Gold and Silver Sales at the U.S. Mint in May 2014
Silver continues to outsell gold at the U.S. by a wide margin and is on pace for another record year.
One Ounce Silver Eagles outsell One Ounce Gold Eagles 137.53 to 1 at the U.S. Mint in May
U.S. Mint sells 3,988,500* one ounce Silver Eagles and 29,000 one ounce Gold Eagles
The Gold/Silver Price Ratio was 66.50/1 in May vs. 67.32/1 in April
Strong Sales of Physical Silver Bullion Near Record Pace at the U.S. Mint**
May one ounce Gold Eagles sales up from April levels
Total May 2014 Gold Bullion Sales at the U.S. Mint: 48,000 ounces, including 44,000 fractional ounce gold Eagles (totaling 6,500 ounces) and 12,500 24K one ounce Buffalo gold coins***
Total May 2014 Silver Bullion Sales at the U.S. Mint: 4,165,000 ounces****
Last year we started tracking the silver to gold sales ratio as measured by the sales of physical gold bullion vs. sales of physical silver bullion at the U.S. Mint. We track the sales of one ounce American Gold Eagles vs. one ounce American Silver Eagles. We now provide this data from 2008 through May 2014 and compare it to the gold/silver ratio that measures how many ounces of silver it takes to purchase one ounce of gold.
Below are the 2008-2013 U.S. Mint one ounce Gold and Silver Eagles sales in number of ounces and total dollars:
The May 2014 Silver to Gold Sales Ratio: 137.53/1
In May the U.S. Mint sold 3,988,500 one ounce Silver Eagles down from 3,569,000 Silver Eagles sold in April* and up from 3,458,500 Silver Eagles sold in May 2013.
In May the U.S. Mint sold 29,000 one ounce Gold Eagles up from 26,000 sold in April and down from 61,500 Gold Eagles sold in May 2013.
The ratio of one ounce Silver Eagles sold to one ounce Gold Eagles sold in May 2014 was 137.53 to 1 compared to 56.24 to 1 in May 2013.
In May the U.S. Mint sold approximately $77 million worth of one ounce Silver Eagles (and approximately $83 million worth of silver, including the sales of 176,500 ounces of America the Beautiful five ounce silver coins****) The Mint sold approximately $37 million worth of one ounce Gold Eagles. The total value of physical gold bullion sold at the U.S. Mint in May, including sales of one ounce and fractional ounce Gold Eagles and one ounce Gold Buffalo coins, was approximately $62 million.
On May 31, 2014 at 8:15PM EST:
Silver was $18.81 per ounce
Silver Price Average in May: $19.36
Silver Price Average in April:19.71
Silver Price Average in March: $20.74
Silver Price Average in February: $20.83
Silver Price Average in January: $19.91
Silver Price Average in 2013: $23.79
Silver Price Average in 2014: $20.11
Gold was $1251.30 per ounce
Gold Price Average in May: $1287.53
Gold Price Average in April: 1299.00
Gold Price Average in March: $1336.08
Gold Price Average in February: $1300.97
Gold Price Average in January: $1244.80
Gold Price Average in 2013: $1412.05
Gold Price Average in 2014: $1293.14
May Gold/Silver Ratio: 66.50/1
2013 Gold Silver Ratio: 59.25/1
Sources: Kitco and United States Mint
Gold and Silver Charts Courtesy of Nick Laird
*The Mint reported 4,590,500 one ounce silver eagles sold in April. In the first week of May, however they removed 602,000 silver eagles from the April sales total and moved them into May’s sales totals.
** The U.S. Mint has sold 21,436,500 silver American Eagle coins through May. Last year through May the U.S. Mint 21,768,500 silver American Eagle coins. Last year the U.S. Mint sold a record 42,675,000 silver American Eagles.
***In May 2014 the U.S. Mint also sold: 3,000 one half ounce gold American Eagle coins, 6,000 one quarter ounce gold American Eagle coins and 35,000 one tenth ounce gold American Eagle coins (a total of 6,500 ounces in fractional gold Eagles coins) Including the 29,000 one ounce gold American Eagle coins, the Mint sold 35,500 ounces of gold American Eagle coins and 12,500 one ounce Gold Buffalo coins for a total of 48,000 ounces of gold sold.
**** The U.S. Mint reported sales figures for the first time this year for their popular silver American the Beautiful five ounce coins. They reported selling an additional 16,200 five ounce Great Smoky Mountain coins (bringing the total of GSM coins sold this year to 27,000) for a total of 81,000 ounces sold. The Mint also reported selling 19,100 five ounce Shenandoah National Park coins for a total of 95,500 ounces. The total ounces of silver sold in May at the US. Mint from the GSM and SNP coins was 176,500. In 2014. the total ounces of silver sold to date from America the Beautiful five ounce coins is 230,500.
In 2013 the U.S. Mint sold 160,000 silver America the Beautiful five ounce coins for a total of 800,000 ounces sold.