Sales of this year's 2010 American Gold Eagles began on January 19, 2010. This was later than typical because the United States Mint made the decision to continue producing the 2009-dated coins into the end of the year. This in turn, delayed the start of production for the newly dated coins and the first available sales date.

When sales of the 2010 Gold Eagles finally began, the US Mint had a remaining inventory of 51,000 of the 2009 Gold Eagles.

Once the calendar turns over, most buyers prefer the newly dated coins. In order to make sure they could get rid of the left over inventory, the US Mint required authorized purchasers to take one 2009-dated coin for every three 2010-dated coins that they ordered.

Sales data indicates that the US Mint has probably now moved through about 40,000 of the old dated coins, leaving about 10,000 more to go. Rather than force feeding these bullion coins to authorized purchasers, the precious metals blanks could have served much better use making some of the canceled 2009 offerings that collectors were clamoring for.

Roughly two months ago, gold had reached a new all time high and silver had reached its highest level going back about twenty months. Less than three weeks ago, platinum and palladium had reached their highest levels in about sixteen months.

The figures below show the recent high compared to the recent low and the extent of the decline. All figures are London PM Fix.

Gold

Recent High: $1,212.50 (December 2, 2009)
Recent Low: $1,058.00 (February 5, 2010)
Decline: -$154.50 (-12.74%)

Silver

Recent High: $19.18 (December 2, 2009)
Recent Low: $15.14 (February 8, 2010)
Decline: -$4.04 (-21.06%)

Platinum

Recent High: $1,627.00 (January 20, 2010)
Recent Low: $1,475.00 (February 5, 2010)
Decline: -$152.00 (-9.34%)

Palladium

Recent High: $462.00 (January 21, 2010)
Recent Low: $395.00 (February 5, 2010)
Decline: -$67.00 (-14.50%)

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

This was the first time that the US Mint had offered anything other one ounce gold bullion coins for more than a year. Back in October 2008, the Mint had announced that production of fractional weight coins would be halted following the depletion of the remaining blank supplies. A few months later they announced that the release of 2009-dated fractional weight bullion coins would be delayed citing the "very limited" supply of blanks. This delay continued until the fractional weight 2009 Gold Eagles were eventually offered to authorized purchasers on December 3, 2009.

An immediate rush of orders, depleted the entire inventory of one-tenth ounce coins and reduced the supplies of one-quarter and one-half ounce coins to limited status. After these remaining coins were sold, a second batch went on sale December 14. These sold out by December 21.

At the conclusion of sales, 270,000 one-tenth ounce coins, 110,000 one-quarter ounce coins, and 110,000 one-half ounce coins had been sold. Last year, sales had been 270,000, 58,000, and 50,000 during the ten months of availability.

The fast and heavy sales for the fractional Gold Eagles shows the pent up demand for such offerings. Lower weight gold bullion coins present an entry point for newer investors and an easier way for existing investors to build up a position in gold over time. This especially holds true with gold priced above $1,000 per ounce.

Back in 1999, when Y2K fears brought gold demand mainstream, there was tremendous demand for fractional weight coins. That year the US Mint recorded sales of 2,765,000 of the one-tenth ounce coins, which was nearly double the 1,511,000 one ounce coins sold.

Lower weight gold coins provide a useful entry level for precious metals investors. These options need to be available throughout the entire year, not for just a few days in December.

This year, the 2010 dated American Silver Eagles will be arriving a bit later. The US Mint recently announced that they would begin taking orders from authorized purchasers on January 19, 2010.

This is the latest in a number of changes to normal procedures for United States Mint precious metals coin offerings that began in 2008. Back then the first of many sales suspensions was put into place first for Silver Eagles and later for Gold Eagles and Gold Buffalo coins. The suspensions were generally followed by availability of coins under a rationing program.

Eventually, the collector versions of the Gold and Silver Eagles were impacted when the US Mint began sourcing precious metals blanks exclusively to the production of bullion coins. The 2008 Proof Silver Eagle sold out very early in the year, never to return. The 2009 collectible Gold and Silver Eagle offerings were canceled.

The delay of 2010 Silver Eagle coins seems to indicate that the US Mint may be falling even further behind the curve on fulfilling public demand. As it stands, the silver bullion coins are fresh off of a recent suspension and reimplemented rationing program.

In the prior year, the US Mint had offered a wide array of collectible products related to the Gold Buffalo. This had included a full range of proof coins in one ounce, one-half ounce, one-quarter ounce, and one-tenth ounce sizes with a four coins set. The same range of options were available for a collectible uncirculated version of the coin with the "W" mint mark. Additional products included a Double Prosperity Set, which contained the one-half ounce collectible uncirculation version of the coin, and the Buffalo Celebration Coin, which was a specially packaged one ounce bullion coin.

All of these products were discontinued at the end of 2008, except for the one ounce proof version. When the American Gold Buffalo series had first been launched in 2006, the US Mint had only offered this one collectible option. After the great expansion of products during 2008, the situation had reverted back to the starting point.

The 2008 Gold Buffalo products have now become a favorite of collectors. The collectible proof and uncirculated coins are in constant demand and sell for premium prices. Following the announced discontinuation many collectors gained a new appreciation for these products, which would now represent a single year issue with relatively low mintages.

The one ounce 2009 Proof Gold Buffalo is expected to be in high demand. Pricing and ordering limits for the product have not yet been announced by the United States Mint.