March saw the sales of Silver bullion coins and bars at the Perth Mint surge by 43%. Sales rose to 716,283 ounces from 502,353 ounces in February, according to a Perth Mint blog post.
That’s probably down to people taking advantage of the suppressed price of silver during March.
Sales of Gold bullion coins and minted bars fell in March to the lowest since August last year with sales slipping by about 12% in March to 22,232 ounces from 25,257 ounces a month earlier, the mint said on its website.
More people are realizing that because Silver gets used up in industrial processes (like in electronics, solar panels and medicine) where gold does not, that Silver potentially can go much higher in price than gold. By that I mean that the price of Silver could double, triple or more whereas gold might only rise by one and a half or two times over the coming years.
With the rising prevalence of solar technology, more and more silver will be required by industry. That alone will push up prices. But as silver gets used up in ways which makes it difficult or impossible to recycle it, there’ll be less silver to go around and again, that scarcity will inflate its price.
Silver isn’t generally mined directly; it’s normally a by-product of other metals mining. If silver does command the high prices some analysts forecast (like $100+ per ounce), that would probably make it economically viable to mine silver directly.
The Perth Mint is the largest gold refinery in Australia. The world’s #2 gold producer after China. It is one of the largest gold and silver refineries in the world.
As you’ve probably noticed, Gold and Silver prices have surged this week on a weaker dollar and as the appetite for risky assets such as equities has waned due to geo-political concerns in the Middle East and Asia, and deepening tensions between the U.S. and Russia.
Gold is 2.6% higher and silver is 3.1% in the shortened Easter week with markets closed for Good Friday tomorrow.
Geo-political risks that were dormant are becoming more active. This is leading to renewed risk aversion which should see further gains for both precious metals.
The Perth Mint are famous for their collectible coin lines. They commemorate wars, cute & cuddly animals, and various facets of popular culture, such as Star Trek, Star Wars and Disney Characters.
Their Australian Animals silver coins are always popular and command good prices. There are limited numbers of coins released each year, between 300,000 and 1,000,000 depending on the coin. Unlike the USA’s Silver Eagle whose design hasn’t changed in decades, the Perth Mint coins get a new design every year. This increases their collectability and their relative scarcity helps keep prices high.
Popular animal coins include the Kookaburras, Koalas and Kangaroos. Other coins, with more limited releases, include the crocodile and spider.
The Perth Mint also produces the highly collectible Lunar Series II coins. A new coin design, based on the animal in that year’s Chinese Calendar, is released each year.
Perth Mint Silver Lunar 1oz Coin Set
