The United States Mint has benefitted from, apparently, the frenzy of retail traders buying heavily shorted stocks like GameStop and AMC Entertainment in recent weeks.

The spillover into buying silver, especially American Eagle silver bullion coins, pushed the Mint’s total January sales of the coins to 4,775,000 pieces, which is 929,000 coins more, or 24.1 percent higher, than January 2020 sales.

The Mint’s authorized purchasers placed orders for as many silver American Eagles as they were allocated, to meet the increased market demand.

February sales begin

On Feb. 1 alone, authorized purchasers placed orders for 1,571,000 silver American Eagles. In total, for all of February 2020, sales reached 650,000 silver American Eagles.

Sales of gold coins

The silver crush also benefitted American Eagle gold bullion coin sales, which reached 344,000 total ounces in January 2021, with 16,000 more ounces added on Feb. 1.

The January 2021 American Eagle gold coin sales comprise 191,000 of the 1-ounce $50 coins; 22,000 of the half-ounce $25 coins; 36,000 of the quarter-ounce $10 coins; and 95,000 of the tenth-ounce $5 coins.

The Feb. 1 American Eagle gold coin sales were all in 1-ounce pieces.

Another 65,000 ounces in U.S. gold coins were sold in January 2021 in the form of American Buffalo 1-ounce $50 coins, with another 6,500 of those coins sold Feb. 1.

In contrast, January 2020 sales of American Buffalo gold coins were reported at 21,000, while 1,000 of the coins were sold in all of February 2020.

The United States Mint sells silver and gold bullion coins regular through several programs, including the American Eagle silver and gold coin programs; the American Buffalo gold coin series; and the America the Beautiful 5-ounce silver coin program, which is winding down with the release of the last coin in the 56-coin series. 

It has also offered American Eagle platinum bullion coins in a number of years, and American Eagle palladium bullion coins were sold by the Mint in 2017.

All U.S. bullion coins are sold by the Mint to its authorized purchasers, which in turn distribute the coins into the wholesale and retail marketplaces.

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