to this news release i will add the following: the mint has cannibalized much of its product line to try to meet the demand for bullion coins, i.e 1-ounce gold and silver eagles. in past years, i could always buy the proof silver eagle in january or at the very latest february. this year, we still haven't seen it yet. the uncirculated silver eagle has been produced since 2006, and it is also among the missing. these are among the mainstays of the mint's product line, but they have been sacrificed to try to meet investment demand for silver, and the mint still can't keep up.

Unprecedented demand, a shortage of blanks, and restrictive policies and regulations continue to exacerbate what is almost becoming a chronic shortage of gold and silver coins authorized by the U.S. Mint.

The U.S. Mint has again "temporarily" suspended sales of almost all of its gold uncirculated and proof coins, along with nearly all of silver uncirculated coins because of the limited availability of blanks.

The mint no longer offers for sale the American Buffalo Gold Proof fractional coins and four coin sets are no longer available. Meanwhile the mint will no longer offer American Buffalo Gold Uncirculated Coins.

The 2009 American Buffalo One-ounce Gold Proof Coin is scheduled to go on sale in the second half of the 2009 calendar year after an acceptable inventory of 24-karat gold blanks can be acquired.

The U.S. Mint Online Product Catalog says production of the American Eagle Gold Proof and Uncirculated Coins has been temporarily suspended due to the "unprecedented demand" for American Eagle Bullion Coins for which all available 22-K gold blanks are being allocated.

In the catalog, the government says it will resume the American Eagle Gold Proof and Uncirculated Coin Programs "once sufficient inventories of gold bullion blanks can be acquired to meet market demand for all three American Eagle Gold Coin products."

Congressionally authorized American Eagle Bullion coins are aimed at providing investors an effective way to invest in precious metals. Prices may change on a daily basis as the platinum, gold and silver markets may fluctuate. The mint does not sell the bullion coins directly to the public, but distributes them in bulk through a network of official distributors, who meet government financial and professional criteria, which must be attested to by an internationally accepted accounting firm.

So far this year, the mint has sold 700,000 ounces or 700,000 gold bullion coins, compared to last year's total sales of 860,500 ounces of gold or 1,172,000 bullion coins.

Federal laws and regulations say the gold must be newly mined in the United States. Only a handful of refineries meet the standards and regulations to produce the blanks for the coins.

Meanwhile, silver producers have found themselves equally frustrated by the inability of the U.S. Mint to meet the demand for silver coins. Production of the American Eagle Silver Proof and Uncirculated Coins has also been temporarily suspended because of unprecedented demand for the American Eagle Silver Bullion Coins.

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