2010 Gold Eagle and Silver Eagle Coin Sales
January 29, 2010 | Filed Under Bullion Sales, US Mint | 1 Comment
Sales of the United States Mint's 2010 Gold and Silver Eagle bullion coins are off to a fast start. Sales levels for the one ounce silver coins have already eclipsed the levels achieved in the year ago period. The one ounce gold coin sales were also strong.
After going on sale January 19, the 2010 Silver Eagles recorded sales of 2.44 million coins on the first day of availability. Earlier in the month, the US Mint had sold 367,500 coins, representing the remnants of the inventory of 2009-dated coins.
The month to date total for Silver Eagle bullion coin sales has now reached 3,592,500. By comparison, in January 2009, the US Mint had sold 1,900,000 coins. The high monthly sales total is made even more impressive by the fact that the one ounce silver bullion coins were completely unavailable for six days during the month between the sell out of 2009 coins and the start of sales for 2010 coins.
The 2010 Gold Eagles, which also went on sale January 19, recorded sales of 30,500 on the first day of availability. The US Mint additionally sold 18,500 of the 2009-dated coins on the same day, since authorized purchasers were required to take a certain amount of the old dated coins for each 2010-dated coins ordered.
For the month to date, gold eagle sales have reached 85,000 of the one ounce coins. This compares to 92,000 sold in the year ago period.
2009 Ultra High Relief Double Eagle Gold Coins
January 20, 2010 | Filed Under Gold, US Mint | Leave a Comment
The US Mint recently wrapped up sales of the 2009 Ultra High Relief Double Eagle Gold Coin. The sales officially ended on December 31, 2009 and more recently some final details about total sales became available.
The coin was authorized directly by the United States Secretary of the Treasury back when it was Hank Paulson. The 2009 Ultra High Relief Gold Coin recreates the design from Augustus Saint Gaudens on a one ounce 24 karat gold coin issued in 2009.
The program seemed like it might run into problems since it was being launched amidst an ongoing scarcity of precious metals blanks, but for the most part, the offering went as planned.
The coins were originally offered for sale on January 22, 2009 and were priced at $1,189 each. The coins were limited to just one per household, but that didn't stop collectors from ordering more than 40,000 coins in the opening five days of sales. A few coins from the initial orders shipped in early February, with a greater number shipping later in the month.
During the course of sales, the price of the coins at the US Mint slowly ratcheted upwards, as the price of gold rose. On November 25, 2009, the coins reached their highest offering price of $1,539 each. This represented a $350 increase from the initial price level. The last price in effect when sales ended was $1,489 per coin.
The ordering limit was also changed during the course of sales. After holding at just one per household for about six months, the limit was raised to ten coins per household in late July. This led to some increased buying activity as dealers established a position in the coins. The limit was raised again to twenty five coins and then removed completely.
The final sales total for the Ultra High Relief Double Eagle Gold Coin recently became available. During the course of the year, the US Mint sold 115,178 coins. This level of sales was achieved during a year when Gold Eagle bullion coins were subject to rationing for more than six months on two separate occasions, collectible gold offerings were canceled, and fractional gold bullion coins were delayed until a brief window in December. Somehow there was a steady supply of blanks all year for this premium priced gold coin.
US Mint Accepts Orders for 2010 Gold and Silver Eagles
January 19, 2010 | Filed Under Gold, Silver, US Mint | Leave a Comment
Today the US Mint began accepting orders from authorized purchasers for the 2010 Gold and Silver Eagle bullion coins. The initial ordering date this year comes a bit later than usual and carries some special stipulations.
Only a select group of authorized purchasers are able to buy the bullion coins directly from the United States Mint. These APs then resell the coins to other dealers and the public, as well as facilitate a two-way market for the coins.
Usually Gold and Silver Eagles bearing the following year's date are produced in November and December of the preceding year. This allows the US Mint to build an inventory of newly dated coins, accept orders from authorized purchasers in mid December, and deliver the coins in early January. This year, production of 2009 dated coins continued to year-end, pushing back the availability of the new coins.
The 2010 Gold Eagles will have a special ordering requirement. As of January 13, 2010, the US Mint had a remaining inventory of 51,000 of the one ounce 2009 Gold Eagles. As long as this inventory remains, authorized purchasers will be required to order Gold Eagles on a "3-to-1 basis." This means that for every three 2010 Gold Eagles ordered, they must also order one 2009 Gold Eagle. Only one ounce coins will be available.
Both 2010 Gold and Silver Eagles will continue to be subject to the US Mint's allocation program. This program rations the maximum number of coins that authorized purchasers can buy.
2010 American Gold Eagle Release Date
January 8, 2010 | Filed Under Gold, US Mint | Leave a Comment
After a year of heavy demand, the United States Mint will begin offering the 2010 American Gold Eagle bullion coin with a slight delay. Typically, authorized purchasers are able to order the coins in late December for delivery in early January. This year orders won't be accepted until January 19, 2010.
The reason for the delay is because the US Mint continued to produce the 2009-dated Gold Eagle bullion coins up until the end of the year, amidst the continuing high demand. This demand resulted in the fourth highest annual sales total of gold bullion in ounces.
Typically, production of coins bearing the following year's date will begin by early December. This, in turn, allows the US Mint to accept orders earlier and begin delivery a few days into the new year.
The only gold bullion coin offered will be the one ounce 2010 Gold Eagle. The status of fractional weight offerings has not been provided. During 2009, the US Mint sold only the one ounce coins for the first eleven months of the year and offered the fractional Gold Eagles during December.
2009 Precious Metals Performance: Gold, Silver, Platinum, Palladium
January 6, 2010 | Filed Under Platinum, Silver, palladium | Leave a Comment
Precious metals delivered a strong performance during 2009 with strong returns across the major categories of gold, silver, platinum, and palladium. Although gold seemed to dominate the attention of the mainstream press, the annual performance figures reveal that it was outperformed by other precious metals.
The table below displays the last price of 2008 from Kitco's historical charts and the last price of 2009. The change and percentage change are computed below.
2009 Precious Metals Performance
| Gold | Silver | Platinum | Palladium | |
| Last 2008 Price | 869.75 | 10.79 | 898.00 | 183.00 |
| Last 2009 Price | 1,087.50 | 16.99 | 1,461.00 | 393.00 |
| Change | 217.75 | 6.20 | 563.00 | 210.00 |
| Percentage Change | 25.04% | 57.46% | 62.69% | 114.75% |
As seen above the surprising winner for the year was palladium, which delivered a return of 114.75%. This was followed by platinum with 62,69%, silver with a gain of 57.46%, and lastly gold with a gain of 25.04% recorded.
In some respects the out performance of palladium, platinum, and silver are simply making up for ground that was lost during 2008 (2008 Precious Metals Performance). Last year palladium had fallen by nearly 50%, platinum by about 40%, and silver by 26%. During the same period, gold recorded a small gain of 4.32%.
One of the recent characteristics of gold has been its steady upward march, defying panics in other asset classes, and general declines in commodities. This year marks gold's ninth annual gain, which has brought the price of gold 291% higher from the end of 2000 until the end of 2009.
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