American Eagle gold and silver bullion sales slowed significantly in February compared to January and to the same month a year ago, figures from the United States Mint show. In addition, their year-to-date sales are weaker than the same time in 2022.
In February, American Eagle gold bullion coins increased by a combined 57,000 ounces, registering declines of 65.1% from 163,500 ounces in January and 36.3% from 89,500 ounces in February 2022. Their sales year to date at 220,500 ounces are 18.6% lower than the 271,000 ounces sold during the first two months of last year.
American Eagle silver bullion sales for the month advanced by 900,000 ounces, posting declines of 77.2% from 3,949,000 ounces in January and 40% from 1,500,000 ounces in February 2022. For the year, their sales at 4,849,000 ounces are 25.4% lower than the 6,501,000 ounces delivered through the same period last year.
American Buffalo gold bullion sales in February moved up by 19,500 ounces, logging declines of 67% from 59,000 ounces in January and 31.6% from 28,500 ounces in February 2022. American Gold Buffalo sales for the year so far at 78,500 ounces are 12.8% lower than the 90,000 ounces sold during the first two months of last year.
The U.S. Mint has not yet released 2023 American Platinum Eagles. The Mint released last year’s 1-ounce platinum coin in March, selling 25,800.
Below is a sales breakdown of U.S. Mint bullion products with columns listing the number of coins sold during varying periods.
| U.S. Mint Bullion Sales (# of coins) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 2022 | Jan 2023 | Feb 2023 | 2023 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 86,000 | 118,000 | 41,500 | 159,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 37,000 | 8,000 | 45,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 4,000 | 62,000 | 12,000 | 74,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 25,000 | 115,000 | 85,000 | 200,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 28,500 | 59,000 | 19,500 | 78,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 1,500,000 | 3,949,000 | 900,000 | 4,849,000 |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 25,800 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
What’s going on? The Mint charges close to $60 to press a 1ounce silver coin, over spot, and sales haven’t increases dramatically. Man, I didn’t see that coming!
Amen. I think the US Mint is killing the collector market because the premium is way too high.
Once the big guy gets out of office, maybe they’ll lower it by 10%. Also. They aren’t collectible if they mass produce and unlimited availability. I think another contributing factor is a glut of types to collect. Trying to appease to too many demographics. Many of the woke also claim poverty and unfair wages so no disposable income for that. However, I did see 95% of the casino this weekend was full of them. Maybe they’ll cash put winnings and buy some of their coins.
Dazed and Coinfused, isn’t the expression “casino winnings” an oxymoron?
I don’t think so Kaiser as the casino is the usual winner. Hopefully DC came away with a bit more than he went in with.
I see what happened there, Craig. It wasn’t clear that “casino winnings” meant what the player and not the house ends up with.
My little difficulty is that I sometimes expect people to be able to understand what I mean rather than what I might have said.
The rather strange thing is, Richard, that the Mint really doesn’t seem to care.
Well, Craig, if you paid attention you might just see what’s coming down the track. 😉
These stats show, obviously, that even the U.S. Mint’s bullion version coin “Authorized Purchasers” coin dealers are not placing big orders this year. That means the AP’s customers are not ordering as many silver & gold bullion coins as in the recent past.
Wonder why?
Their are only 13 APs that can purchase these bullion version coins directly from the U.S. Mint – 10 in the USA, 2 in Germany & 1 in Japan.
NumisdudeTX
These APs are in business to make a buck, and there’s nothing wrong with that-it’s the American way. I’d say that their customer pre-orders were likely down and they see there are not as many buyers- so, translates into less orders these APs have with the Mint.
Absolutely, Major D and Seth, these APs are in a demand driven rather than a marketing oriented business; if fewer retail buyers are biting no one’s going to bait the hook.
For fabulous footnote fun, Seth, here are a couple of fairly far-out factoids. 1) The two Authorized Purchaser eligible countries outside our own, Germany and Japan, were our primary mortal enemies in WWII. 2) Sixty-eight (68) years after WWII we not only still have American military bases in both those countries but have more US troops stationed in each one of those other than anywhere except in the USA itself.
