Kaiser,
There is a strange & very strong segment of coin collectors in the USA, believe it or not, who have a cult-like following for the ASE $1 bullion version coins in MS-70 grade from PCGS, NGC & ANACS who will pay major money for them, especially the early dated ones. Just look at a coin price guide that lists the MS-70 values. For example, 1986 (S) $1250, 1987 (S) $750, 1988 (S) $2200, 1989 (S or W) $700, 1990 (S or W) $15,000, and on & on…1993 (S or W) $15,000, 1994 (S or W) $6,000, 1996 (S or W) $7,000, 1999 (S or W) $10,000 & 2000 (S or W) $5,000. These are just a few bullion version ASE $1 coin values that these rabid collectors pay. And they have to have one of each 1986 to 2023 to feel complete as human beings. The competition raises demand & raises prices. The set registry competition that PCGS & NGC have just fuels the hysteria for the collector who wants official bragging rights to the highest grade & completeness of these bullion coins & they give out rewards each year for the best. Then, when a collector puts a set registry top grade collection up for public auction, which is a seldom occurrence, the prices increase even more. Crazy!
The European collectors think we are insane with slabbed bullion version coins with 70 grades & the emphasis placed on them – they tend to not collect slabbed coins to begin with.

NumisdudeTX

Yes Rich, but the U.S. Mint has made exceptions to the law for the gold, platinum & palladium American Eagle coins & purchased some precious metals from the Perth Mint Australia because of a loophole in the law. Plus, there is a major abundance of silver in the USA mines – just tour the Sunshine Mining Company in Coeur D’Alene, Idaho (and Sunshine Minting Company, its sister company & their modern Mint in Henderson, Nevada near Las Vegas – they control tons of silver & sometimes sells silver planchets to the U.S. Mint. Plus all the other mines in the USA that mine metals, including silver. It is basically a matter of contract negotiations in the end. The government Mint or private Mint, wherever they are in the world, with the highest bid usually wins the
1-ounce .999 fine silver planchets.

NumisdudeTX

With respect to those silver planchets, per the Coin Act of 1985, American silver eagles are only to be produced with U.S. mined silver (most of the silver mined in the U.S. is from Alaska, Nevada and Idaho).

CaliSkier,

APMEX put a note in red letters at the top of its website main page last week that they have raised their minimum purchase to $250. In normal times they charge shipping fees for orders under $199, about $10.
Modern Coin Mart put a note on their website that they have no minimum purchase amount, but for the first time in their history they are now, starting this year are charging shipping fees of $7.99 for orders under $199. They also no longer accept checks like they used to for a small discount price over using a credit/debit card.
SD Bullion company has raised its minimum purchase to $500 very recently. They used to offer free shipping on orders over $199 & about $7.95 for orders under that amount.
Some mid-size & smaller coin companies offer free shipping on orders over $99. Others charge anywhere from $5 to about $8.99. The U.S. Mint raised their shipping this year up $1 to $5.95, unless you are in their Loyalty Program like I am each year since they started that benefit.
I have not had any problems getting the coins, bars/ingots/rounds I want, but I have to look around a lot more than usual to get a fair price & free shipping.
Of course, premiums on bullion version coins have increased basically since last year. The ASE $1 coin premiums from most dealers are insanely high! I stay away from those since last year.
Foreign bullion version coins are readily available at higher premiums lately, but not insanely high.

On the subject of the U.S. Mint’s small premium of only $2.35 over silver spot (it was only $2.10 premium per coin for many years till 2021) for the ASE $1 bullion version coins they sell directly to their 13 AP coin companies, they need to increase that price since the dealers will pay anything to get them directly because they send the ones that have a chance of getting a top MS-70 grade off to the third-party grading companies & make a fortune asking high prices for those graded coins. The U.S. Mint charging such a very low premium on those silver coins to select dealers equals corporate welfare in my opinion.
Some foreign Mints sell bullion version coins directly to the public, although it is not a common practice.
But, if the Mint can make a profit on a ASE $1 1-ounce .9993 fine silver coin bullion version at just $2.35 ovet spot, then their $80 price for a Proof version at $25 an ounce spot silver is an outright ripoff! It costs the Mint about $35 to produce such a Proof version coin. They continue to raise their silver coins & silver medals prices greatly, when silver has not really increased enough to warrant such high prices. They usually do not raise their silver product prices until silver spot increases about $5 per ounce or more. They have raised their silver product prices greatly three times in almost 3 years & silver spot is only $25 per ounce now. The U.S. Mint is the only major government Mint I know of that has problems getting silver planchets from vendors, because they are a major bureaucratic mess to deal with. Planchet producers, including other world government Mints & private Mints have plenty of production capacity. Unfortunately, the U.S. Mint does not produce 1-ounce .999 fine silver planchets & must pay a higher current market rate to vendors to get contracts signed. The U.S. Mint still blames the Covid pandemic & supply chain, & inflation for its problems…but the real reason for their problem situations, for the most part, is mismanagement, overpricing, lack of fairness in dealings with dealers versus collectors, with its 3 major discount programs & special favorable rules for big dealers – (The U.S. Mints AP bullion version coin dealer program, their regular Bulk Purchase coin dealer program & the Advanced Purchase coin dealer program, all of which are only available to wealthy/big/influential coin dealers who qualify in terms of how much money they spend with the Mint each year.

NumisdudeTX

Still expensive however there are much better dealer prices out there. Compare before you buy.

BTW, almost all dealers, if not ALL currently have purchasing limits and notes about delayed shipping, outlined on their websites. The demand for “Physical Silver” has gone off the charts and at least one dealer reported selling, what for him would normally be, an entires years worth of silver inventory, in March of 2023, ALONE! Most other dealers are reporting record sales on silver bullion for the month of March.

Anyone; care to report on their own personal shopping experiences over the past couple weeks while buying silver or gold bullion?