The U.S. Mint was nearly sold out Aug. 9 of its maximum production of 2016 American Eagle 1-ounce platinum bullion coins.

The West Point Mint struck 20,000 coins for availability to authorized purchasers beginning July 25. On the first day of sales July 25, 17,100 of the total were recorded sold. Orders for an additional 1,300 coins were placed July 26. Another 300 coins each were sold on July 27 and July 28, bringing the cumulative sales total to 19,000 coins.

No additional orders were placed for the remaining 1,000 platinum coins through Aug. 9.

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2016 sales were the first since 14,000 of the 1-ounce .9995 fine platinum Amercian Eagles were offered for sale in 2014. That entire production was sold.

The West Point Mint produced 10,000 of the Proof 2016-W American Eagle 1-ounce platinum $100 coins, all of which were reported sold in under an hour June 30.

The American Eagle platinum bullion coins are not sold directly to the public. Instead, the coins are sold through a network of approved authorized purchasers who offer a two-way market buying and selling the coins. The authorized purchasers buy the coins from the Mint based on the closing London PM spot price of the metal on a given day plus a premium of 4 percent per coin.

The coins are then resold at a markup to other dealers, collectors and investors.