Perth Mint Australian silver kangaroo image

Perth Mint Silver Sales Spike 174% in September

Silver News
September 2016 Sales of Silver at the Perth Mint Top One Million Ounces.

The Perth Mint sold 1,031,858 ounces of silver in September 2016. This was up 174% from August when the Perth Mint sold 376,461 ounces of silver. September 2016 silver sales at the Perth Mint were down 71% year over year from September 2015 sales of 3,530,000 of silver. Sales of silver at the Perth Mint in September 2015 were record setting and reflected demand for the Australian Silver Kangaroo released that month during a shortage of American Silver Eagle and Canadian Silver Maple Leaf coins.

July and August’s lower sales reflect a break from massive silver sales in the first six months of 2016 that were up 172% year over year.

In August, the Perth Mint commented that the lower silver sales in July were due to well stocked North American distributors. Last month, the Perth minted noted the lower sales “reflected the trend for lower volumes reported by precious metal businesses worldwide.” The Perth Mint noted this month that silver sales received a boost from the introduction of the 2017 Australian Silver Rooster released in September.

U.S. Mint silver sales in July and August were also down significantly from prior months, but rebounded in September from August lows. It seems that dealers stocked up on silver in the first half of the year and are still working through that inventory.

July 2016, silver sales at the Perth Mint, represented the lowest silver sales since June 2015. August sales were even lower than July’s. Silver sales from September 2015 to June 2016 were over one million ounces each month except May during which the Perth mint sold over 974,000 ounces of silver. From September 2015 through April 2016, Perth Mint silver sales compiled an unprecedented streak of eight straight months of silver sales over one million ounces.

The dramatic increase in silver sales at the Perth Mint is attributable to the introduction of the one ounce silver Australian Kangaroo coin in September 2015. This coin was released at a time when the major sovereign mints like Canadian and United States Mints were having difficulty meeting demand due to shortages in silver blanks needed to produce Canadian Silver Maple Leaf and American Silver Eagle coins.

Perth Mint Silver Sales September 2015 – September 2016

sales of silver at the perth mint september 2015 - 2016 bgasc
Perth Mint silver sales in September topped one million ounces for the sixth time in 2016.

The Australian Mint, unlike the United States Mint, produces its own silver blanks, so the Perth Mint was not reliant upon the ability of third parties to provide them with blanks and was able to ramp up production of its Australian Silver Kangaroo coins relatively quickly.

The Australian Silver Kangaroo was produced with the intention that it would not have a limited mintage like other Perth Mint silver coins like the silver Koala and silver Kookaburra.

Although the Perth Mint does not provide a break-down of monthly sales of each silver coin it mints, the bulk of silver sales at the Perth Mint now come from the silver Kangaroo.

In the first month of mintage of the Australian Silver Kangaroo coin in September of 2015, Perth Mint silver sales topped 3.5 million, up from about 750,000 in September 2014, an increase of over 366%. The Perth Mint has now sold an average of well over a million ounces of silver for the past twelve months since September 2015 through September 2016. The Perth Mint sold 15,840,200 ounces of silver from September 2015 – July 2016, up 151% from the comparable period of September 2014 – July 2015 when 6,299,961 ounces of silver were sold. August 2016 was the first month since the introduction of the Australian Silver Kangaroo that sales were lower on a comparable month year over year basis. September 2016 had a rough comparison with the 3,530,000 ounces sold in September 2015, but topped one million ounces for the sixth time in 2016.

2016 Perth Mint Silver Sales Projection

If silver sales at the Perth Mint in 2016 continue at a pace of an average of 1,081,991 ounces a month (January- September combined sales of 9,737,922 ounces divided by nine) the Perth Mint will sell about 13 million ounces of silver in 2016. The Perth Mint sold 11,775,927 ounces of silver in 2015. The United States Mint sold over 48 million ounces of silver in 2015 including sales of 47 million American Silver Eagle one ounce coins and sales of 212,000 five ounce America The Beautiful Coins.

About the Perth Mint: The Perth Mint is Australia’s only precious metals refinery and the only major government mint to also operate a refinery. The Perth Mint also sells gold coins.

Perth Mint silver sales data: The Perth Mint Blog

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This article by BGASC is not, and should not be regarded as, investment advice or as a recommendation regarding any particular course of action.