US Mint Suspends Eagle and ATB 5 Oz Coin Sales as Silver Prices Surge

Sales of U.S. Mint collector products struck from 99.9 percent silver were suspended Friday as silver prices advanced closer to their melt values. No longer available to order are America the Beautiful Five Ounce Silver Uncirculated Coins and the American Silver Eagle Uncirculated Coin.

U.S. Mint coin pricing policy closely follows precious metals prices in London. The London silver Fix jumped $1 to $35.57 an ounce on Friday, extending its winning streak to six straight days in which prices have rallied $2.39, or 7.2 percent. In terms of melt values, that brought the five ounce coins to just $27 away from their U.S. Mint listed price of $204.95 and the uncirculated Silver Eagle only $10.38 away from its price of $45.95. As collectible coins, the U.S. Mint apparently prefers a larger buffer.

America the Beautiful Five Ounce Silver Uncirculated Coins that have been suspended include those celebrating Gettysburg National Military Park in Pennsylvania, Glacier National Park in Montana, Olympic National Park in Washington Vicksburg National Military Park in Mississippi and Chickasaw National Recreation Area in Oklahoma. Each of these coins is 2011-dated. The U.S. Mint is yet to release any of the 2012-dated issues.

Based on past practice of the U.S. Mint, the suspensions are expected to remain in place for several days until either coin prices are adjusted or precious metals retreat. Any volatility in metals will tend to stretch the unavailability period of the coins.

Unaffected by silver’s rise, at least at this point, were the Mint’s 90% silver coins and its commemorative coins. They remain available.

For reference, current U.S. Mint collectible silver products, their prices and current melt values are shown in the following table:

*Melt values are based on the London price of $35.57 fixed on Friday, February 24, 2012.