The U.S. Mint has recorded sales of more than half of the 120,000 initial mintage allocated for the 2016 Cumberland National Historical Park 5-ounce silver bullion coins.

The coins went on sale to the Mint's authorized purchasers on April 18. Through April 25, 64,000 coins were recorded sold.

Meanwhile, sales of 2016 American Eagle 1-ounce .999 fine silver bullion coins moved past the 18.7 million mark April 25. Sales to authorized purchasers began Jan. 11.

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Potential mintage juggling

The combined maximum authorized mintage of bullion and Uncirculated Cumberland National Historical Park 5-ounce silver quarter dollars is 150,000. Of the total, an initial allocation of 120,000 coins are intended to be struck for bullion sales, with the remaining 30,000 to be struck as Uncirculated coins.

Should bullion coin demand exceed 120,000 coins, additional bullion coins coins could be struck, and the Uncirculated coin production reduced, to keep the combined total for both versions within the 150,000-coin maximum overall mintage for the design.

While both the Uncirculated and bullion coins are struck on the same dedicated coinage press at the Philadelphia Mint, only the Uncirculated version bears the P Mint mark and receives a post-strike finish.

Sales of the bullion version of the designs are accomplished by a network of authorized purchasers who buy the coins based on the London PM closing fix price per troy ounce on a given day, plus a $9.75 premium per coin. The coins are then resold to other dealers and the general public for a small markup.

The Uncirculated version is sold at a premium as a numismatic product at a more stable price, subject to change only weekly, based on sustained movement in the spot price of the precious metal each coin contains.

The Uncirculated 2016-P Cumberland National Historical Park 5-ounce silver quarter dollar goes on sale at noon Eastern Time May 5 at $149.95. That price is $130 less per coin than the Mint charged for the first 5-ounce Uncirculated coins in the program, the 2010 coins.

American Eagle silver coins

The April 25 weekly allocation of 1,087,500 American Eagle silver bullion coins includes 87,500 coins left over from the previous week's allocation.

The April 25 sales of 801,000 coins brings the cumulative sales total for American Eagle silver bullion coins to 18,713,500 coins.

The silver American Eagles are sold to the authorized purchasers based on the closing spot price of silver on a given day plus a $2 per coin premium.

American Eagle, American Buffalo gold coins

Sales of American Eagle .9167 fine gold coins, which began Jan. 11, reached 333,000 ounces April 25.

The total represents 263,500 ounces in 1-ounce $50 coins; 17,500 ounces in half-ounce $25 coins (35,000 coins); 16,000 ounces in quarter-ounce $10 coins (64,000 coins); and 36,000 ounces in tenth-ounce $5 coins (360,000 coins)

In total, 76,000 of the American Buffalo 1-ounce .9999 fine gold $50 bullion coins were sold between Jan. 11 and April 25.