silver eagle premiums

Understanding Silver Eagle Premiums

The US Mint is one of the oldest continually operating minting operations in the world and all other mints use variants of the Mint’s processes. The Mint remains one of the world’s largest producer of coins today. Issues related to the production of bullion coins have led to huge increases in Silver Eagle premiums in recent years.

Many investors are looking to buy sovereign bullion coins from other mints. While many are still buying 1 oz silver eagles, some are concerned that the Mint suppliers are also making huge profits from the record high premiums caused by the shortages.

Investors Losing Confidence in the US Mint, while Coin Minting Reports $171 Million Net Loss

Keeping up with investors demand has been a difficult task for the US Mint. The pandemic lockdowns caused a total shut down of mint operations, forced mine closures and caused other widespread disruptions throughout industrial supply chains.

Problems for the Mint only got worse as investor demand for bullion investment coins skyrocketed because of the pandemic. For a few months, the minting of Silver Eagle coins was secretly shifted to the Philadelphia Mint for the first time in history as backorders began to pile up.

Silver Institute Report Shows Strong Demand Across All Supply Chains

Silver coins on the background of the growth chart

Investor demand continues to drive up prices for physical silver bullion. Supply chain disruptions at the start of the pandemic led to depletions of wholesale and retail bullion inventories resulting in the prices of physical bullion become far removed from following the paper price.

The US Mint continues struggling during periods of high demand due to ongoing supply chain issues plaguing domestic planchet suppliers.

What determines Silver Eagle prices?

2018 American 1 oz Silver Eagle

Silver eagle prices are consistently higher per ounce than generic rounds. Investors that are new to buying silver and other precious metals are often confused by the prices of what seem to be the same or similar items. At the end of the day both are still 1 troy ounce of silver. Some of this … Read moreWhat determines Silver Eagle prices?