I lived for 3 years on Misawa Air Force Base in Japan & for 3 years in Germany at our smallest & most secret National Security Agency Base in Bavaria. I attended my first 3 years of high school at our Department of Defense’s Munich American High School. My coin/token/medals/paper money collecting really took off there. Fun times!
NumisdudeTX
Aha, Seth, a fellow service brat; always good to have a memory reunion. My time overseas was a bit longer: 8 years due to the US Army Occupation Force in Vienna, Austria; 5 years courtesy of 7th Army HQ in Stuttgart, Germany; lastly, 5 years thanks to HQ USAREUR in Heidelberg, Germany. I clearly remember competing against Munich American High School in track and field as a shotputter in 1964 and 1965; great fun! By the way, when the picture below in Life Magazine of these two American high schoolers in Heidelberg dressed like what they imagined Germans should look… Read more »
Lederhosen for everyone!
Ok, by the comments there’s no love for the Mint these days (understatement). There are lots of places to buy precious metals if you’re into stacking and want lower premiums over spot. As the Mint says on its website: “The U.S. Mint’s numismatic programs are self-sustaining and operate at no cost to the taxpayer.” What a shock! It’s a business! No GubMint conspiracy! What other businesses do you know that will lower prices (to operate at a loss) just because you complain about it? Would you rather have the US Mint just stop selling numismatics altogether? Would that end the… Read more »
I call it like I see it…I’ve been purchasing coins & medals from the U.S. Mint every year since 1976, numerous orders each year. I give them kudos when they deserve it & point out shortcomings when I see them. Having worked as a professional numismatic journalist after college full-time, I’ve seen just about everything behind the scenes in the tripartite numismatic hobby/industry/science. Besides, isn’t being critical of any government bureau our “job” as citizens to keep them on their toes. The Mint has been in trouble numerous times with the Treasury Department’s Office of Inspector General over the years… Read more »
Well said Seth. I’ve been buying coins from the Mint for years, some years spending $10k plus, so when I see deficiencies with it I’ll say so. If major d wants to pay out his ask for a product from the Mint, in a cheap cardboard box no less, that’s his prerogative. And is the Mint a business like the USPS.. I don’t think that business costs us a cent either.
Craig, I’d say it’s each of our individual prerogative to “buy” or “not buy” anything the Mint offers. To suggest it is a business like USPS is wrong on so many levels.
That is something that the two agencies, the US Mint and the USPS, have in common, in that neither of them receive one red cent in taxpayer funding. On the other hand, while the Mint is an official part of the US Government by being part of the Department of the Treasury the Postal Service is a quasi-governmental agency not reporting to any Departmental Secretary.
Bravo Seth.
US Mint rules the roost as it should be since they press the coins & medals – “you can’t fight city hall” rings a bell here. But like you say, positive and negative comments are needed and warranted to keep them in check.
Keep up the good work here folks in doing this.
Seth, I totally agree that the Mint needs to be checked and have a watchdog because there is the potential for mischief when it comes to creating rarities/wealth, which could be funneled secretly to select Individuals and/or companies. But complaining about the price increases is really starting to ring hollow for me. Rich noted that the pricing for the ASE has been pretty consistent since 1986, at approximately 4x the price of silver per ounce- and that is true of the current 2023 pricing.
