US Mint Sales Jump, Really? - just like every January! Misleading headlines.

US Mint monthly sales of gold (Eagle and Buffalo) and silver Eagle coins are presented in the graphs below.  Even with my limited knowledge of the coin industry, I can see that dealers' purchases are seasonal.  Sales always jump up in January compared to prior month of December.  The more relevant comparison is to last year, where sales are actually down significantly.  Check out the misleading headlines below.

Also, be careful not to use January sales as an unbiased indicator of demand because supply may have been constrained.  The Mint may have started shipping 2014 coins later in January this year than last.  And, allocations of the new coins may have been smaller at the beginning of this year than in previous years.

This blogger seems to know the US coin business: http://news.coinupdate.com/us-mint-gold-and-silver-bullion-sales-fall-short-of-prior-year-3135/


U.S. Mint Gold-Coin Sales Jump 63% in January; Silver Triples
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-02-01/u-s-mint-gold-coin-sales-jump-63-in-january-silver-triples.html

US Mint Bullion Coins Soar to Highs in January Sales

http://www.coinnews.net/2014/02/03/us-mint-bullion-coins-soar-to-highs-in-january-sales/