The United States Mint has fewer American Eagle silver bullion coins to sell this week after demand for them spiked last week. The bureau has rationed sales of Silver Eagles since their return after temporarily selling out in July.
This week’s allocation fell 18.7% to 900,000 coins. Last week’s supply slipped 6.7% to 1,107,500 coins from the prior week’s limit of 1,187,000 coins. The next weekly allocation will be announced on Nov. 23.
U.S. Mint distributors last week ordered all available coins for the first time in five weeks, driving Silver Eagle sales to the highest level in two months. The gains happened in a backdrop of plunging precious metals with silver logging an 11-week low and gold falling to a 5-3/4-year low. (Last week, orders for U.S. Mint gold coins jumped the most in nearly three months. The 2015 $10 American Gold Eagle actually sold out.)
Even with weekly limits, sales of the one-ounce, 99.9% pure silver coins at 42,029,500 for the year continue to track an annual record. They are 6.7% higher than a year earlier when sales reached 39,381,000 coins through Nov. 13, 2014. Last year, the coins ended at an all-time high of 44,006,000.
The U.S. Mint does not sell American Eagle silver bullion coins directly to the public. They are sold through a network of authorized purchasers. AP’s consist of major coin and precious metals dealers, brokerage companies, and other participating financial intermediaries. They must pay $2 more than the spot value of each coin they buy.
