US Mint Gold Coin Sales Steady Despite Higher Prices

Despite continually rising prices, US Mint gold coin sales have remained surprisingly steady over the past several weeks.

This year, the United States Mint adopted a new pricing policy which allows them to update prices as frequently as once per week. Recently, coin prices have been increased every two weeks or so, as the price of gold has continued to rise. Another price increase will almost certainly take place tomorrow, bringing US Mint gold coins to another set of record high prices.

The latest weekly sales report available on Coin Update News show weekly sales of 1,091 UHR Double Eagles, 3,017 Proof Gold Buffalo coins, and 457 First Spouse Gold Coins. Except for the Gold Buffalo which was recently released, these sales levels are roughly the same or higher than other recent weekly sales levels which occurred when coin prices were lower.

The tables below show the number of coins sold for the past five weekly sales periods for the 2009 Ultra High Relief Double Eagle and combined First Spouse Gold Coins. The prices in effect at the end of the weekly period are provided in the last column.

2009 Ultra High Relief Double Eagle Sales
Week Ending	Coins Sold	Coin Price
Oct 25	562	$1,389
Nov 1	1045	$1,439
Nov 8	1453	$1,439
Nov 15	1098	$1,489
Nov 22	1091	$1,489

First Spouse Gold Coin Sales
Week Ending	Coins Sold	Coin Prices
Oct 25	213	$679 (proof), $666 (unc)
Nov 1	414	$704 (proof), $691 (unc)
Nov 8	334	$704 (proof), $691 (unc)
Nov 15	412	$729 (proof), $716 (unc)
Nov 22	457	$729 (proof), $716 (unc)

The anticipated increase tomorrow will bring the price of the 2009 Ultra High Relief Double Eagle to $1,539. The price of the 2009 Proof Gold Buffalo will rise to $1,460. Prices for First Spouse Gold Coins would rise to $754 and $741. This will actually be the final pricing tier in the US Mint's published grid.

A reader had an interesting question regarding whether the US Mint would publish new pricing grids, possibly recalculating coin premiums. The current tables were computed based on lower general precious metals prices and different sales volumes. I have an inquiry in with the US Mint and will report any response.

New Sections on Coin Update

In closing, I wanted to mention some of the new features added to another coin related website that I maintain called Coin Update. The site has traditionally provided a round up of coin collecting news from various sites across the internet. This ranges from articles on other dedicated coin websites to mainstream media's coverage of coins. The updates are published two or three times per week.

You can subscribe to receive the updates delivered to by email by signing up here or you can visit the site periodically to find the latest updates.

The expanded section of the site at Coin Update News has been providing additional coverage of US coins, world coins, and precious metals by a variety of authors. This is a new section of the site, but the articles are also incorporated into the main Coin Update home page.

For the past few months, the site has been publishing weekly US Mint sales reports, as referenced above. These reports are available every Tuesday with the latest sales figures for current US Mint products. More recent additions to the site include daily commentary on gold prices and a new column on third party coin grading by Michael Bugeja.

You can subscribe to receive all of the Coin Update News articles delivered to your email address by signing up here. Otherwise, you can visit the site daily for the latest news and articles.