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American Silver Eagle, ATB 5 Oz Bullion Coin Sales in June 2012
July 5, 2012 by Rhonda Kay · Leave a Comment
June is over and the end-of-month sales for 2012 American Silver Eagle bullion coins revealed two third place rankings. The total of 2,858,000 coins sold was among the top three for all June months since the series began and it was third highest among the first six months of 2012.
Demand was strong, but down last month for U.S. Mint bullion silver coins
Investors also paid attention to the newest 2012 America the Beautiful 5 Ounce Silver Bullion Coin honoring Chaco Culture National Historical Park. It debuted four weeks after the first 2012-dated 5 ounce coin featuring El Yunque National Forest launched.
Still, most of the excitement keyed upon the American Silver Eagle. The American Silver Eagle program is one of the most popular in the world. Demand has driven the U.S. Mint to produce more than 293 million of the one ounce 99.9% fine silver coins since 1986. Between 2010 and 2011, over 74 million coins sold, and sales during the month of June in both years soared. For 2012, demand is strong but it has not reached the levels seen in the past two years. The table below shows the five best ever June months.
American Silver Eagle Best Ever June Months
| Rank | Year | Sales |
| 1 | June 2011 | 3,402,000 |
| 2 | June 2010 | 3,001,000 |
| 3 | June 2012 | 2,858,000 |
| 4 | June 2009 | 2,245,000 |
| 5 | June 2008 | 1,735,500 |
June 2012 represents a 16% decline compared to June 2011, but that is no surprise given the totals for recent months. No month in 2012 has been able to outperform the amounts achieved in the same time frame of the prior year. The total at the halfway marker in 2011 was 22,303,500 and it was 17,392,000 in 2012, which is a 28% decline. It should be noted, however, that many milestones were set in 2011 and it was the all-time highest selling year, ending at 39,868,500.
Getting back to performances in 2012, the following table ranks the months in sales from highest to lowest. As mentioned earlier, June edged its way into the top three.
2012 American Silver Eagle Bullion Coin Sales
| Rank | Month | Sales |
| 1 | January | 6,107,000 |
| 2 | May | 2,875,000 |
| 3 | June | 2,858,000 |
| 4 | March | 2,542,000 |
| 5 | April | 1,520,000 |
| 6 | February | 1,490,000 |
One force that caused weaker sales last month was the relatively stable price of silver. In the precious metals market, the white metal has been averaging around $28 an ounce, with the highest day hitting $29.36 an ounce and the lowest landing at $26.72 an ounce. Buying opportunities were less evident with the smaller range as compared to shaper swings in earlier months and in 2011.
2012 America the Beautiful 5 Ounce Silver Bullion Coin Sales
Some competition for the bullion American Silver Eagle came from the debut of another investor-grade product in the ATB 5 Ounce Silver Bullion Coin series. Inaugural sales for the Chaco Culture National Historical Park 5 Ounce Silver Bullion Coin hit 3,200 between its opener on Monday, June 25 and Friday, June 29.
2012 El Yunque 5 Ounce Silver Bullion Coin sales started May 21, and 4,500 were added to its total during June. By month’s end, 9,900 had been sold since its release.
Recent Numismatic Silver Coin Sales
On the collector silver coin front — and another form of competition of sorts to bullion products, there were several developments.
2012-P El Yunque National Forest 5 Ounce Silver Uncirculated Coins debuted on May 29. They garnered 10,338 by June 25.
As for other American Silver Eagles, the collector 2012 American Silver Eagle Two Coin Set from San Francisco had 250,738 in cumulative orders between its start on June 7 and July 5. Then, for the 2012-W Proof Silver Eagle Coin, approximately 60,000 sold during the month. Its latest total was 475,556 as of July 2. And finally, the 2011-W Silver Eagle Uncirculated Coin added around 4,000 to its sales total during June, moving it up to 294,670 as of July 2.
