Silver Eagle Bullion Coin Sales Top 6 Million in January

Silver Eagle bullion coin sales marched once again into record territory last month — an occurrence which has become almost commonplace in the last few years. According to the United States Mint, a total of 6,107,000 of the investment grade coins were ordered by the Mint’s authorized purchasers in January 2012.

That six million plus figure firmly places the month as the second best ever during the Eagle’s twenty-six year history. January 2012 now ranks second only to the January 2011 record which reached the unprecedented sales level of 6,422,000.

History has proven that the start of the year is typically good for American Eagles — gold and silver. With the introduction of the new year’s strikes, both collectors and investors tend to rush to obtain the newest releases leading to high sales.

"It’s been a good month," Michael Kramer, president of Manfra, Tordella & Brookes, an authorized purchaser of U.S. Mint gold, silver and platinum coins, was quoted by Kitco News contributor Allen Sykora.

Kramer noted demand was helped significantly by the release of the new 2012-dated coins. "That helps greatly," Kramer said. "If it was July or something, I don’t think the sales would have been anywhere near as good. People always want the brand-new coins. So, January sales are always pretty good."

Still, no other month has even come close to these past two January’s with Silver Eagle sales of over six million each. The next closest and currently in the number three spot, is held by September 2011 which tallied a very respectable 4,460,500.

Top 15 Sales Months for the Silver Eagle Bullion Coin

 

Contributing to the intense Silver Eagle interest last month was activity in the silver market. The precious metal jumped 19.2% during January with the London Spot ending at $33.60 an ounce, up $5.42 for the month. Silver has not performed as well during January since 1983.

Looking at these Eagle sales from a different perspective paints an even more impressive picture. January sales already qualifies the year 2012 as the eighteenth annual best since their introduction, and there is still eleven months of the year left to propel 2012 higher in the charts.

The Silver Eagle bullion coin debuted in 1986 and is struck by the U.S. Mint primarily for investors. The 99.9% pure silver coins are initially sold to the Mint’s network of authorized purchasers who resell them to coin and precious metal dealers who in turn sell them to the public for small premiums above the current spot price of the one ounce of silver contained within them. Each coin is guaranteed for weight and purity by the United States government and is considered the official silver bullion coin of the country.

Shown on the obverse of each coin is Adolph A. Weinman’s "Walking Liberty" design first seen on the 1916-1947 half dollar. The reverse contains John Mercanti’s heraldic eagle with shield design.