The United States Mint lowered its weekly allocation Sept. 14 of American Eagle silver bullion coins to authorized purchasers to 809,500 coins. That's a 19 percent decrease from the previous week's allocation of 1 million coins, all of which were sold.

The authorized purchasers placed orders Sept. 14 for 573,000 of the 809,500 available coins, with the remainder recorded sold Sept. 15. The next weekly allocation will be announced Sept. 21.

The Sept. 14 and 15 sales brought September's monthly sales total to 2,054,500 coins. Calendar-year 2015 sales reached 34,304,500 coins.

The West Point Mint is striking the American Eagle silver bullion coins as quickly as the U.S. Mint can secure sufficient planchets.

The silver bullion coins are not sold directly to the public, but through a network of 13 authorized purchasers in the United States, Europe and Japan who offer a two-way market. The coins are purchased from the Mint by the authorized purchasers for the closing PM spot price per troy ounce of silver on the London markety on a given day plus a $2 premium per coin. The coins may then be resold at a small markup to other dealers and the public.