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Gold Coin Production Increases Dramatically
 | By Richard Giedroyc, World Coin News
June 29, 2009 |
It's probably no secret to coin collectors that the interest in gold coins is increasing. Ask anyone who buys or sells US gold coins, either bullion American Eagles or the circulation coinage that ended in 1933. Dealers can't stock them fast enough to keep up with demand as investors flock to gold during these poor economic times.
There are a significant number of bullion coins being made by world mints every year. Logic would suggest the number of gold bullion coins being produced would increase due to the current demand. But if this is true, just how many more coins are being produced?
Mintage figures are generally available from the U.S. Mint, but other mints around the world may treat the same information more as a state secret. This is where a Freedom of Information Act request may come in handy, as it did recently for Bloomberg News.
According to a May 7 Bloomberg report, statistics for gold coin production were obtained under such a request. It indicated the British Royal Mint increased its consumption of gold by more 75 percent during the first quarter "amid a surge in demand for bullion to diversify investments."
More specifically, the BRM struck gold coins with a total weight of 28,496 troy ounces during this period as compared to a total of 16,317 troy ounces used to strike gold coins one year earlier. The BRM strikes coins under contract for countries that do not own their own mints.
During the same time the BRM consumed 74,793 ounces of silver, a decrease of 10 percent. Production decreased to 240,759 ounces of silver during 2008, according to Bloomberg, while the value of the metal decreased on the London exchange by 23 percent.
The report also indicates Muenze Oesterreich AG, the Austrian government mint in Vienna, sold 1.5 million ounces of gold during 2008, which the report says was a record. During January 2009 the US Mint sold 92,000 1-ounce Gold American Eagle coins. This, too, was an enormous expansion in sales. Data recently compiled by the Bloomberg News service indicates gold has now "advanced for eight consecutive years, the longest winning streak since at least 1948." Unfortunately the report didn't indicate if this was the amount being owned by individuals and investment companies, the amount being mined or if this is an increase in the price of gold.
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