CN: US Mint Weekly Sales: 2009 Bullion Gold Eagles Take Lead
If the United States Mint was hoping for strong Christmas week sales from Santa, unfortunately, they were disappointed. For the third straight week figures show significant drops in volume almost across the board for collector coins.
Only a few meager entries managed a positive change, but the overall results are not too rosy. Of course, this time of year one would expect a lack of interest in the hobby with thoughts turning to travel and family and friends. Even those individuals who thought ahead to give coins as gifts had to plan that out weeks ago and place their orders to insure delivery before Christmas.
The only true beacon of light on the US Mint’s sales for the week were American Eagle bullion coins. The 1 oz Gold Eagle versions, which were just made available from the Mint again on December 15th after having been suspended due to demand, are up to 1,303,500 for the year. That was a jump of 47,500 for one week. And this is with an allocation program in place on strikes, meaning the Mint’s authorized purchasers are limited in the amounts they can order.
1 oz Silver Eagles are being rationed as well, but that did not stop their numbers from rising to 28,680,500 for the year, an increase of 281,500 in just the one week.
A few other interesting items from the weekly sales report:
While the numbers are not exactly stellar, the 2009 D.C. and Territories First Day Coin Covers have been holding their own the last few weeks, something most other products have been unable to do. Covering the five releases for the year (District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa and US Virgin Islands), the coin covers actually saw an improvement in sales this last week with a total number sold of 1,045. This compares to 1,022 last week. Again, not earth-shattering, but a nice gain.
The Mint reported a total of 1,384 of the 2009 Ultra High Relief Gold Coins sold last week. While not as high as the previous week, it still shows a nice demand for the issues. UHR sales stop at 3 PM (Eastern) on December 31, 2009.
Showing a goose-egg were the 2009 Kennedy Half-Dollar 2-Roll sets. This is because the Mint sold out their supply last week. Produced only for collector demand and not placed into circulation since 2002, the 2009 rolls were first available in January. The set includes a roll of 20 coins from the Mint in Philadelphia and a roll of 20 coins from the Mint in Denver and sold for $32.95. For the year, the Mint shows total sales at 39,459 sets.
With many collectors at home on vacation between Christmas and New Years, momentum in the hobby seems to be picking up slightly by some reports compared to the last few weeks. It will be interesting to see if this translates into higher sales when the Mint releases its next set of sales figures.
