January 2016 American Silver Eagle Sales Up 7.2%

Sales of American Silver Eagle Coins

The U.S. Mint sold 5,926,500 American Silver Eagle coins (ASE’s) in January 2016. This reflects a 7.2% increase over sales of ASE’s in January last year (when 5,530,000 were sold).

American Silver Eagles have become the retail investor’s top precious metal coin and January is generally the largest sales month for ASE’s.

January sales of ASEs have surged 280% during the past seven years vs. the prior comparable seven year period. January sales of American Silver Eagles have averaged 5.7 million since 2010. During the prior seven year period (2003-2009) January sales averaged 1.5 million.

In contrast, one ounce American Gold Eagle coin sales have risen “just” 91% during the past seven years vs. the prior comparable seven year period.

Sales of American Silver Eagle Coins in January 1987 – 2016

January 2016 sales of one ounce American Silver Eagle coins were the fourth largest in thirty years.

The Price of Silver in January 2016

According to Kitco, the average spot price of silver in January 2016 was $14.02 an ounce vs. $17.10 an ounce in January 2015, or 18% lower.

One Ounce American Silver Eagle 2016 Sales Projection

Are American Silver Eagle Sales Headed for Another Record in 2016?

Sales of American Silver Eagles have hit records in each of the past three years. Last year the U.S. Mint sold 47,000,000 ASEs up from the prior record of 44,006,000 sold in 2014 which was up from a record 42,675,000 sold in 2013.

If sales of one ounce American Silver Eagle sales continue at their January pace of 7.2%+ higher than last year, sales will pass 50,000,000 ounces in 2016, another record.

Did you know? American Silver Eagle coins are .999 pure silver (ASE’s contain .0007 copper), rather than .9999 silver. One ounce American Silver Eagle coins are slightly larger and heavier than comparable one ounce coins from the Canadian and Austrian Mints. American Silver Eagle coins contain one ounce of pure silver but also have a small amount of copper mixed in the alloy, bringing the total weight of a one ounce American Silver Eagle coin to just slightly over one ounce.

American Silver Eagle sales data from USMINT.GOV

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