Perth Mint Silver Sales Soar 146% in April
April 2016 Sales of Silver at the Perth Mint Rise 146% Year Over Year.
The Perth Mint sold 1,161,766 ounces of silver in April 2016. This was up 146% from April 2015 when the Perth Mint sold 472,273 ounces of silver. April 2016 silver sales at the Perth Mint were down 67% from March 2016 sales of 1,756,238 ounces. March 2016, silver sales at the Perth Mint, however, were the second highest monthly total ever. April’s 1.161 million once of silver sold at the Perth Mint marked the eighth straight month of silver sales over one million ounces.
Perth Mint Silver Sales April 2015 – April 2016 – Over One Million Ounces Eight Months In A Row
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.
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 well over a million ounces of silver for the past eight months since September 2015 through April 2016. The Perth Mint sold 12,951,071 ounces of silver from September 2015 – April 2016, up 168% from the comparable period of September 2014 – April 2015 when 4,831,164 ounces of silver were sold.
The Price of Silver in April 2016
The price of silver has risen over 20% through April 2016, but is trading well off its high of $50 an ounce in 2011. Silver has traded recently between $16 and $18 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 eight months.
2016 Perth Mint Silver Sales Projection
If silver sales at the Perth Mint in 2016 continue at a pace of an average of 1,360,000 ounces a month (January- April combined sales of 5,440,474 ounces divided by four) the Perth Mint will sell about 16.3 million ounces of silver in 2016. 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
This article by BGASC is not, and should not be regarded as, investment advice or as a recommendation regarding any particular course of action.