Bullion Demand and Rare Coin Optimism

HIGH VALUE COINS ARE SELLING SMARTLY

- Mike Fuljenz

Whenever financial, political or other world events lead to a continued increase in the buying of gold and silver bullion coins for diversification or as a form of financial insurance, we often see a bull market in rare coins follow in about six to 18 months. That’s because many of those new precious metals buyers become exposed by leading rare coin dealers to classic rare coins. Experience shows that about 10% to 20% of these new bullion coin buyers start collecting and investing in rare coins, and that provides a significant new demand for the limited universe of rare coins, thereby causing their prices to increase.

Can this be happening again? In 2020, the U.S. Mint noted an increase of 102% in Silver American Eagle purchases over 2019 and 455% in Gold American Eagle ounces purchased in 2019. In the first three months of 2021, there has also been a large increase in U.S. Mint sales of gold and silver bullion coins. Gold American Eagle coin sales by ounces increased by 83.8% during the first three months of 2021 vs. the same three months of 2020, while Silver American eagle sales increased 35.0% in the same time period. American Buffalo gold bullion coin sales rose 25.7% in the first three months of 2021 compared to the first three months of 2020.