Perth Mint Australian silver kangaroo image

Perth Mint Sells 376,461 Ounces of Silver in August

Silver News
August 2016 Sales of Silver at the Perth Mint down 47% Year Over Year.

The Perth Mint sold 376,461 ounces of silver in August 2016. This was up down 46% from July when the Perth Mint sold 693,447 ounces of silver. August 2016 silver sales at the Perth Mint were down 47% year over year from August 2015 sales of 707,656 ounces of silver. 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.

Last month, the Perth Mint commented that the lower silver sales in July were due to well stocked North American distributors. In August the Perth minted noted the lower sales “reflected the trend for lower volumes reported by precious metal businesses worldwide.”

U.S. Mint silver sales in July and August were also down significantly from prior months. It seems that dealers stocked up on silver in the first half of the year and are still working through that inventory. The sales figures of the Perth and U.S. Mints are not retail sales, but rather sales of the mints to their authorized purchasers.

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 August 2015 – August 2016

silver sales at the Perth Mint 2015-2016 through August bgasc
Perth Mint silver sales fell in August after setting records earlier in the year.

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.

Perth Mint Silver sales 2014 - 2016 bgasc
Perth Mint Silver Sales in August fell to multi-month lows.

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 ten months since September 2015 through July 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.

The Price of Silver in August 2016

The price of silver rose over approximately 35% through August 2016. Silver is trading well off its high of $50 an ounce in 2011. Silver has traded recently over $20 an ounce. The low price of silver helped drive record U.S. Mint demand in 2015 and record silver demand at the Perth Mint the past ten months.

2016 Perth Mint Silver Sales Projection

If silver sales at the Perth Mint in 2016 continue at a pace of an average of 1,088,258 ounces a month (January- August combined sales of 8,706,064 ounces divided by eight) the Perth Mint will sell about 13.1 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

Today’s Gold Prices

Today’s Silver Prices

See Gold & Silver Price Charts

Receive Gold & Silver Price Alerts

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