Rationing? First they suspend sales in December, now they suspend sales again in January. Any guess what the demand will be like on the 28th? Why don't they just declare orders will only be taken two weeks per month and deliveries will only be received on a FIFO basis while stocks last! :lol:
Apmex have the 2013 ASE's at only $4.49/ozt over spot if anyone wants to wait for them. Of course if you want your bullion today and think you might miss your allocation of 2013 ASE's, then you can pay $6.00/ozt over spot for the monster boxes they do have in stock. http://www.apmex.com/Category/1206/Silver_American_Eagles_Sealed_Monster_Boxes.aspx I wonder if that spread will increase.
American Silver Eagle Generates Loss of $4.4 Million http://news.coinupdate.com/us-mint-bullion-program-revenue-falls-silver-eagles-generate-loss-1781/ With the halt in production a few thoughts to consider regarding 'shortages of silver' - is the US mint going the way of the USPS with big losses? I don't think so, so expect mint premium increases when production starts again. This at min will help reduce runaway sales relative to productive capacity, but probably help the bottom line moreso. - remember Bron's input about cranking up supply of 1 oz coins as being harder than supplying 1000 oz bars
to me it just sounds like a scheduling error. given a few more weeks they'll most likely be up to speed again.
WTF Apmex are selling silver eagles for $38US each! why would anyone pay that when you can buy other 1oz silver coins for $34?
the are suspending production untill the end of January, and then it will go on allocation basis. Maybe this is an excuse to jack the price up?
Heres an email i recieved from liberty Visit us online at www.LibertyCPM.comJanuary 17th, 2013 U.S. Mint Halts Silver Eagle Sales The U.S. Mint experienced unprecedented demand for the latest issue of the American Silver Eagle, so much so that demand has outstripped supply, forcing the Mint to temporarily halt all new sale orders to authorized purchasers. The following communication was sent to Liberty this afternoon from Branch Chief at the U.S. Mint: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Authorized Purchasers, The United States Mint has temporarily sold out of 2013 American Eagle Silver Bullion coins. As a result, sales are suspended until we can build up an inventory of these coins. Sales will resume on or about the week of January 28, 2013, via the allocation process. Please feel free to call us if you have any questions. Regards, Jack A. Szczerban Branch Chief, Precious Metals Group Department of the Treasury United States Mint -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fortunately, Liberty was able to secure a significant allotment of the 2013 production before the announcement. As always, we plan to use our unique size and distribution network to continue to undercut our competition. The premiums on the 2013 allotment have already risen as high as $7.00 per coin at our largest competitor. At Liberty we remain committed to offering wholesale prices to the public and investors of all sizes, and have priced our product lineup accordingly. We are currently offering 2013 Silver Eagles for $4.75 over spot per coin (quantities < 500), and $4.50 over spot per coin (quantities > 500). -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Premiums Rising on Silver It is evident from what we are seeing in the physical markets here that we are on the cusp of a serious divergence between paper and physical price. We have spoken with a number of refiners and producers across the USA and the message is clear: premiums are rising. The physical market is experiencing incredible strain, with the consolidation move of the last 2 months resulting in very little net sellers of physical metal. From our own analysis, we are seeing a roughly 50% drop off in metal buy-backs from customers over the last 2 months; this number rises to 60% when taking into account just the past 30 days. It is clear that the vapid price action has encouraged many investors on the sell side to sit tight, waiting for a more definitive market signal before exiting any of their physical positions.
Why didn't the US Mint just raise the price of the 2013 coins to manage the demand while they cut more blanks?
Give the ASE's have zero collectors premium, youd just buy silver bars instead of these. I'd put ASE's in the same bracket as generic rounds.
Blergh, just got the price hike emails from our US suppliers - premiums on available stocks of 2013 ASEs went through the roof overnight. Big hikes per coin. ASEs cost more than Kookaburras now to buy wholesale.
lol spoke too soon Either the price will drop again in feb or they will stay up so they make a profit this year. Maybe they are making an artificial shortage to make some dough ala debeers
I think the prices are reflecting remaining available wholesale stock of 2013s that have already been ordered from the US Mint. They are still shipping them from the mint to suppliers, just not taking new orders until Jan 28th. The price hikes are being imposed by US wholesalers, not the US Mint. Basically a case of supply & demand - there's no supply, so market forces from demand drive up prices on remaining inventory that can be sold.
boom! iv updated the chart on the last page. or https://dl.dropbox.com/u/17998991/silver_month.jpg https://dl.dropbox.com/u/17998991/silver_year.jpg
its starting to look like 2012 sales would have matched or exceeded 2010 sales if they hadn't stopped for the last couple of weeks.
