Silver Eagles Set For Record Sales
The US Mint has temporarily suspended production of American Silver Eagle bullion coins at the San Francisco Mint. To date, the Mint has produced 2,305,000 of the 1 ounce bullion coins, and it has 985,000 remaining in inventory.
This year, there has been 25,571,500 Silver Eagle Bullion coins sold, including those minted at both West Point and San Francisco. It looks as if last year’s record of 34,662,500 sales of the on ounce silver coins will be broken, and the US Mint Public Affairs Director has said that production at San Francisco is likely to resume later in the year.
The coins are not mintmarked, so there is no way to tell where the Eagle comes from. This has led to the major third party coin grading companies specially encapsulating the coins minted at San Francisco and identifying the origin.
During the San Francisco Mint’s downtime, it will be tasked with recycling coins and packaging from discontinued Mint offerings.
US Mint Sales Mixed
History shows that demand for US Mint American Eagle coins slows during the summer months. However, this year’s figures are mixed, with sales of the Silver Eagle slowing, but those of the Gold Eagle still rising.
Even though the weekly sales of the American Silver Eagle ranked amongst the lowest of the year, accumulative sales to date now top 25 million. Last week authorised buyers took just 399,000 Silver Eagles, less than half bought the previous week.
The reverse side of the coin, however, shows that demand for the 1 ounce American Gold Eagle bullion coin moved sharply higher. Sales topped 24,500 for the week, which means that July sales stand at 61,500, higher than June’s 56,000.
Silver May Explode as China Enters the Precious Metal’s Market
China’s industries are fast becoming world leaders in new projects and new technologies, and with silver’s industrial qualities comes the increasing need for the metal by these industries. Perhaps this is one of the reason’s that the Hong Kong Mercantile Exchange introduced US dollar denominated silver futures contracts on July 22nd.
Silver demand rose 67% in China between 2008 and 2010, and last year the country accounted for nearly a quarter of world usage of the metal. HMEX cited ‘surging international demand for silver’ as its main reason for its new product. Perhaps that international demand is coming from closer to home.
China has the world’s most expansive economy, and it is becoming a leader in the market place of many industries. The question is could its hunger for silver push the price higher? For those who are sceptical, it may be worth remembering that China has something that most of the rest of the world is lacking at this moment in time: cash. China has trillions of dollars in it’s national reserves. If it used just a tiny portion of this to purchase the silver they need now, and in the near future, the price could explode.
As the USA dallies over debt ceiling increments, Europe buckles under its own debt problems, and economic activity appears to be slowing in the major developed countries once more, investors ignore China at their peril. Its move into the world of silver could be the signal for higher prices to come.