Of course, but pricing versus rarity is another matter Major D. This year’s Proof “W” ASE $1 coin will have a mintage/sales figure of more than 500,000 coins…it will never be rare coin in its OGP/OMP…the only way an investor or collector will make a profit is if they spend a lot for authentication/grading with PCGS or NGC & are lucky enough to get a top 70 grade. As far as buying one or two for a true collection it is of course just a matter of a collector’s budget, since the Mint has nearly 300 products per year recently… Read more »
Major D, the Mint puts out fine products. The issue on pricing is merited by folks here as Mint only produces a few products each year and in large volumes. Other mints around the world produce more varieties of coins/medals per year in smaller volumes meriting their higher prices. Mint used an excuse for raising prices couple/few years back to be be competitive in pricing with these other mints. Even low mintages by US Mint at 10,000 or 75,000 items is considered high compared to other countries that press 500, 1,000, 1,500, 2,500 or 5,000 coins/medals. Yes, pressings like proofs… Read more »
Chris, the bullion program started in 1986 in pre-internet days before the Mint’s catalog and sales were as big as they are now. I think it’s past due that the whole Authorized Purchaser program needs to be re-evaluated. However, it was an act of Congress that established it, and it will take another act of Congress to do something about it. As far as other world mints doing production runs of 500, 1,000, 1,500, 2,500, etc. I’d say it’s really a gimmick and not something I’m drawn to- but (as Kaiser has coined): “to each their own”.
Very good point Major D about the authorized purchasing program coming from congressional action. Makes it impossible then for the Mint to open bullion sales to general public. I still make comments about this in the Mint surveys I complete.
Some of those world mint small runs are quite impressive and some aren’t, especially the colorized ones.
Chris Terp and Major D, my feeling is that the US Mint makes collectable coinage with the entire breadth of the numismatic community in mind while some of the foreign mints aim a lot of their smaller production number offerings toward more specialized or so to speak niche collector markets. As always, there is room for both in the world of coins as the tastes of individual collectors are all over the place.
To be fair. UK is way smaller and much fewer people than America. China and India and Russia are a huge gold bugs and getting from Australia can be difficult. Due to weight it makes sense that UK or Perth or Australia mint provides the metals to Asia Europe and Africa and Australia. South America is much poorer and besides they have their own gold, just ask the Europeans from the 1500s to 1700s. Not many Russians care if queen or king is on it or a cute koala or musical instruments. Canada has its own Klondike gold. So for… Read more »
The above mentioned nations all have some rather big disadvantages, Dazed and Coinfused. The UK is breaking the bank with its ever-expanding ubiquitous welfare system. China has very few natural resources and is choking on unbearable levels of pollution. India is overpopulating itself into massive social disorder and economic chaos. Russia is following the Pied Piper Putin into financial ruin and political disintegration. Brazil is leading the other Latin countries into a state of top to bottom criminal anarchy. Neither Australia nor Canada have enough of a population to exercise any real clout. So far, with this and everything else… Read more »
I don’t get the rationale for stacking, Major D, because it seems to neither give you the satisfaction of collecting nor apparently does it do anything to make you rich.
This guy enjoys stacking Kaiser 😉
Perhaps somewhat more surprisingly so, Chris, so does this character.
Good one Kaiser. DeForest Kelly came from a wealthy family who manufactured vacuum tubes so maybe during the Depression some of his family members were stacking coins? 😉
Much obliged, Chris. As to the likelihood of the Kellys stacking coins during ordinary people’s hard times, if they were rich enough I would think they’d have gotten others to do that for them.
Bet sales are shooting up here in March
That may well be determined to an extent, Tim, as to how the bank troubles shake out.
After 50 years of coin collecting, I will no longer purchase coins via the US Mint! The inflation of pricing silver/gold coinage is ridiculous! No more!
Well, qponfive3, you’re not the first to voice that opinion here nor likely the last.
Probably due to their ridiculous price hikes
Very true, John. Unfortunately, these days that phenomenon is everwhere we look.
Kaiser, an interesting phenomenon is that the price increases haven’t happened for past sets in the resale market. They are stuck in time and do not experience inflationary pricing.
I think, Major D, that’s a reflection of those annual coin sets as such never having done all that well over time in the secondary market. Perhaps when the “heat of the moment” has passed, i.e., the year in which they are released has passed by, interest in them diminishes correspondingly.
Yet it’s an interesting thing that the sum of the individual coins taken out of the sets and sold separately is greater than the value of the intact set. I guess it’s the automotive parts sales model.
That’s a perfect way to put it, Major D. The “car” aka coin set has outlived the height of its excitement and attraction potential and now is worth more for the “parts” aka individual coins.