US Mint To Reduce Gold And Silver Eagle Production Over The Next 12-18 Months

Due to measures taking by the West Point Mint to protect workers from the virus, the production of gold and silver coins will be reduced over the next 12-18 months. By enacting these worker policy changes, the U.S. Mint will not be able to produce gold and silver bullion coins at the same time.  Thus, if demand continues to be strong for Gold and Silver Eagles, we could see higher premiums in the future.

According to the Bloomberg article published yesterday, U.S. Mint Has Reduced Silver, Gold Coin Supply to Purchasers; the U.S. Mint also stated the following:

To cope with demand, the Mint is now asking dealers to provide their 10-day and 90-day forecasts for demand for the first time ever. That will allow it to decide what products to make as some are more labor-intensive than others, according to the document. If the Mint decides to make one-tenth of an ounce of gold, for instance, it must cut production of American Eagle Silver coins.

This makes perfect sense why the sales of U.S. Mint Silver Eagles have been so low compared to Gold Eagles. Because the U.S. Mint cannot produce gold and silver bullion coins simultaneously, Silver Eagle sales are likely going to suffer the most.

However, I found it quite interesting that the U.S. Mint is asking for the Authorized Dealers to provide ten and 90-day forecasts for their demand, the first time ever. I imagine these Authorized Dealers will be asking for more Silver Eagles than they are currently receiving. Especially after the most recent sales update on the U.S. Mint website:

The U.S. Mint added another 448,500 Silver Eagles and 15,000 oz of Gold Eagles (July 28th), since my last update on January 23rd.  Even so, the ratio of Silver Eagles to Gold Eagles is only 12/1, when the four-year average was 64/1. The chart below shows the U.S. Mint’s sales figures for July 1st-July 23rd:

So, it seems over the last week; the U.S. Mint focused more on Silver Eagle production. I have noticed on several large online dealer websites, availability for Silver Eagles is still 2-3 weeks out.

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