U.S. Mint Gold Coin Sales Down Dramatically
Posted by Brian Ford on August 22, 2013
Demand for U.S. gold coins such as American Eagle pieces has plunged dramatically in recent weeks, according to the U.S. Mint. Analysts believe that record highs in U.S. stock markets, a stronger U.S. currency and the earlier unprecedentedly high volume of buying are all factors that contributed to the lower numbers more recently.
“Demand is substantially lower in August than in July,” said Kirk Vaughn, adviser at Certified Gold Exchange. “The U.S. government has given us few answers regarding the tapering of quantitative easing and as a result some investors are unsure whether to buy, sell or hold.”
Vaughn says that some gold investors have continued to add to their holdings based on the belief that fiat currency in general is long overdue to fall by the wayside. “The percentage of household investors who buy gold just to make money is quite small,” Vaughn said. “No one wants to lose money but what gold investors are really trying to avoid losing is purchasing power.”
While some investors may be buying gold, they certainly are not procuring very much of the yellow metal from the U.S. Mint. With more than half of the month in the books only 3,000 gold American Eagle coins have been sold in August. By way of comparison, 39,000 gold Eagle ounces were sold in August of last year, and an average of 100,000 ounces of gold Eagle coins has been sold each month so far this year.
Vaughn says that some investors have been trading gold Eagles for silver Eagles and for pre-1933 gold coins, placing more modern-day Eagles onto the market. “Lots of people are buying silver and others are buying older coins, but the demand for newer gold Eagles just isn’t there,” said Vaughn.
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american eagle coins, gold eagles, gold sales, Kirk Vaughn, mint gold sales, silver eagles, us mint gold sales