Market News

July was blazing hot for American Eagle coin sales

Gold Eagles hit 2013 highs, while silver on record pace

The price dip in gold, combined with concerns over the Greek debt crisis and China’s collapsing stock market, has done wonders for bullion sales as major mints, from Australia to the U.S.

“Fear spreading in the global financial system pushes gold & silver Eagle sales to new highs,” wroteprecious-metals analyst Steve St. Angelo of the SRSrocco Report.

Indeed. The U.S. Mint sold 170,000 ounces of its flagship gold American Eagle coin in July. That’s up 124% versus June and the highest total since April 2013. More than 443,000 ounces have been sold in the first seven months of 2015 versus just 296,000 in the same period of 2014.

The Mint’s other major gold bullion product, Gold Buffalos, also are beating 2014’s totals, with 32,000 sold in July versus 21,000 in June, while 128,500 have been moved in the first seven months of 2015 compared with 117,000 in the same period last year.

Silver, meanwhile, has done even better in terms of sales. “American Eagle silver coin sales jumped to 5.5 million ounces, the highest since January despite a 2-1/2-week halt in sales after the Mint ran out of supplies,” Reuters reported. The Mint sold 1.3 million in one day after reintroducing the product and moved 2.82 million during the whole week.

Silver Eagles are now on track to break the all-time annual sales record, with more than 27.3 million sold in the first seven months of this year versus just 26.1 million in 2014’s same period. The yearly record total is 44.006 million silver Eagles, set last year.

Mint officials have simply been stunned by the demand. “I don’t think anyone anticipated the sales in silver. This is normally a quiet time,” said Ellen McCullom of the Mint’s West Point, N.Y., branch. “This is selling at such a high rate,” added Mint production manager Jennifer Butkus.

Stay tuned for sales data on the current week. The Mint has allocated just 1 million for sale because of its apparently inability to get ahold of silver supplies. What else could be the reason for its continuing rationing? The rules of capitalism dictate that if you have a hot, in-demand product, you exhaust your suppliers if need be to keep the cash register ringing and satisfy your customers.

Whatever the reason is for the Mint’s rationing, coin buyers know a good thing when they see it, and that’s gold and silver on sale thanks to the latest price correction.