Heavy demand for bullion marks 2016

Demand for bullion coins has spilled over from 2015 and into 2016. The United States Mint began taking Authorized Purchasers’ orders for silver and gold Eagles plus gold Buffalo bullion coins on Jan. 11.

As of Jan. 13, buyers ordered 50,500 one-ounce, 13,000 half-ounce, 26,000 quarter-ounce and 85,000 tenth-ounce gold Eagles for a total of 72,000 ounces of gold. In January of 2015, the Mint sold 81,000 ounces in the entire month.

Sales are also strong for the gold Buffalo, which saw 23,500 purchased by Jan. 13 compared to 34,500 sold during the same month in 2015.

Silver Eagle sales amounted to 3,500,000 coins of a 4,000,000 weekly allocation. It has a short way to go before it catches up to 2015’s sales. The total sold in January of 2015 was 5,530,000 coins.

Resellers have lost faith in the 2015 Coin and Currency set. From Jan. 3 to Jan. 10, 4,208 sets were returned, bringing the total sold down to 84,059.