Silver Eagles Sales Score Best August Ever, Gold Eagles Fourth

The United States Mint sold 2.13 million Silver Eagles and 82,000 Gold Eagles during the month of August. Pretty impressive. Still, if these numbers seem lower than those from July or June, that’s because they are.

From that fact alone, it would be easy to conclude that gold and silver eagle coin demand is on the retreat. But that wouldn’t exactly be accurate.

An analysis of the historical record shows that August often tends to be a weaker month for bullion American Eagles. Any decline, should therefore be almost expected and certainly not a surprise.

What every investor or collector of the series should be studying is not just the 2009 monthly trends, but the historical performance of the coins during a given month. That offers a clearer and more complete performance picture.

In point of fact, Silver Eagles had their best August ever. Period. That’s going all the way back to the series launch in 1986.

American Silver Eagle Bullion Coin Sales in August

The yellow colored coins didn’t do too shabby either. Gold Eagles registered their fourth best August ever. And again, that traces back to 1986.

American Gold Eagle Bullion Coin Sales in August

Yes, coin sales did retreat in August when compared to the prior months in 2009:

• For Gold Eagles, a 25.9% slip from June to July and another 4.7% decline from July to August.

• And for Silver Eagles, a 24.2% pullback occurred from July to August. (Sales actually increased from June to July.)

But the bottom line is that August demand for Silver Eagles has never been higher in any other year and Gold Eagle sales were racing at the front of the pack.

Further, for the first eight months of 2009, the US Mint has sold 18,764,500 Bullion Silver Eagles. Should the Mint stop selling the silver coins today, 2009 would still rank as the second best year ever for them, right behind 2008.

838,500 Bullion Gold Eagles have been sold this year to the end of August, already — and with still four months of sales left — placing 2009 in the fifth position for best yearly sales since 1986.

2009 sales have been blazing with record-setting paces for both coins. Later month figures from prior years actually suggest sales could be even more robust for bullion eagles.

The Mint has not indicated when the collector proof and uncirculated options of the 2009 American Eagle coins will be issued. By law, the Mint must strike bullion coins to meet demand. No such law exists for the collector versions, and they have therefore been forced to the back of the line this year.

The United States Mint publishes bullion eagle sales figures at http://www.usmint.gov/mint_programs/american_eagles/index.cfm?action=sales&year=2009. The site Coin Sales Figures also offers interactive charts of bullion coin sales by year.