Calendar year 2014 was a rough one for gold. 

The U.S. Mint sold 524,500 ounces of American Eagle gold bullion coins in 2014, the lowest year-end total since 2007, when 198,500 were sold. 

In 2013, the Mint sold 856,500 ounces of American Eagle gold bullion coins. 

RELATED: 2014 sales of American Buffalo gold bullion coins lag behind 2013 totals

The price of gold was relatively high throughout much of 2014, and remains so in early 2015. As of 12:11 p.m. ET Wednesday, Jan. 7, one ounce of gold was valued at $1,212.60, according to Kitco.com. To provide context, the price of gold during the first week of 2005, 10 years ago, was $418.40.

Kitco.com reports the lowest gold value during the last 12 months was $1,140 on Nov. 5, 2014.

It’s probably no surprise that the most popular American Eagle gold bullion coin in 2014 was the tenth-ounce piece, the Mint’s smallest denomination. 

Sales of the tenth-ounce coin totaled 565,000, while 415,500 1-ounce coins, 118,000 quarter-ounce coins, and 46,000 half-ounce coins were sold.

So far in the first month of 2015, 45,000 ounces of American Eagle gold bullion coins have been sold. That’s already a higher monthly total than the totals in seven different months of 2014.

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