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Silver Eagle Bullion Coin Sales in November Rank Last in 2011
December 3, 2011 by Silver Coins Today Staff · Leave a Comment
Fewer Silver Eagle bullion coins were purchased in November than any previous month since July 2008.
Sales dropped sharply in November for the American Silver Eagle bullion coin. In fact, it was the worst sales month so far for the year and, further, the slowest since July 2008. United States Mint authorized purchasers ordered 1,384,000, a level that was down 49.98% from March which had been the slowest.
Although November is now the weakest month in 2011, it still managed to rank 66th overall on a monthly basis — not bad for a series which debuted in 1986. And the bullion coin ended up as 5th best when compared solely to past Novembers. Its fall from the same period last year was 67.51% — a tough month to compare against, as November 2010 remains the best ever November and the third best month all-time with total sales of 4,260,000.
2011 has seen some remarkably high selling periods. Seven times this year months have landed in the Top 15 for sales of the Silver Eagle bullion coin. It currently leads the series in annual sales with the latest year-to-date total coming to 37,859,500.
| 2011 Monthly Sales of the Silver Eagle Bullion Coin | ||
| Rank | Month | Total |
| 1 | January | 6,422,000 |
| 2 | September | 4,460,500 |
| 3 | August | 3,679,500 |
| 4 | May | 3,653,500 |
| 5 | June | 3,402,000 |
| 6 | February | 3,240,000 |
| 7 | October | 3,064,000 |
| 8 | July | 2,968,000 |
| 9 | April | 2,819,000 |
| 10 | March | 2,767,000 |
| 11 | November | 1,384,000 |
| 37,859,500 | ||
What made a difference in sales was not only a lower frequency of purchases, but also smaller bullion coin order totals. Only ten daily sales updates were published online last month by the United States Mint. The smallest amount was 25,000 coins and the largest amount came to 351,000. In contrast, October had fourteen updates with the smallest being 40,000 coins and the largest at 737,000.
Additionally, silver prices were less volatile overall. They did not fluctuate through the vast swings as earlier months, and thusly failed to capture the same level of media and investor attention. On the final day of the month, the London Fix for silver closed at $31.35. The highest price for the metal was on November 3 at $34.72. The lowest was $30.90 on November 21.
In other Silver Eagle news for the month, the collector proof version sold out with a total of 850,000 as of Tuesday, November 22, 2011. When the United States Mint was selling the last ones, they were priced $58.95 each.
The collector uncirculated Silver Eagle is still available for $50.95. So far, buyers have scooped up 199,848 of them as of November 28. Both collector strikes sport the "W" mint mark for the United States Mint facility in West Point, NY. Bullion issues do not have mint marks and are produced in West Point and San Francisco.
