US Mint Silver Eagle Bullion Coins Top 5.3M in March Sales
San Francisco (Apr 3) Sales of American Gold Eagles weakened yet again in March but American Silver Eagles rallied atop the 5.3 million mark to score the fourth highest sales month in history, and the strongest month since January 2013′s all-time monthly record of 7,498,000.
March also saw the introduction of two new bullion coins, the first of the 2014 America the Beautiful Five Ounce Silver Coins and the American Platinum Eagle which was last available in 2008.
A sales summary across U.S. Mint bullion products for March and the quarter follows.
American Eagle Silver Bullion Coins
March sales of American Eagle silver coins hit 5,354,000, soaring 30% above February’s total of 3,750,000 and jumping 59.5% higher than the 3,356,500 sold during the same month last year.
Monthly figures cannot paint a complete picture of demand for the 99.9% pure silver coins because the U.S. Mint continues to limit how many are sold. Still, just three other months in the coin’s 29-year history notched higher sales. They include:
- January 2013 with 7,498,000
- January 2011 with 6,422,000
- January 2012 with 6,107,000
First quarter and year-to-date Silver Eagle sales are 13,879,000. The only better starting year was in 2013 when sales through the first three months reached 14,223,000.
American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins
U.S. Mint sales of American Eagle gold coins climbed 21,000 ounces for a 32.3% decline from the prior month’s 31,000 ounces and a fall of 66.1% from sales of 62,000 ounces during March of last year.
22-karat Gold Eagles are produced in four sizes — 1 ounce, 1/2 ounce, 1/4 ounce and 1/10 ounce that correspond to denominations on the coins of $50, $25, $10 and $5. All advanced in March. Breakouts by size are offered further below.
Gold Eagle sales in the January to March period total 143,500 ounces, the weakest three-month start since 2008.
Source: CoinNews