Keep on stackin' that physical silver my friends - it's workin'! Silver American Eagle 2013 bullion coins are back on the market. After the U.S. Mint’s supply was depleted Jan. 17, sales were suspended until Jan. 28, when authorized purchasers were once again able to order coins according to their allocations. In the first three days of resumed sales, almost 1.5 million coins were ordered. The shortage of 2013 coins resulted from higher than anticipated demand, said Tom Jurkowsky, Mint director of public affairs. The Mint expected a 21 percent jump in sales in early January, but buyers took 34 percent more of the 2013 coins. It may have been caused, in part, by the extension of sales of 2012 coins longer into December, he said, thereby using more silver blanks for 2012 coins. “If demand for 2012 coins had been lower, we could have diverted more blanks to producing 2013 coins, which would have helped us keep up with the 2013 demand,” he said. It is an issue of obtaining enough silver blanks, not of production capacity, Jurkowsky said. Currently, the Mint is striking silver Eagle bullion coins at a rate of 800,000 to 1 million coins a week, he said, which is as fast as it can find supplies of silver blanks. “The Mint has strict requirements. We can’t just call in anyone to provide banks.,” Jurkowsky said. “Raw material supply is the issue.” From Jan, 28-30, authorized purchasers took 1,491,000 silver Eagles. “How long we stay in allocations depends on market demand,” Jurkowsky said. “We like to have a buffer stock of silver blanks that are well above what our weekly demand is before we lift the allocation.” As long as authorized purchasers take their full weekly allocations, the allocation system will stay in effect, he said. Source
2013 Eagle Bullion Coins Back On Sale
By Debbie Bradley, Numismatic News February 06, 2013
