Bullion Gold and Silver Eagle coin sales rallied in October 2010, closing month figures from the United States Mint reveal.
Helping drive demand for the bullion coins were precious metals prices, with gold rising 3.7 percent in October and silver up an impressive 12.6 percent.
Silver Eagle coin sales were most aggressive. U.S. Mint Authorized Purchasers snapped up 3.15 million of them, snapping a string of four monthly declines and making the month the best ever October. It was the fifth time in 2010 that the 3 million milestone had been breached. That used to be a rare occurrence for the .999 fine silver coins which were first introduced in 1986. The level was the fourth best this year, as illustrated in the following sales:
2010 US Mint Bullion Silver Eagle Coin Sales |
||
---|---|---|
Monthly Sales |
Monthly Rank |
|
January | 3,592,500 | 2 |
February | 2,050,000 | 9 |
March | 3,381,000 | 3 |
April | 2,507,500 | 7 |
May | 3,636,500 | 1 |
June | 3,001,000 | 5 |
July | 2,981,000 | 6 |
August | 2,451,000 | 8 |
September | 1,880,000 | 10 |
October | 3,150,000 | 4 |
Total | 28,630,500 |
Further, the solid month added to a total that will make 2010 the best year ever for the series.
Gold Eagle coin sales in October 2010 were stronger for the one ounce and one-half ounce sizes, but slightly weaker for the fractional one-quarter ounce and one-tenth ounce sizes. However, total ounces sold came in at 94,000, which marked a second straight month of gains.
2010 US Mint Bullion Gold Eagle Coin Sales
Month | One ( oz. / #coins ) |
Half ( oz. / #coins ) |
Quarter ( oz. / #coins ) |
Tenth ( oz. / #coins ) |
Total ( oz. / #coins ) |
January | 85,000 85,000 |
0 0 |
0 0 |
0 0 |
85,000 85,000 |
February | 84,000 84,000 |
0 0 |
0 0 |
0 0 |
84,000 84,000 |
March | 102,000 102,000 |
0 0 |
0 0 |
0 0 |
102,000 102,000 |
April | 60,500 60,500 |
0 0 |
0 0 |
0 0 |
60,500 60,500 |
May | 190,000 190,000 |
0 0 |
0 0 |
0 0 |
190,000 190,000 |
June | 97,000 97,000 |
15,500 31,000 |
11,000 44,000 |
28,000 280,000 |
151,500 452,000 |
July | 147,500 147,500 |
1,000 2,000 |
500 2,000 |
3,000 30,000 |
152,000 181,500 |
August | 39,000 39,000 |
500 1,000 |
500 2,000 |
1,500 15,000 |
41,500 57,000 |
September | 82,500 82,500 |
1,000 2,000 |
1,500 6,000 |
3,000 30,000 |
88,000 120,500 |
October | 89,500 89,500 |
1,500 3,000 |
500 2,000 |
2,500 25,000 |
94,000 119,500 |
Total | 974,000 974,000 |
19,500 39,000 |
14,000 56,000 |
38,000 380,000 |
1,048,500 1,452,000 |
As the above table highlights, October 2010 more than doubled August levels and it came in 6,000 ounces ahead of September. However, sales were substantially off the year’s best month, which was May with its 190,000 ounces of 22 karat gold coins sold. Sales were also down from October 2009 when buyers ordered 115,500 ounces.