US Mint Silver Coins To Return from Suspensions at Lower Price

Several collector silver coins from the United States Mint are about to undergo a price drop, according to a notice from the bureau. The notice is scheduled to appear in the Federal Register on Thursday, May 2, 2013.

Four different products with silver coins are to be affected by the pricing cuts. They include American Silver Eagles and an America the Beautiful Five Ounce Silver Uncirculated Coin™.

One of the products has not yet been released. The 2013-W Uncirculated Silver Eagle is scheduled to launch on May 28. The remaining products were available previously, but were placed on a sales suspension on Monday, April 15, 2013. The suspension was initiated following a significant 14.1% drop in the silver market. The London Fix for Silver on April 15th fell to $23.54 an ounce. Silver prices fell even lower to $22.91 on the 24th. That marked a new two year low for the precious metal which has since regained some of its losses, but is still very volatile.

Affected silver coins and their new price points are as follows:

• 2013 American Eagle One Ounce Silver Proof Coin – $57.95 (was $62.95)
• 2012 Chaco Culture National Historical Park Five Ounce Uncirculated Silver Coin – $179.95 (was $229.95)
• 2012 US Mint Annual Uncirculated Dollar Coin Set – $49.95 (was $59.95)
• 2013 American Eagle One Ounce Silver Uncirculated Coin – $48.95

2012 Annual Uncirculated Dollar Coin Sets contain one Uncirculated American Silver Eagle along with a 2012 Native American $1 Coin and the four 2012-dated Presidential $1 Coins.

American Eagle silver coins are each composed of one ounce of .999 fine silver whereas the America the Beautiful Five Ounce Uncirculated Coins contain five ounces of the precious metal at the same purity. For comparison purposes, the new price points represent a $10 per ounce drop for the five ounce silver coins and a $5 per ounce drop for the Silver Eagles.

Editor’s update: The U.S. Mint resumed sales of the above silver coins with new pricing by 12:00 noon ET on May 2, 2013.

No official date has been given for the return of the suspended silver coins. However, it has been the practice of the U.S. Mint to offer them for sale again once the notice has been officially published in the Federal Register.