Here’s a funny thing - the US Mint stopped selling American Eagle gold coins yesterday, because of high demand. Reuters reports:
A shortage of American Eagle bullion coins due to soaring demand following a recent sharp retreat in gold prices has forced the U.S. Mint to temporarily suspend sales of the popular coins.
“Due to the unprecedented demand for American Eagle gold one-ounce bullion coins, our inventories have been depleted. We are therefore temporarily suspending all sales of these coins,” the U.S. Mint told authorized coin dealers in a memorandum dated on Friday.
Buying of the one-ounce coins apparently surged as gold prices fell in early August. Contrast that to earlier this year, when the Mint began rationing silver Eagles because of a price surge and you have fodder for some pretty good conspiracy theories - everything from an imminent bailout of Fannie and Freddie to the US government hoarding gold reserves in preparation for financial Armageddon. The Gold Antitrust Action Committee is claiming it as evidence of price collusion among financial institutions, according to the WSJ.
We love a good conspiracy theory here on FT Alphaville. But would also point you to the words of Jon Nadler, analyst at Canadian metals-dealer Kitco, who says the withdrawal could be down to a combination of high demand and a simple lack of planchets - the metal discs used to mint coins.
