One ounce Gold Eagle suspension due to unprecedented demand - US Mint

The United States Mint has now issued a statement clarifying the suspension of sales of the 1 ounce Gold Eagle coin and pointing out that its other gold coins are still available to dealers.

LONDON -

There has been considerable speculation, and some misinformation, published regarding the suspension of sales last week by the U.S. Mint of some of its gold coinage - notably the 1 ounce gold American Eagle coin. Yesterday the Mint clarified the situation with a statement elicited by U.S. Representative John B Larson (D-Connecticut) which supported almost in its entirety the situation as defined in the Mineweb article Another gold conspiracy unveiled!

In the above article it was pointed out that it was only the 1 ounce Gold Eagles for which sales had been suspended and that the Mint's other gold coins (smaller sizes and the higher tenor 1 ounce Gold Buffalo) were still available from the Mint contrary to some other reports.

According to the statement from the Mint, "Because our vendors are not able to supply enough one-ounce gold bullion blanks to meet the unprecedented demand we are experiencing, the United States Mint notified our authorized purchasers on August 14, 2008, that we must temporarily suspend sales of the 2008 American Eagle One-Ounce Coin.

"However, one-half ounce, one-quarter ounce, and one-tenth ounce 22-Karat American Eagle Gold Bullion coins are still available to authorized purchasers and are in stock at the United States Mint. In addition, one-ounce American Buffalo 24-karat gold bullion coins are still available to authorized purchasers and are in stock at the United States Mint."

While the Mint's statement does clarify some of the wilder speculation which followed the original suspension of the Gold Eagle sales, nonetheless it does emphasise the huge surge in demand for the U.S. gold coins demonstrating that demand from the coin collector and small gold investor has been very substantial indeed and that sentiment towards gold has not been damaged by the recent price dips. Indeed there is speculation that the publicity regarding the sales suspension has been one of the factors helping the gold price recovery of the past couple of days.

The Mint also notes that it is currently working diligently to build up its inventory and hopes to resume sales of American Eagle Gold Bullion coins shortly.

Meanwhile the Mint has also had to suspend sales of 1 ounce American Eagle silver proof coins, due to a similar shortage of blanks from its suppliers.