US Mint Sales: 72 Products Outperform, Gold Coins Dominate

The United States Mint enjoyed several days of robust sales. 72 of its collector products outperformed their previous weekly gains, according to the latest US Mint sales figures.

Gold prices registered a series of four straight daily records last week, and that apparently directed buyers’ attention toward US Mint gold coins. Of the bureau’s 16 collector coins that are composed of the yellow metal, each and every one of them shined brighter than the previous week. The standout in gold coins was the one-ounce 2011 Proof American Gold Eagle, soaring 2,362 against the previous week’s 401.

US Mint gold products will be challenged this week in achieving the same level of demand as last week, given that their prices were raised on Wednesday.

Interest in US Mint silver products was high also, but in contrast to the gold coins and despite surging silver prices, they did not score weekly gains across the board. Of the Mint’s 13 collector silver products, 10 of them did notch higher week-over-week sales. The three that weakened included the uncirculated 2011 Army Silver Dollar (+83 versus +92), last year’s Silver Proof Set (+383 versus +424), and the Grand Canyon Five Ounce Silver Uncirculated Coin (+1,192 versus +1,534).

In units totals, the Mint’s top 5 numismatic products included:

1. Proof Silver Eagles (+52,050)
2. 2011 Proof Sets (+5,140)
3. 2011 Silver Proof Sets (+2,999)
4. 2011 Mint Sets (+2,485)
5. 1 oz. 2011 Proof American Gold Eagle (+2,362)

Last week’s unexpected 5,063 increase of the Lincoln Presidential $1 Coin & First Spouse Medal Set proved to be an error. This week its sales were sliced by -4,946 for a new total of 12,817. The medal set was the only US Mint product to move in a negative direction, likely the result of an accounting correction.

Bullion coins were a bit mixed in performance. The American Buffalo Gold bullion coin posted one of the best seven-days in months with a pick-up of 6,000, and the 1/2 oz. American Gold Eagle showed up on the sales board for the first time since early July. American Silver Eagle bullion coins, however, slowed significantly since last week, as highlighted in the following US Mint sales table:

US Mint Sales: Bullion Coins

*The as of date for US Mint sales of bullion coins is Wednesday, July 20, 2011. **While the Mint did not provide new per coin sales totals for the Olympic and Vicksburg America the Beautiful 5-ounce Silver Bullion Coins, it did indicate that the series advanced by 8,600 coins since last week, bringing their total July total to 11,400. The individuals Olympic and Vicksburg totals listed above are as of Monday, July 11.

For reference, 53,000 of the 2010-dated 1 oz Gold Eagles remained for sale earlier this year and are included in the overall totals. The bullion sales figures also include 469,500 of the 2010-dated Silver Eagle bullion coins sold in January.

The following are the latest tallies for US Mint collector products:

US Mint Sales: Numismatic Products

*NLA – No Longer Available.

The collector coin sales figures above have an "as of date" of July 18, 2011.