First Quarter Royal Canadian Mint Silver Sales Hit Record
Royal Canadian Mint Sells a Record 10.6 Million Ounces of Silver in First Quarter
The Royal Canadian Mint (RCM) released its first quarter 2016 report last week, just a week after they released their 2015 annual report. The RCM’s 2015 annual report showed that they sold a record 34.3 million ounces of silver last year. The RCM’s 2016 first quarter report showed silver sales of 10.6 million, an increase of 19.3% from the first quarter of 2015.
1st Quarter Silver Sales Build on Record Sales in 2015
2015 was a record year for silver coin sales around the world. The United States Mint sold a record 47 million one ounce American Silver Eagle coins in 2015. It was the third year in a row that the U.S. Mint sold a record amount of American Silver Eagles. The Perth Mint set a silver sales record of 11.775 million ounces in 2015. The RCM also set a record for silver sales for the third year in a row by selling 34,300,000 ounces.
Silver sales in the first quarter of 2016 at the U.S., Perth and Canadian Mints are all up substantially from the first quarter of record year 2015.
In the first quarter of 2016, the RCM sold about 31% of the total amount of silver they sold in recording setting. 2015.
Sales of silver at the RCM in the first quarter of 2016 were higher than then entire annual sales of each of 2004-2009 and more than half the amount of the entire annual sales of silver in 2010.
The chart below shows the first quarter Royal Canadian Mint silver sales in 2016 vs. annual sales since 2004.
The skyrocketing silver sales were explicitly noted by the Canadian Mint in its annual report …”many investors have shifted [from gold] to silver as the preferred investment over gold due to its affordability and the safety net provided by industrial demand”
The Royal Canadian Mint noted in its quarterly report that “Sales of silver bullion have been driven for several quarters by demand that exceeds supply in North America and Europe.”
The Price of Silver in 2015
The low price of silver in 2015 helped drive sales as well as a rising gold silver ratio that reached nearly 80 to 1 during the year. The price of silver declined steadily through 2015 since reaching an all time high of about $50 an ounce in April 2011. The declining price led to corresponding increasing sales in each of the past three years at the Royal Canadian Mint.
The Royal Canadian Mint also sold 953,000 ounces of gold in 2015, for a silver to gold sales ratio of 36 to 1.
In the first quarter of 2016 the silver to gold sales ratio at the RCM grew to nearly 50 to 1.
The Canadian Silver Maple Leaf Coin
The bulk of silver sold by the Royal Canadian Mint is in the form of one ounce Canadian Silver Maple Leaf coins. The obverse of a Canadian Silver Maple leaf coin features a portrait of the Queen of England and the inscriptions “Elizabeth” and “5 Dollars”. The reverse of the Canadian Maple Leaf coin boasts an image of a single maple leaf and the inscriptions “CANADA” “Fine Silver 1 oz Argent Pur”. The Canadian Silver Maple Lead coin is 99.99% pure silver.
About the Canadian Mint
The Royal Canadian Mint is the national mint of Canada and it produces the general circulation coinage for the nation and for other foreign nations. The RCM also provides other services such as minting gold and silver bullion coins, as well as special edition collector’s edition coins and coin sets. The Canadian Mint also offers precious metals storage services for businesses, assay services to determine and ensure precious metal bullion weight and finess. The Canadian Mint has operated as a refinery since 1911.
This article by BGASC is not, and should not be regarded as, investment advice or as a recommendation regarding any particular course of action.