Bullion coin sales soft in March

Sales of silver American Eagle one-ounce bullion coins were weak in March, but not quite as weak as the month before.

The Mint’s Authorized Purchasers acquired 1,615,000 silver Eagles. This figure is 400,000 higher than the 1,215,000 taken in February.

In comparison, January monthly sales totaled 5,127,500.

For the first quarter of 2017, sales were down by 46 percent. Buyers took 7,957,500 coins compared to 14,842,500 in the same period of 2016.

March numbers for gold American Eagle bullion coins continued their decline.

A total of 21,000 ounces were sold in March compared to 27,500 in February and 117,500 in January. The sales total for the first quarter of 2017 is 166,000 ounces, down 32 percent from the first quarter of 2016.

Though the Mint sells four sizes of gold American Eagles, most of the precious metal is sold in the form of the one-ounce coin. Sales in the first quarter totaled 123,500 pieces. In the first quarter of 2016, the number was 185,500.

Sales of the less popular one-ounce gold Buffalo were also down in the first quarter compared to one year ago, but by much less than the Eagles. Buyers took 55,500 of the .9999 fine gold coins compared to 60,000 in the same period last year. This works out to a fall of just 4,500 pieces, or 7.5 percent.