Purchase Gold Eagles

May 16, 2009 - According to sales statistics from the United States Mint, Gold Eagle coins recently hit a ten year high. We haven't seen such high demand since around 1999, and before that, 1987. Having recently hit the one hundred twenty thousand mark for sales in terms of ounces, this fully explains the recent decision to temporarily suspend the sale of these coins until consumer demand can be sufficiently met. Until then, at least we can take comfort in that all 22 karat blanks are being allotted to the Gold Eagles and Uncirculated Coins projects and that it may not be too long before the coins are once again being released to the public.

What this should suggest to those looking to purchase Gold Eagles directly from the Mint in 2009 is obvious: When the Gold Eagle coins do go on sale again, be sure to buy quickly before somebody else gets a hold of them because there's no telling if the Mint will report yet another shortage in 2010.

While many gold bloggers are ready to look at this in a negative light, even speculating that the Mint might be "stretching the truth" regarding how much gold they have access to and how high the demand really is, the fact remains that this is generally good news. After all, demand is one of the key components to gold prices so the more demand there is for the coins the more the coins in your wall safe is worth, so this event only underlines the fact that, when you purchase gold eagles, it’s still a good, safe idea. Whether you purchase gold eagles a few at a time or in large quantities, 2008 was a strong year for the metal and with unprecedented numbers of investors looking to purchase Gold Eagles, 2009 appears to be following suit.

Luckily, the US Mint isn't your one and only resource if you want to purchase Gold Eagles as you also have the option of buying from an online coin dealer. Of course even so, the worry amongst investors is that the number of Gold Eagles available in the first place will become severely limited.

In that gold coins are perhaps the very most convenient method for investing in the metal, you can see where the worry comes from. Still, the US Mint is making efforts to end the production suspension fast and get back to work putting the coins out there for investors and collectors.

Even so, many critics are claiming that the problem was foreseeable and that the Mint could have done something to prevent it. Of course the fact remains that the US Mint really had no idea how much demand there would be for these coins until the demand suddenly spiked late last year and into early this year. Perhaps the Mint will learn a lesson from all of this and keep a surplus 22 karat blanks in the future for just such an occasion, although considering that this only seems to happen about once every ten years, a temporary shortage of the coins once a decade seems a small price to pay for a solid and convenient investment option.

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Stewart Lawson

May 16, 200