Reports of individuals snapping up near-record numbers of gold and silver
coins are coming in from around the world:
U.S.
Mint American Eagle gold coin sales set to rise sharply in Sept
(Reuters) - The U.S. Mint has sold nearly 50,000 ounces of American Eagle
gold coins so far in September, almost double its total in August, as a sharp
pullback in gold prices and geopolitical tensions boosted interest for physical
products from retail investors.
With only six business days left until the end of September, sales of American
Eagle bullion gold coins made for investors were 46,000 ounces, up 84 percent
from August sales of 25,000 ounces, the latest U.S. Mint data showed on Monday.
Record highs in U.S. equities also prompted some retail investors to buy
precious metal products to diversify their portfolios, said David Beahm,
vice president at New Orleans coin dealer Blanchard & Co.
German
Bullion Dealers Report Major Increase in Sales
(Gold Reporter) Bullion dealers from all regions report that gold sales
in the German bullion trade market surge since last week. Suppressed prices
for gold and silver are obviously considered buying rates by German investors.
The German precious metals trade reports a surge in sales.
"For about a week we record considerably increased turnover again, which
is now on previous year's level, so it doubled compared to the recent months.",
Rene Lehman from the internet dealer Münzland in Dresden told Goldreporter.
"We can confirm that customer demand has considerably increased in the recent
days.", said Dominik Kochmann, CEO of ESG Edelmetalle in Rheinstetten.
Daniel Marburger, Director of Coininvest GmbH in Frankfurt/Main also stated
that "In the past seven working days we have seen an extreme surge in demand."
Christian Brenner, Chief Executive of Philoro Edelmetalle GmbH: "Already
in August we noticed an increase on orders compared to the previous months,
but September... September beats it all. From a German viewpoint it's the
strongest month of 2014."
Perth
Mint Gold and Silver Bullion Sales Surge in August
(Coin News) Australian sales of bullion gold and silver surged in August
after falling to a three-month low in July, new figures from the Perth Mint
of Australia show.
August sales of Perth Mint gold coins and gold bars at 36,369 ounces rallied
44.9% from July and jumped 19.5% from the same time last year. Gold sales
were the highest since June. Sales of Perth Mint silver coins and silver
bars at 818,856 ounces in August advanced 41.7% from the prior month and
grew 18.5% from August 2013. They were the strongest since January. In July,
gold and silver bullion sales retreated from the previous month and from
year-ago levels.
Individual buyers aren't the dominant players in precious metals but they
do make a difference. And their renewed enthusiasm is matched by some recent
national trends:
China
imports more gold for holiday; Indian demand set to climb
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Top bullion consumer China has been importing more
gold in September than in the previous month due to demand from retailers
stocking up for the upcoming National Day holiday, market sources said.
Demand in India - the second biggest buyer of the metal - is also set to
pick up as the festival and wedding season kicked off this week.
With gold trading close to a key psychological level of $1,200 an ounce,
markets are keenly watching physical demand in Asia - the top consuming region
- to see if it could lend support to prices.
"The physical volumes have been high this month compared to August. I would
say imports could be at least 30 percent higher than last month," said a
trader with one of the 15 importing banks in China.
Russia
Boosts Gold Reserves by $400M to Highest Since '93
(Bloomberg) Russia added about 9.4 metric tons of gold valued at $400 million
to reserves in July as it expanded holdings for a fourth consecutive month
to the highest in at least two decades.
The country's stockpile, the fifth-biggest, increased to 35.5 million ounces
(1,104 tons) last month from 35.2 million ounces at the end of June, data
posted on the central bank's website showed. The amount of gold now held
is the most since at least 1993, according to International Monetary Fund
data.
Central banks may add as much as 500 tons to reserves this year, the World
Gold Council said on Aug. 14. Nations increased holdings by 409 tons last
year and 544 tons in 2012.
There's no guarantee that this buying, encouraging as it seems, is anything
more than a blip. But in the aggregate it does seem like a lot of buyers, old
and new, are finding current prices to be attractive. That's how bottoms form
and new bull markets begin.