US Mint 2009 Gold and Silver Bullion Sales

Last year high demand for precious metals helped push US Mint bullion coins sales to new heights and had some unfortunate implications for coin collectors. With the year behind us, I wanted to take a brief look at the annual sales totals for the Mint’s bullion coins as well as recap the periods of availability.

During 2009, the US Mint sold 1,425,000 ounces of gold through the American Gold Eagle offerings. This consisted of 1,315,500 one ounce coins, 110,000 one-half ounce coins, 110,000 one-quarter ounce coins, and 270,000 one-tenth ounce coins. The one ounce coins were available throughout the year, interrupted by a suspension from November 25 to December 14. The Mint’s allocation program was in effect from January 1 to June 15, and then from December 15 to year end. The fractional weight coins were available in two batches on December 3 and 14.

The Mint sold 28,766,500 one ounce Silver Eagle bullion coins during 2009. This represents a new all time record for annual sales, surpassing last year’s record of 19,583,500 coins. The silver bullion coins were available throughout the year except for a suspension from November 24 to December 6. The coins were available under allocation from January 1 to June 15 and then from December 7 to year end.

For the remaining bullion coin offerings, the US Mint sold 200,000 of the 24 karat one ounce Gold Buffalo bullion coins. These were first on sale October 15, 2009 and sold out by December 4, 2009. The US Mint did not offer any Platinum Eagle bullion coins for 2009, although the proof version was produced for collectors.

To put this year’s numbers in perspective, the table below shows the total annual sales for each bullion coin offering in ounces. Note that these are annual sales figures, which differ from mintage figures, since the US Mint may sell coins carrying dates other than the year of sale.

US Mint Bullion Coin Sales (ounces)
Year Gold Eagle Silver Eagle Platinum Eagle Gold Buffalo
1986 1,787,750 5,096,000
1987 1,253,000 9,420,000
1988 560,000 5,869,000
1989 503,500 6,166,000
1990 457,450 7,247,000
1991 253,000 6,952,000
1992 385,800 5,544,000
1993 514,000 5,890,000
1994 310,000 5,540,500
1995 297,750 4,590,000
1996 275,000 3,466,000
1997 771,250 3,636,000 73,350
1998 1,839,500 4,320,000 175,650
1999 2,055,500 9,008,500 71,050
2000 164,500 9,133,000 27,050
2001 325,000 8,827,500 35,750
2002 315,000 10,475,500 30,800
2003 484,500 9,153,500 24,050
2004 536,000 9,617,000 20,100
2005 449,000 8,405,000 20,000
2006 261,000 10,021,000 13,550 323,000
2007 198,500 9,887,000 9,050 167,500
2008 860,500 19,583,500 33,700 172,000
2009 1,425,000 28,766,500 200,000
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Comments

  1. Anonymous says

    The only real money left in this country…precious metals. Apparently, others think so too.

  2. Anonymous says

    Whoever left the comment number #2, please don’t ruin the site which I have absorbed so much knowledge from the others. I speak Chinese, it doesn’t reflect well about Chinese with such an act.

    Zhing Ni Bu Yao Kao Luon, Xie-Xie (please don’t ruin the site)!

    PH

  3. Anonymous says

    Speaking of Chinese, if you go to jsmineset.com tonight there is an article about the Chinese people buying gold as much as possible. A good read and a good site.

  4. limalo says

    Comment #2 may not be a virus but it is definitely way off topic.

    I agree with comment left at 12:35 PM, "Zhing Ni Bu Yao Kao Luon, Xie-Xie (please don’t ruin the site)!"

    Michael, you may want to consider deleting that post if possible as I can assure you it has nothing to do with your topic or the topics of this blog. Thanks.

    L.

  5. Anonymous says

    Comment 2 will not ruin this site if only 3 people out of thousands who visit can read it. One commenter who can read it had the courtesy to report it was a bunch of crap. Now if it is a link to some more crap, porn, or a virus then it should be removed.

  6. Anonymous says

    Hey Mike,
    How many proof Buffs sold? I've been seeing the commercial for the clad proof buffs on tv. It cracks me up how misleading the the stupid thing is. "31mg of 24K pure gold." That's about 1/100th the weight of the real thing. LOL!!!

  7. Anonymous says

    With more than 28 million silver eagles sold in 09 I'll bet you don't feel too good about paying that high price for that ms 70 early release that every one thought was to be a winner. Even if 1 out of every 10,000 grades ms 70 that leaves a boatload of these out there. –ditto gold eagles–

  8. Anonymous says

    Grading of new coins is just a gimmick, anyway. I'd rather buy nice-looking raw coins over those. I'd rather own more of the actual metal itself for the same money that I would spend on less metal in a slab with fancy-worded label!

