Sales of the Ultra High Relief Saint-Gaudens gold $20 hardly moved this week. The total increased by fewer than 1,000 pieces, but the 60,000 level has been breached. That means collectors have ponied up between $72 million and $80 million. That is quite a chunk of change in a bad economy. Will sales dollars rise to $100 million? That would signal a whopper of a program. This can be achieved in two ways, either by a large increase in the price paid for each coin going forward or a stable price environment that prompts collectors to jump in and buy large numbers at reasonable prices.

Braille dollar sales move along. I would be tempted to say they are selling well, but the sold-out Lincoln commemorative dollar overshadows the Braille sales numbers. Currently some 31 percent of the Braille dollars have been sold. This is not enough to say that the program will sell out, but not so few as to indicate that a sellout is impossible. Stay tuned.

Bullion coin numbers continue strong. The total number of silver American Eagles sold during the month of April has leaped to 2,479,500, up by 1,186,500 coins. That’s a bunch. That’s an annual rate of almost 30 million coins.

Gold one-ounce American Eagles also went up sharply, jumping by 61,000 pieces to an April total of 147,000.

Sales of the 2009 uncirculated Presidential dollar set are in the strong early phase, rising by 9,060 to 29,965.

Provided by Numismatic News