Unable to splurge on restaurant meals or holidays, many of these extra dollars have been directed towards a range of financial assets…with gold being a likely beneficiary. 3 Not only were lower paid jobs the worst hit, but stimulus checks and unemployment insurance injected vast sums into US pockets. Note: Latest available data at 20 Feb Source: US MintĪlthough the economic impact of the coronavirus is unquestionable – GDP growth contracted by a staggering 31% in Q2, while unemployment spiked to 15% – the impact on aggregate income has been somewhat counter-intuitive. US Mint monthly gold bullion coins sales, Total ounces Gold bullion coin sales have kept up the pace so far this year Nevertheless, a supply chain squeeze restricted the availability of some products (due to the closure of some mints and refineries, and a skeleton international flight schedule) and likely prevented demand in Q2 reaching its true potential. A well-established online infrastructure allowed gold bar and coin to thrive, in contrast to markets such as India, where market lockdowns stifled investment. The sharp rise in gold bullion coin sales by the US Mint in March and April are clear evidence of the strong response by US investors to the rapid global spread of the virus at that time. The global coronavirus pandemic was an obvious influence throughout last year. So, what drove this interest in 2020? Broadly speaking, we can point to four key elements: 2 And the momentum has continued into February, with sales having reached 118,500 ounces just after halfway through the month, also a 22-year high for February sales. That’s the highest monthly total since December 2009 and the strongest January sales so far this century. Sales of gold Eagle bullion coins topped 220,000 ounces in January (~6t). Sources: ICE Benchmark Administration, Metals Focus, Refinitiv GFMS, World Gold CouncilĪccording to recent data from the US Mint, this trend shows no sign of stopping so far in 2021.
#US MINT GOLD COINS FULL#
Bar and coin demand data is latest available data published in Gold Demand Trends Full Year and Q4 2020. * US$ value is calculated by multiplying the demand volume by the LBMA Gold Price PM in US dollars.