(Kitco News, Wed. April 19th, 2023) – Despite the robust volatility in the first quarter of 2023, the U.S. Mint saw historical demand for its gold bullion, seeing its best March and quarterly sales in more than two decades.
According to data from the U.S. Mint, it sold 215,000 ounces of gold in various denominations of its America Eagle gold coins, its best March performance since 2018. At the same time, the mint sold 435,500 ounces in the first three months of the year, its best first-quarter performance since 1999.
March gold sales are up more than 38% from last year; at the same time, quarterly sales are up 2% compared to the first quarter of 2022.
Analysts have said that it’s not surprising to see the strong sales data in March as investors fled to the precious metal to protect their wealth as global financial markets saw the most extensive banking crisis since the 2008 Great Financial Crisis.
Analysts note that broad-based investment demand for gold helped to drive the price back above $2,000 an ounce.
Along with robust demand in North America, data from the Perth Mint shows it sold 80,541 ounces of gold coins, the most since November. The Perth Mint’s sales were up more than 54% from February; however, they were down 34% from March 2021.
In the first three months of the year, the Perth Mint said it sold 197,177 ounces, down nearly 25% from the first quarter of 2022.
Similar to gold, Perth Mint data shows solid demand for silver bullion even if sales are down from last year’s highs. The Australian sovereign mint said it sold 1.823 million ounces of silver in March, up nearly 23% from February and up more 10.5% compared to last year.
However, for the quarter, the Perth Mint sold 4.541 million ounces in the first three months of 2023, down nearly 20% sold in the first quarter of last year.
U.S. silver demand remains somewhat complicated as some analysts note that the U.S. Mint continues to deal with supply issues for silver blanks.
Some analysts continue to note that U.S. Mint silver sales are not a fair representation of the global market because of the supply crunch in America.
The U.S. Mint sold 5.749 million one-ounce American Eagle silver coins in the first quarter.
The mint said it sold 900,000 ounces in March, unchanged from February. Silver sales since the start of the year are down 24% compared to the first quarter of 2022.
While the U.S. continues to deal with supply issues, analysts said that investors should focus on the broader issue: physical silver demand has dramatically changed since the pandemic.
In a recent interview with Kitco News, Philip Newman, managing director at Metals Focus, said that even if silver demand falls from last year’s highs, it remains elevated by historical standards.
“Coin and bar demand since the pandemic have been eye-watering high,” he said. “Global demand for gold and silver are expected to remain healthy through 2023.”
Posted by:
Jack Dempsey, President
401 Gold Consultants LLC
jdemp2003@gmail.com