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.
Fractional Gold Eagles Make Brief Appearance
January 5, 2010 | Filed Under Gold, US Mint | Leave a Comment
During December, the United States Mint briefly offered 2009 American Gold Eagle bullion coins in fractional weights. This included one-half ounce coins, one-quarter ounce coins, and one-tenth ounce coins.
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.
2010 Silver Eagles Arrive Late
December 28, 2009 | Filed Under Silver, US Mint | 3 Comments
Usually, the United States Mint will begin production of the American Silver Eagle bullion coins bearing the following year's date in late November or early December. This allows the US Mint to begin accepting orders in December for delivery of the coins in early January. This system has allowed bullion and coin dealers to get a jump on the demand for newly dated coins.
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.
2009 Proof Gold Buffalo Coin
October 16, 2009 | Filed Under Gold, US Mint | Leave a Comment
In addition to bullion coins, the United States Mint will also be producing a collectible proof version of the 2009 American Gold Buffalo. The status of this product was uncertain for much of the year, until the tentative release of the coin on October 29, 2009 was finally announced in early October.
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.
