Silver eagles directly from the US Mint

stevepk

The US Mint website lists uncirculated 2014 silver eagles at $43.95 as of today's date with silver at $17.63 an ounce. Silver was a bit higher the last time I attended a coin show, but dealers were selling silver eagles for about $24 each.

Why are silver eagles from the US Mint so expensive? I would imagine they would be the cheapest source for silver eagles as they originate from the US Mint. By buying direct from the supplier, you are avoiding any middleman and should theoretically be able to buy at the lowest price.

Does the US mint sell silver eagles at different prices depending on who you are? Does quantity purchased affect price? If not, where do dealers get their silver eagles? They all originate from the US mint and end up on dealer tables. Dealers obviously cannot buy at $43.95 and sell for $24, so what gives?

Rarity

Silver Eagle selling at US Mint for $43 and change is W mint mark type. Silver Eagle selling for $24 by dealers is bullion type without any mint mark.

DaveG

As Rarity mentioned, the W-mintmark Uncirculated Silver Eagle that the Mint sells is a special collector coin.

The regular bullion coins are sold by the Mint to very large firms that are designated something like "primary dealers." (You can find the criteria to become one of these on the Mint website. I believe you have to have assets of something like $50 million and you need to purchase multiple-thousands of ounces at a time.) As I recall, the Mint sells Silver Eagles to its primary customers at Spot + $2.

The primary distributors then sell Silver Eagles to their customers, who then offer the Silver Eagles at coin shows.

stevepk

I see the West Point mint mark now.

After further navigation, I see the US mint website re-directs you to a list of middle-men to buy bullion silver eagles. To buy bullion silver eagles directly from the mint, you apparently need to be an a authorized buyer. What do you need to do be an authorized buyer?

coindeuce

"What do you need to do to be an authorized buyer"

Authorized distributors of Uncirculated Silver Eagles are required to meet a very stringent list of Mint criteria, one of which includes,
I believe, the ability to purchase $10 million of bullion per year. Remember, authorized distributors also have direct buying privileges for Uncirculated Gold American Eagles and Uncirculated Gold American Buffalos and even Uncirculated American Platinum Eagles. Dealing in those products obviously requires an enterprise that is highly capitalized and credible.

Baley

yeah, the little W, and the gift box and CofA, doubles the value

khayse

Yeah and stupid me buys one every year.

-KHayse

DaveG

The requirements to be an Authorized Purchaser of silver are on page 4 (Section V) of this document.

One of the requirements is to purchase a minimum of 25,000 ounces of silver.

If you want to see the requirements to be an Authorized Purchaser of gold or platinum, see this page for the appropriate links.

19Lyds

<< <i>Silver Eagle selling at US Mint for $43 and change is W mint mark type. Silver Eagle selling for $24 by dealers is bullion type without any mint mark. >>

Or special handling and individual packaging WITH a Certificate of Authenticity!

It's that "high cost of labor" handling and "high cost of packaging materials" that does it every time.

Check out the price of the Annual Uncirculated Dollar Coin Set at $44.95 which is only a buck more than the individual 2014-W SAE yet, you get 5 additional dollar coins with it!

Its all Handling and Packaging.

19Lyds

<< <i>As Rarity mentioned, the W-mintmark Uncirculated Silver Eagle that the Mint sells is a special collector coin.

The regular bullion coins are sold by the Mint to very large firms that are designated something like "primary dealers." (You can find the criteria to become one of these on the Mint website. I believe you have to have assets of something like $50 million and you need to purchase multiple-thousands of ounces at a time.) As I recall, the Mint sells Silver Eagles to its primary customers at Spot + $2.

The primary distributors then sell Silver Eagles to their customers, who then offer the Silver Eagles at coin shows. >>

This is true yet, set the two coins side by side and you'll be hard pressed to tell one from the other without flipping them over.

Overdate

<< <i>It's that "high cost of labor" handling and "high cost of packaging materials" that does it every time. >>


It would be nice if the Mint would offer a cheaper "no special packaging" option.

The OGP (Original Government Packaging) looks nice, but it typically takes up much more space than the coin itself. Many collectors of moderns would probably prefer a less expensive coin without the OGP.