Gold and Silver Fall, American Eagle Bullion Jumps

American Eagle Bullion Coins proved to be a hot item from the United States Mint this past week despite falling prices on the precious metals they are struck from.

Falling for the fourth consecutive session, the New York Market June futures on gold dropped to $1,176.10 an ounce, or down 4.2% for the week.  However, in what appears to have been an inverse relationship, the Mint's network of authorized purchasers snatched up 67,000 of the one ounce American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins in the last week of reporting.

That amazing number compares to only 31,000 the week before and 41,500 for the first week of May.  Adding it all up, 139,500 have been accounted for so far this month with 471,000 sold by the Mint this year.

Silver Eagle Bullion sales have been even more impressive than the gold - and that is with the silver prices being hit even harder than the yellow metal's.  July futures on silver plummeted to $17.651 an ounce, losing over 8% for the week over what it had been.

In just the last week, Silver Eagles racked up 1,143,000 out the door, with 1,005,500 the previous week and 892,000 before that. Combining those sales for the month equals 3,040,500 sold - or the best ever May for the Silver Eagles.  Yearly totals on these add up to 14,571,500.

Those unfamiliar with bullion product from the US Mint may not know about the network of authorized purchasers.  This network buys the bullion directly from the Mint in large lots, and then resells it in smaller quantities to coin dealers and individuals for a small premium over the spot price of the precious metal they contain.  The US Mint will not sell the bullion coins directly to the public.

The bullion Eagles were first made available in 1986 as a means for investors to obtain small quantities of gold and silver to add to their portfolios.  They have since proved quite popular, not only as investments, but also to collectors.

For more information on the American Eagles, see World Mint Coin's individual pages on the strikes.

Related World Mint Coins articles:

• January 2010 Demand High for American Eagle Bullion Coin
• American Eagle Gold and Silver Coins Not Struck in 2009
• February Gold American Eagle Bullion Coin Sales Come In Strong

Posted by World Mint Coins Staff on May 21 2010. Filed under Gold Coins, Silver Coins, United States Coins. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry