Fractional 2009 American Gold Eagles

Yesterday, the US Mint began sales of fractional weight 2009 Gold Eagle bullion coins. The coins available include the 1/2 ounce, 1/4 ounce, and 1/10 ounce.

For more than one year, the production of Gold Eagle bullion coins has been restricted to one ounce coins. Towards the close of last year, the US Mint had announced the delayed launch of numerous 2009 dated bullion coins "until later in 2009." They had cited the limited quantity of blanks available from suppliers amidst the continuing high demand for bullion coins.

An update on the status of the delayed products finally came in October 2009 when the US Mint announced the cancellation of certain bullion and collectible coins and the availability dates for others. The fractional Gold Eagle bullion coins were set for release on December 3, 2009.

Even though the release was only yesterday, the first sales totals for the fractional 2009 American Gold Eagles are already available and presented below.

2009 Fractional Gold Eagle Sales
2009 1/2 oz. Gold Eagle	56,000
2009 1/4 oz. Gold Eagle	58,000
2009 1/10 oz. Gold Eagle	260,000

When the fractional Gold Eagles bullion coins were first announced, it seemed possible that they might end up with unusually low mintages since the coins would only be available for a single month. Based on the preliminary sales data, this will not be the case. These initial sales figures already place mintages well above the current mintage lows for each fractional Gold Eagle denomination.

Gold Eagle Bullion Mintage Lows
Weight	Year	Mintage
1 oz.	2007	140,016
1/2 oz.	1991	24,100
1/4 oz.	2007	34,004
1/10 oz.	1988	159,500

As with the 2009 Gold Buffalo bullion coin, strong sales for the fractional 2009 Gold Eagles seems to be driven by pent up demand from precious metals investors and possible additional demand from coin collectors. Despite the fact that the coins will only be produced and offered for one month, it seems like they will surpass last year's annual totals, which were achieved when the coins were available throughout most of the year.

Today on Coin Update News: US Mint Bullion Coin Sales for November 2009