October Demand for United States Mint bullion products surged for gold coins and climbed a bit for silver coins.
For the Mint’s most popular bullion coins, sales in October over the prior month more than tripped for American Gold Eagles and American Silver Eagles solidified their move toward an annual record that should become a reality within days. A summary across U.S. Mint bullion products for the month follows.
2013 American Eagle Silver Bullion Coins
U.S. Mint sales of American Eagle silver coins reached 3,087,000 in October, marking a modest 2.5% improvement over September’s total of 3,013,000 yet a slight 2.1% decline from sales of 3,153,000 during October of last year.
There has been a number of "best-ever" sales months this year for the Silver Eagles. Not in October 2013, however. Still, last month ranks as the third highest October and the 25th strongest month in the 323 that have passed since the .999 pure silver coin series debuted in November 1986.
For the January through October period, American Silver Eagles scored sales of 39,175,000. Only one year through all 12 of its months ranked higher, year 2011. It earned the annual sales record at 39,868,500. That year, it took until Dec. 13, 2011 for sales to reach where they are now.
2013 American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins
American Eagle gold coins are available in four sizes — 1 ounce, 1/2 ounce, 1/4 ounce and 1/10 ounce that correspond to denominations shown on the coins of $50, $25, $10 and $5. All advanced in October. Sales for the month totaled 48,500 for a whopping 273.1% increase from the previous month.
Tracking back, demand for American Gold Eagles soared through April, then waned sharply with four straight monthly declines. August was the low point of the year at 11,500 ounces, the weakest tally since July 2007. September picked up just slightly at 13,000 ounces. The October rebound helped the 22-karat gold coins from falling in their year-to-date ranking.
U.S. Mint sales of their American Gold Eagles stand at 752,500 ounces for the January through October period. This was a mere 500 ounces from matching sales through all of 2012. Actually, going back to the series start in 1986 and despite the weak middle months, there are still just seven years through the same period that have higher totals. They include:
- 1987 at 1,069,500 ounces,
- 1998 at 1,463,500 ounces,
- 1999 at 1,840,000 ounces,
- 2009 at 1,069,500 ounces,
- 2010 at 1,048,500 ounces, and
- 2011 at 893,500 ounces
American Buffalo Gold Bullion Coins
U.S. Mint sales of their one-ounce, 24-karat American Buffalo gold coins jumped 18,000 in October, the highest total since July’s 18,500. As more recent comparisons, sales in August and September each reached 10,000.
Orders for the Gold Buffalos through the first ten months of this year accumulate to 218,000. The level is 86,000 above the 132,000 coins sold throughout 2012.
2013 America the Beautiful Five Ounce Silver Bullion Coins
Three-inch, five-ounce America the Beautiful Silver Bullion Coins were the outlier, drumming up fewer coin sales in October at 6,600 than September’s 22,900. The monthly total is the lowest of the year. July at 17,000 coins previously held that distinction. The dip also snaps a streak of two straight monthly increases.
November will see an uptick over October. Sales picked up in August when the Fort McHenry design was released. The same will happen again with the Nov. 4 release of the Mount Rushmore design.
Monthly and year-to-date sales for the first four 2013 America the Beautiful Five Ounce Silver Bullion Coins include:
- 2013 Fort McHenry America the Beautiful Silver Bullion Coins, rising 3,200 in October for a new total of 28,200.
- 2013 Great Basin America the Beautiful Silver Bullion Coins, added 2,200 during the month for a new total of 27,200.
- 2013 Perry’s Victory America the Beautiful Silver Bullion Coins, advancing 1,200 in October for a new total of 26,200.
- 2013 White Mountain America the Beautiful Silver Bullion Coins sold out in September at 35,000.
As benchmarks to watch, maximum mintages are set by the U.S. Mint at 30,000 for the three silver coins still available. The fifth design depicting Mount Rushmore National Memorial in South Dakota has a higher mintage allotted at 35,000.
For the year-to-date, demand for the 99.9% pure silver coins is on fire compared to last year. A total of 179,700 coins for 898,500 ounces have sold compared to the 118,100 coins, or 590,500 ounces, in 2012.
2013 Sales of U.S. Mint Bullion Coins
Two tables are below with breakdowns of U.S. Mint bullion sales by product. The first table lists monthly sales between January and May while the second table offers monthly sales figures between June and October. Sales totals are in the number of bullion coins sold, not in the amount of ounces.
| January – May 2013 Sales of US Mint Bullion Coins (# of coins) |
||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | YTD | |
| American Gold Eagle (1 oz) | 124,500 | 68,000 | 54,000 | 187,500 | 61,500 | 646,000 |
| American Gold Eagle (1/2 oz) | 17,000 | 5,000 | 4,000 | 14,000 | 2,000 | 56,000 |
| American Gold Eagle (1/4 oz) | 24,000 | 12,000 | 10,000 | 26,000 | 6,000 | 114,000 |
| American Gold Eagle (1/10 oz) | 110,000 | 70,000 | 35,000 | 85,000 | 60,000 | 500,000 |
| American Buffalo Gold (1 oz) | 72,500 | 11,500 | 11,000 | 37,000 | 12,500 | 218,000 |
| ATB Silver Coins (5 oz) | 28,960 | 14,340 | 19,800 | 0 | 25,800 | 179,700 |
| American Silver Eagle (1 oz) | 7.498M | 3.3685M | 3.3565M | 4.087M | 3.4585M | 39,175M |
| June – October 2013 Sales of US Mint Bullion Coins (# of coins) |
||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun | Jul | Aug | Sept | Oct | YTD | |
| American Gold Eagle (1 oz) | 49,000 | 43,000 | 9,000 | 8,500 | 41,000 | 646,000 |
| American Gold Eagle (1/2 oz) | 1,000 | 4,000 | 1,000 | 5,000 | 3,000 | 56,000 |
| American Gold Eagle (1/4 oz) | 8,000 | 8,000 | 6,000 | 4,000 | 10,000 | 114,000 |
| American Gold Eagle (1/10 oz) | 55,000 | 35,000 | 5,000 | 10,000 | 35,000 | 500,000 |
| American Buffalo Gold (1 oz) | 17,000 | 18,500 | 10,000 | 10,000 | 18,000 | 218,000 |
| ATB Silver Coins (5 oz) | 25,300 | 17,000 | 19,000 | 22,900 | 6,600 | 179,700 |
| American Silver Eagle (1 oz) | 3.275M | 4.4065M | 3.625M | 3.013M | 3,087,000 | 39,175M |
Bullion coins from the U.S. Mint are sold to authorized distributors who resell them to the public and other companies like coin and bullion dealers. In terms of price, these coin are generally available for a few percentage points above the latest value of their precious metal content.
Sales above are aggregated from data published by the U.S. Mint on its website found here.
