July 2011 Silver Eagle Sales
Final sales numbers from the US Mint are in for Silver Eagle Bullion Coin Sales in July 2011.
Summer is traditionally a time for lethargic sales of all investments. Silver and gold are no different, so it comes as now surprise that the final figures released by the US Mint for its Silver Eagle Bullion Coin Sales show a slowdown from June. In fact, sales slowed from a year earlier, too, but that didn’t stop them from becoming the 14th best monthly sales figures ever, and the second best July on record.
The total sold for the month turned out at 2,968,000 Silver Eagle bullion coins. That was 12.8% down on the previous month and also 0.4% lower than July 2010, which retains the number one spot as the best ever July. However, these figures cement the trend that has been seen since the economic woes began in late 2007, before when, sales of Silver Eagles had never reached a million pieces.
The highest sales in a month remain at January this year, when nearly 6.5 million Eagles were delivered by the Mint to authorised buyers. That figure set the tone for the rest of the year to date, and 2012 looks set to break the annual record for sales of 34,662,500 which was set in 2011.
To break that record, average monthly sales need to hit 1,878,200. A tough task? Perhaps not, when the lowest monthly sales this year was set in March at 2,676,000.
Collecting the American Silver Eagle Bullion Coins has been one of the easiest ways for silver investors to build a position in physical silver since they were introduced in 1986. They have also been available in gold since this time, and a platinum version was first released in 1997. The coins are not sold directly to the public, but to authorised bullion dealers who then resell to the public. Bullion coins tend to track the price of silver, and this makes holding them an ideal way to track the spot price of the white metal.
Between their first minting and 2007, sales of Silver Eagles averaged 7.1 million per year. However, this number took off when the financial crisis hit, soaring to over 19.5 million during 2008 as investors sought ways to protect themselves against a weakening economy and a weakening dollar.
Investors in silver have managed to increase purchasing power since the introduction of the American Silver Eagles. In fact, such investment has proved to be a wealth enhancer, also. Silver has risen from around $5 when the coins were first issued to its level over $41 today.
Gold Hits New Record, Silver Surpasses Three Month High
Gold traded up to $1667 an ounce today, as investors continued to dump stocks and look for safety in the precious metals. On its coattails, silver broke through the technical resistance level of $41.20, as highlighted in our weekly video report, and traded as high as $42.10. This level has created a three-month high in silver, and should it close for two days above the level of $41.20, then it’s possible that the year’s previous highs will be tested sooner rather than later.
Figures from exchanges around the world also indicate that financial institutions have been building their inventories of gold and silver over the last few weeks, and ahead of an anticipated credit downgrading of the United States by Moody’s and Standard and Poors, and possible further quantitative easing in the United States.