  9. Anonymous says

    Has the mint released any 2009 sales for the gold UHR ? I assume less than 120,000? Predication: five years from today this coin will sell for seven thousand!
    Please mark your Mayan calendars.

  10. Anonymous says

    I'd have to agree with the previous poster about graded coins. All you are paying a premium for is a plastic slab with a sticker stating someones opinion. It doesn't mean that you will or should like the coin itself. TPGs are a rip-off especially now that they cannot guarantee that the coin will maintain its color and state in their slabs (e.g. the removal of color guarantees for cents). My experience with PCGS is that could not guarantee that my coins which I sent to them for grading would have the original mint-impressed surfaces. They left crud on the coins, then harshly cleaned them, and then told me that "we do clean the coins and guarantee the grade." As a customer when I send in coins I want them returned to me in the same condition as when I sent them. Otherwise why even bother to send in coins for grading ???

  11. Anonymous says

    Look at the outfit that Lady Liberty wears…

    Wouldn't it be interesting if the mint changed her look to be more like Madonna…maybe younger people would enjoy coins that are a little more contemporary…how about a mini skirt.

    Yeah, modern art for a new decade.

    Ladyfinger

  12. Anonymous says

    Lady Finger, that's called pop culture. They already do pop culture with the postage stamp. Why not just put Madonna on a plastic or zinc coin obverse and a commode or OJ on rhe reverse. Would that sell? Sure it would.

  13. Anonymous says

    My computer didn't show Chinese, just a bunch of rectangles. I don't know if there was avirus attached. I clicked on it, and nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnothing hhhhhhhhhhhhhappenededededeeded.

  14. Anonymous says

    MISSING THE POINT HERE

    the big news is 2009 beat the year before which beat the year before it.

    normally what happens with all US Mint products is after a big sales year, sales drop.

    so 2009 is quite significant.

    I do think 2010 will proved out the rule of a drop after a big year. However, this not due to lack of public buying, but rather what is going down in D.C.

  15. Anonymous says

    Michael,

    Just a few things I would like to address.One is that 09 will go down as a banner year for the ignorance of lack of knowledge among new coin collectors.Case and point is the fact that over 28 million silver eagle that were minted.There still seems to be a rush to buy the PCGS First Strike MS70 joke of a coin at a whopping price of 180.00.WAKE UP out there people.THERE ARE 28 million of these coins.have you completely lost all sense in your heads.

    Secondly I would really like to know where the numbers are on the Braille mintage and sales numbers.
    Did the US Mint just forget they made those and why are they still not on the sales report? Maybe they just don't like admitting what a huge failure that coin was and just want it to go away.

    It also amazes me to see the prices so high on all the gold out there.If you want my two cents.I think the money is much better spent on junk silver.

    Numismatically speaking,I believe the 5 oz will go down as the biggest blunder the US mint has ever created.2010 will not be as good a year for sure in sales as Lincoln will not return until the end of the year.And there really is very little to look forward to in the offerings and total lack of advertising for items being sold.

    It just looks to me like the US Mint really has not much of a clue what is going to be happening any more.They proved in the 09 year that quality is a very huge issue.And also have begun this year leaving a lot of doubt in the minds of investors.They have begun to see that the dollar is no longer a good value and has transferred that same value in quality of product and service.

    I think it is high time that Mr Moy steps down to allows someone to run the US Mint the way it should be run and get back some respect that is very much needed to insure future profit abilities for the US Mints to sustain a core support.

  16. Anonymous says

    You hit the nail on the head young fellow. The decision makers or advisors for Mint products truly do NOT have a clue as to what collectors see, value, and are willing to buy. Once the collector "fringe" simply walks away in utter frustration one day, and the Mint is relegated to just punching out pocket coins for commerce, the extra kitty profit stream will dry up and disapear last last years flood. Moy won't wake up or speak up. I do think there will always be failures in life but Moy will certainly earn his monument to that end in town square. ~ Grandpa

  17. Michael says

    Thanks for the thoughtful comments. I will try to summarize or excerpt the insights and opinions provided by readers when I begin publishing the results of the Mint News Blog survey.

  18. Anonymous says

    I see a lot of people continually dumping on Moy. Moy is a good little bureaucrat and takes orders from someone above him. Our government has turned to crap and the mint is just another reflection of that. Why should the mint be any different than the state dept.

  19. Anonymous says

    I'd have to agree. There's too much rubbish being pandered about Moy. I personally like several of the products that were issued during his tenure. Specifically, let's not forget how well the fractional buffalo gold coins are doing. I also like the original composition copper cents and the Chronicles set. And how about the nice new packaging for the satin finish uncirculated sets. I could go on and on…

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