US Mint to Lift 2015 American Silver Eagle Rationing

Ordering limits attached to 2015 American Silver Eagle bullion coins end on Monday, June 1, the United States Mint announced in a memo sent to its network of bullion distributors called "Authorized Purchasers."

AP’s include major coin and precious metals dealers, brokerage companies and other participating financial intermediaries who buy bullion coins in bulk and then resell them for a small premium over their melt value.

This year’s American Silver Eagles launched on Jan. 12, 2015 under a limited sales arrangement. The allocation system ensures that a number of Silver Eagles are always available to AP’s each week, eliminating extended sales suspensions amid periods of red-hot demand.

Here is the text of the U.S. Mint memo sent to AP’s on Thursday, May 28:

"We are pleased to announce that effective Monday, June 1, 2015; we will no longer be allocating American Eagle Silver Bullion Coins. Authorized Purchasers may purchase as many American Eagle Silver Bullion Coins as they desire. The United States Mint will continue to monitor its Silver Eagle Bullion Coin demand and adjust its bullion coin production accordingly."

Bullion sales tend to calm down around summertime, but demand for the one-ounce, 99.9% pure American Silver Eagles has already declined sharply. Sales through the first 28 days in May reached 1,648,500 coins. If they stay under 2 million, it’ll be the first month under the mark since July 2014.

Silver Eagle sales this year are at 16,571,000. While that’s higher than annual sales in 22 of 29 previous years, it’s down from last year’s pace. In year 2014 when sales ended at a record 44,006,000, the coins by May 28, 2014 had already topped 21.3 million.