Bullion demand in May for Australian silver products increased for a fourth month in a row, the latest figures from The Perth Mint of Australia show. The Mint’s data also reflected solid strength for its gold products after sales slowed in April.
The Mint’s bullion gains measured against a second month of tumbling precious metals with May LBMA prices falling 3.8% for gold and 7.1% for silver.
Perth Mint Bullion Sales in May 2022
Perth Mint sales in May of minted silver coins and silver bars combined to 2,217,582 ounces — the most since January, marking gains of 4.6% from April and 30.4% from May 2021.
"The upward trend in sales of silver coins has been in play for a few years and orders in May confirmed it is set to continue awhile yet," said General Manager Minted Products, Neil Vance. "We’ve been running at maximum output for some months but are always looking for additional manufacturing efficiencies to be able to meet the needs of our distributors worldwide."
The Mint’s year-to-date silver sales at 10,006,195 ounces are 23.7% higher than the 8,092,608 ounces sold during through the same period last year.
May sales of the Mint’s gold coins and gold bars combined to 98,515 ounces, registering increases of 21.7% from April and 8.1% from May 2021.
"Demand for gold coins was also strong, boosted by the US market where we fulfilled some large orders for fractionals (1/2oz or smaller) during the month," Vance said.
Year-to-date gold sales at 440,813 ounces are 15.8% lower than the 523,462 ounces sold in the first five months of last year.
Perth Mint Gold and Silver Sales by Month
Below is a monthly summary of Perth Mint bullion sales from May 2021 to May 2022. The figures show monthly ounces of gold and silver shipped as minted products by The Perth Mint to wholesale and retail customers worldwide. It excludes sales of cast bars and other Group activities including sales of allocated/unallocated precious metal for storage by the Depository.
| Perth Mint Bullion Sales (in troy ounces) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Silver | Gold | |
| May 2022 | 2,217,582 | 98,515 |
| April 2022 | 2,119,491 | 80,941 |
| March 2022 | 1,649,634 | 121,997 |
| February 2022 | 1,632,323 | 72,651 |
| January 2022 | 2,387,165 | 66,709 |
| December 2021 | 1,733,293 | 54,861 |
| November 2021 | 1,530,598 | 115,872 |
| October 2021 | 1,352,275 | 59,750 |
| September 2021 | 1,789,926 | 98,753 |
| August 2021 | 1,467,229 | 53,976 |
| July 2021 | 1,302,723 | 70,658 |
| June 2021 | 1,823,029 | 72,910 |
| May 2021 | 1,700,807 | 91,146 |
I stopped collecting two years, before the spread between futures and physical blew out. Why are Austrian Silver Philharmonic so cheap compared to other bullion?
I don’t know the reason(s) why Austria Silver Philharmonic bullion coins (and the Australia Silver Kangaroo) are relatively cheaper than other bullion coins worldwide. For a real-time price comparison of the world’s top 1-ounce silver bullion coins, here is a rank listing by price based on today’s closing silver spot price for new 2022 dated coins: Austria Philharmonic = $27.66 Australia Kangaroo = $27.66 South Africa Krugerrand = $28.97 Great Britain Britannia = $29.47 Australia Koala = $30.17 Canada Maple Leaf = $31.17 China Panda = $35.36 America Eagle = $36.16 Australia Kookaburra = $52.18 Mexico Libertad = $56.09 (for… Read more »
Rich, thanks for posting the values of the various bullion coins. I think the price variance comes down to two main issues, plus some other minor reasons. demand & eye appeal. Philharmonic coins are flat looking, boring with little artistic eye appeal. On the other spectrum are beautiful coins such as the eagle and Libertad. Eagles are the world standard with very high mintage artistic beauty and quality. The libertad & kookaburra are very limited in mintage and I think buyers of these feel they can do better down the road resale wise with these limited and beautiful coins even… Read more »
HI major D,
One reason I could think of is if you feel you will need to someday use your precious metals as money, it would be easier to “make change” with coins rather than a large bar. Another reason I could think of is the upfront cost to buy 1 bar as opposed to 1 coin. If you do not have much money you can buy a coin regularly but would not be able to afford a bar very often.
Hahaha, shows what I know about bars. I guess I should have realized there were 1 oz bars, but I did not even think of it.
I buy coins and I know things. A bad habit I guess.