Demand for U.S. bullion products retreated in October from September and from a year earlier, data from the United States Mint shows.
The U.S. Mint’s flagship American Eagle bullion coins logged their lowest monthly sales since May. With that said, American Silver Eagles continue to track an annual record and American Gold Eagles by August had already surpassed their sales in 2014.
American Eagle Silver Bullion Coins
To prevent periods of extended suspensions, the U.S. Mint has rationed weekly sales of Silver Eagles since their return after temporarily selling out in July. Through the summer months, a week’s allocation was lucky to last two days. That hasn’t been the case lately. For a third straight time last week, U.S. Mint distributors did not order all of the allotted coins.
October sales of American Silver Eagles still ended strong at 3,788,000 coins.
In headline comparisons, the tally marks a 0.4% reduction from orders of 3,804,500 coins in September and a stiffer decline of 34.6% from October 2014 when sales reached 5,790,000 coins.
Year-to-date Silver Eagle sales stand at 39,842,500 coins, advancing 4.7% from the same period in 2014 when 38,041,000 sold. Last year, the 1-ounce, .999 fine silver coins hit 44,006,000 for an annual record.
American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins
American Gold Eagles advanced in October by 34,000 ounces, sliding 72.9% from the 125,500 ounces sold in September and dropped by almost half from the 67,500 ounces delivered a year earlier.
Sales through the first ten months of 2015 total to 704,000 ounces for a 57.7% pick up over the 446,500 ounces ordered through the same time last year. This year’s sales are already 34.2% higher than the 524,500 ounces moved through all 12 months of 2014.
American Eagle gold coins have a 22-karat gold 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. For an eighth straight month. A breakout for each coin is available further below.
American Buffalo Gold Bullion Coins
American Buffalo gold coins climbed 10,500 last month, dropping 52.3% from the prior month’s 22,000 ounces and falling 50% from sales of 21,000 ounces in October 2014.
Sales of the one-ounce, .9999 fine gold coins for the year are 181,000, marking a 12.8% increase from the 160,500 coins ordered during the same ten months of last year.
ATB Five Ounce Silver Bullion Coins
America the Beautiful Five Ounce Silver Bullion Coins logged in at zero for the month because there wasn’t any for sale. The first four 2015-dated coins sold out earlier and the next one won’t launch until Nov. 30.
Five-ounce bullion sales this year by design breakdown with:
- 2015 Bombay Hook Five Ounce Silver Bullion Coins selling out in September at 45,000.
- 2015 Blue Ridge Parkway Five Ounce Silver Bullion Coins selling out in July at 45,000.
- 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 the 99.9% pure silver coins hit 167,600 coins or 838,000 ounces through October 2015. Last year’s issues through the same time posted sharply slower sales of 93,600 coins or 468,000 ounces.
US Mint Bullion Sales by Product
Tables below offer U.S. Mint bullion sales by product. The first table offers sales in October of last year and the months between May and October 2015. The second table presents 2015 monthly sales figures between January and May. Totals are in the number of bullion coins sold.
| United States Mint Bullion Coin Sales (# of coins) | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Last Year Oct | June 2015 | July 2015 | Aug 2015 | Sept 2015 | Oct 2015 | YTD Sales | ||
| $50 American Eagle 1 oz Gold Coins | 57,500 | 62,500 | 144,400 | 78,500 | 98,500 | 26,000 | 546,000 | |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 oz Gold Coins | 6,000 | 4,000 | 10,000 | 8,000 | 9,000 | 4,000 | 67,000 | |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 oz Gold Coins | 8,000 | 12,000 | 28,000 | 24,000 | 20,000 | 4,000 | 146,000 | |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 oz Gold Coins | 50,000 | 85,000 | 135,000 | 130,000 | 175,000 | 50,000 | 880,000 | |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 oz Gold Coins | 21,000 | 21,000 | 32,000 | 20,000 | 22,000 | 10,500 | 181,000 | |
| ATB 5 oz Silver Coins | 5,100 | 35,000 | 10,000 | 0 | 45,000 | 0 | 167,600 | |
| 2015 American Eagle 1 oz Silver Coins | 5.79M | 4.84M | 5.529M | 4.935M | 3.8045M | 3.788M | 39.8425M | |
| United States Mint Bullion Coin Sales (# of coins) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 2015 | Feb 2015 | March 2015 | April 2015 | May 2015 | YTD Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 oz Gold Coins | 51,500 | 12,500 | 35,000 | 23,500 | 13,500 | 546,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 oz Gold Coins | 18,000 | 2,000 | 5,000 | 4,000 | 3,000 | 67,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 oz Gold Coins | 36,000 | 0 | 8,000 | 4,000 | 10,000 | 146,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 oz Gold Coins | 115,000 | 50,000 | 70,000 | 30,000 | 40,000 | 880,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 oz Gold Coins | 34,500 | 12,000 | 9,500 | 10,000 | 9,500 | 181,000 |
| ATB 5 oz Silver Coins | 600 | 20,000 | 15,000 | 30,000 | 12,000 | 167,600 |
| 2015 American Eagle 1 oz Silver Coins | 5.53M | 3.022M | 3.519M | 2.8515M | 2.0235M | 39.8425M |
The U.S. Mint sells bullion coins to authorized distributors who resell them to the public and to 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.
