American Silver Eagle Bullion Coin Sales Rebound in March 2012

Sales of the American Silver Eagle bullion coin rebounded last month after a tumbling performance in February, but the pace was the slowest for a March since 2008.

United States Mint distributors ordered 2,542,000 Silver Eagles last month, marking a 70.6% improvement over the February total of 1,490,000 which clocked in as the slowest month since November. Compared against the same time frame last year, however, bullion coins moved 8.1% slower.

The following table shows how the Silver Eagle has performed over the past year.

Recent Sales of American Silver Eagle Bullion Coins

Month & Year	Sales Total
March 2012	2,542,000
February 2012	1,490,000
January 2012	6,107,000
December 2011	2,009,000
November 2011	1,384,000
October 2011	3,064,000
September 2011	4,460,500
August 2011	3,679,500
July 2011	2,968,000
June 2011	3,402,000
May 2011	3,653,500
April 2011	2,819,000
March 2011	2,767,000

 

In terms of a comparison against past March months dating back through the coin’s 26-year history, last month ranks fourth all-time. It falls behind:

• March 2010 at 3,381,000;
• March 2009 at 3,132,000; and
• March 2011 at 2,767,000

Year-to-date sales of Silver Eagle bullion coins have reached 10,139,000. That is the second best starting quarter since last year’s first quarter total of 12,429,000. The quarter was greatly lifted by January sales of over 6.1 million, which was the second best month ever.

About the American Silver Eagle Bullion Coin

The Silver Eagle bullion coin first appeared in 1986 and is produced primarily for investors by the United States Mint. These 99.9% pure silver coins are sold through the Mint’s network of distributors, dubbed "Authorized Purchasers." AP’s in turn resell the coins to precious metal providers and coin dealers who in turn sell them to the public for small premiums above the current spot price of their silver weight. Each coin is guaranteed for weight and purity by the United States government and is considered the official silver bullion coin of the country.

America the Beautiful 5 Oz Silver Bullion Coins in March

The U.S. Mint’s other silver bullion product, the America the Beautiful 5 oz Silver Bullion Coin, had sales of 1,800 last month. That was up from the 300 in February but lower than January’s 5,700. Currently, the U.S. Mint is only selling 2011-dated coins, including the:

• Olympic National Park 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coin – at 85,100
• Vicksburg National Military Park 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coin – at 38,300
• Chickasaw Park 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coin – at 28,700

Check out this CoinNews.net article to read how well American Gold Eagle and American Gold Buffalo bullion coins performed last month.