May revival for silver Eagles

The midpoint of the month was reached just a few days ago.

I took a look at the sales figure for silver American Eagles.

They stood at 1,560,000.

That is almost double the 835,000 pieces sold in the entire month of April.

It is not out of line to think that if sales maintain the current pace, the sales total for the month of May will reach 3 million or so.

That would put this month second for demand this year behind only the 5,127,000 sold in January.

I have read on bullion related websites the theory that middle class buyers have run out of money.

Do I believe that?

I do not.

I think middle class buyers are canny buyers.

They do not knowingly throw funds away.

They wait for a better buying opportunity to come along.

Now might just be it.

The price of silver began the year just under $16.

It jumped rapidly to about $18.50.

Then it retreated almost all the way back to $16.

Now it is on the rise again.

Check the Kitco website for the particulars.

It is a wonderful source of information.

I think the canny middle class buyer had figured this out and was waiting for a better buying opportunity.

Every Tom, Dick and Harry wanted to be the first on the block with a new date in January.

Do you really want to pay $2 a coin more just to brag you have the 2017 first?

I don’t.

Oh well, maybe just one.

After all, I am a collector.

But for quantity purchases it is far better to wait for the new date excitement to go away.

That is what I think silver Eagle buyers were thinking this year.

They have learned much during the price uptrend that began in 2001 and peaked in 2011.

They now know when to keep their powder dry until the right buck comes into their sight.

This is a lesson every deer hunter in Wisconsin knows, too.

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

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