanced in July, with a breakout for each coin published further below.
American Buffalo Gold Bullion Coins
American Buffalo gold coins moved up 32,000 for the strongest monthly total since January. Sales climbed 52.4% from June’s 21,000 and they were nearly six times higher than a year earlier when 5,500 sold.
Orders of the one-ounce, .9999 fine gold coin through the first seven months of this year log in at 128,500, up 9.8% from the 117,000 ordered during the same seven months in 2014.
ATB Five Ounce Silver Bullion Coins
July sales of America the Beautiful Five Ounce Silver Bullion Coins were stunted with only one design available and that was in a limited capacity. The first two 2015-dated ATB coins sold out earlier in the year and the next one does not launch until Sept. 30.
This year’s third release, the Blue Ridge Parkway coin, was in play for part of July. It launched and temporarily sold out on the same day, June 22, and didn’t return for sale until July 7. It turned up 10,000 for the month before selling out for good at 45,000, the highest in the series since coins from 2011.
Five-ounce bullion sales this year by design breakdown with:
- 2015 Blue Ridge Parkway Five Ounce Silver Bullion Coins rising 10,000 to 45,000 in July and selling out.
- 2015 Kisatchie National Forest Five Ounce Silver Bullion Coins selling out in May at 42,000.
- 2015 Homestead National Monument of American Five Ounce Silver Bullion Coins selling out in March at 35,000.
- 2014 Shenandoah National Park Five Ounce Silver Coins advancing 600 in January and selling out at 25,000.
Orders of 99.9% pure silver coins reached 122,600 coins or 613,000 ounces through the seven months in 2015. Last year’s coins posted slower totals of 69,500 coins or 347,500 ounce through July.
US Mint Bullion Sales by Product
Below are U.S. Mint bullion sales by product type. For comparative purposes, included are totals from a year ago and from prior months in 2015.
| United States Mint Bullion Coin Sales (# of coins) | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 2015 | Feb 2015 | March 2015 | April 2015 | May 2015 | June 2015 | July 2015 | YTD Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 oz Gold Coins | 51,500 | 12,500 | 35,000 | 23,500 | 13,500 | 62,500 | 144,400 | 343,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 oz Gold Coins | 18,000 | 2,000 | 5,000 | 4,000 | 3,000 | 4,000 | 10,000 | 46,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 oz Gold Coins | 36,000 | 0 | 8,000 | 4,000 | 10,000 | 12,000 | 28,000 | 98,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 oz Gold Coins | 115,000 | 50,000 | 70,000 | 30,000 | 40,000 | 85,000 | 135,000 | 525,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 oz Gold Coins | 34,500 | 12,000 | 9,500 | 10,000 | 9,500 | 21,000 | 32,000 | 128,500 |
| ATB 5 oz Silver Coins | 600 | 20,000 | 15,000 | 30,000 | 12,000 | 35,000 | 10,000 | 122,600 |
| 2015 American Eagle 1 oz Silver Coins | 5.53M | 3.022M | 3.519M | 2.8515M | 2.0235M | 4.84M | 5.529M | 27.315M |
U.S. Mint bullion coins are sold to authorized distributors who resell them to the public and other companies like bullion and coin dealers. Bullion coins, whether gold or silver, are usually available for a few percentage points above the latest value of their precious metal content.
Russell the old 90 year ish sage says, “buy as many MONSTER green boxes of American Silver Eagles as you can afford.”
Guess he expects something to happen.