2015 silver Eagles in home stretch

The final two weeks of sales of 2015 silver American Eagle bullion coins have begun.

The Mint said it will offer the final batch on Dec. 14.

Its last week of production of the popular silver bullion coins will be the week of Dec. 7.

When the smoke clears, the total sales for the year should easily surpass the 44,006,000 record number for 2014.

Orders for the 2016-dated silver and gold American Eagles will be accepted by the Mint beginning on Jan. 11.

Since the only buyers that the Mint will deal with are the Authorized Purchasers, those of us at the secondary market level will probably have to a wait a few days more.

However, bullion coin sellers are nothing if not efficient as well as ingenious. They will probably start taking advance orders by the time the last party hat has been removed after the country’s New Year’s celebrations.

Everybody seems to go wild for Eagles in January.

The new dates are sought immediately by both collectors and investors.

Premiums tend to rise.

It would be better to sit back and avoid the rush.

Buying Eagles in February will probably be cheaper – at least as far as premiums go.

However, I know that writing this is like telling a kid that his Christmas presents will be delayed a week.

Delay ain’t gonna happen, is it?

Buyers will be out in force.

The only two questions are how many Eagles the Mint will be able to make available during January and will buyers take them all?

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Buzz blogger Dave Harper has twice won the Numismatic Literary Guild Award for Best Blog and is editor of the weekly newspaper "Numismatic News."