US Mint Sales: American Silver Eagles Move Toward Record

To sum up the latest United States Mint sales report, coins and sets experienced a deeper summer slowdown compared to prior weeks.

Of everything the U.S. Mint sold, there were only four that managed to do better than the prior report, and those not improve by much. Bullion coins, however are still in demand.

Bullion American Silver Eagle coins climbed to bring July's total to 1,648,000, adding 772,500 since July 7. The gain was soft compared to the higher 875,500 increase during the first week of the month. Still, the addition caused this year's tally to cross the 2008 end-of-year total. 2010 Silver Eagles sales are at 19,816,500 while 2008's ended with 19,583,500. Last year's record sales of 28,766,500 is now less than 9 million away, although most collectors would probably like to see a decline so that the Mint has enough supply to strike proof and uncirculated versions.

In other bullion coin notables, the one-tenth ounce and one-fourth ounce American Gold Eagles advanced Friday. The smallest size has been climbing semi-consistently this month, so no real shocker. But the one-fourth size had been frozen in place since June 24.

Now, back to numismatic products...

First, the overachievers were Presidential Dollars. The Andrew Jackson 250-coin bag from Philadelphia increased by 6, whereas in the prior report they remained unchanged. The Taylor Presidential $1 Cover rose 46 versus 40. The other dollars to improve were James Polk's 25-coin rolls. The Philadelphia version increased by 37 and the Denver by 23, compared to 33 and 8 previously. As mentioned, the increases were modest.

Demand for the popular 2010 America the Beautiful Quarters Proof Set and 2010 America the Beautiful Quarters Silver Proof Set eased as well. Total gains were 3,795 and 3,801 respectively, compared to 5,103 and 4,806 in the last report. The full 2010 Mint Set will be in the mix next week, since it launched earlier today. Collectors wanting the 2010 Proof Set will still wait until July 22 for its release.

In the collector gold arena, Proof American Buffalo gold coins rose 433 versus 789, and First Spouse Gold Coins lost steam by adding 181 to their collective total versus 444.

The first three columns below provide weekly U.S. Mint coin sales increases between the listed time periods, offering a sense of recent trends. The final column provides the latest sales totals as of Sunday, July 11, 2010. Bullion coin tables are found toward the bottom, with the most recent sales as of Friday, July 16. (NLA = No Longer Available.)

* Sales as of July 16, 2010. ** Includes 51,000 of the one ounce 2009-dated Gold Eagles sold in January. ***Includes 367,500 of the 2009-dated Silver Eagle coins sold in January.

Related Coin Collecting News:

1. US Mint Sales: Silver Eagles New Record, Sets Weaken
2. US Mint Silver Eagles Score Annual Sales Record, Hayes Coin Cover Debuts