US Mint Acknowledges a Shortage of Silver Planchets in 2021




If you follow the silver market, you already know that demand for silver is very high this year. In this recent interview article with Coin Week, US Mint officials confirmed what many had suspected -- namely that they simply cannot get enough silver planchets (blanks used to make coins) to meet public demand and also that they have allocated silver eagles this year to parcel out a limited supply that falls below consumer demand.

Below are the relevant quotes from the article where US Mint officials acknowledge they will not meet public demand in 2021. (I added underline for emphasis).


"As for the planned use of product rather than mintage limits, Ryder (US Mint Director) explained that it was necessary to limit this year’s maximum to 175,000 for each Morgan and 200,000 for the Peace dollar because of the unprecedented demand for silver, which has resulted in the need to allocate American Silver Eagle production and has put the Mint “between a rock and a hard place.”

. . . . . 

"As for the possibility of Proof versions, which collectors would love, this is another option that could be a possibility in 2022. The same is the case for sets of all six coins, which are not possible this year due to the lack of silver planchets (especially with the imminent rollout of the Type 2 reverse American Silver Eagle)."


This is useful information as US Mint officials are confirming here that it is not only COVID and their planned mid year switch to a new design for the silver eagle that is causing them to be unable to meet public demand for their silver products. 

They directly mention "unprecedented demand for silver" and "the lack of silver planchets" in their comments as quoted in the article. Some reports on silver market shortages focus on logistics issues for producing silver coins and other retail silver products, but here US Mint officials acknowledge the overall demand for silver as contributing to the shortfall of supply to meet demand. In a recent interview on Kitco, former US Mint Director Ed Moy concurs that global supplies of physical gold and silver are tight. So we have BOTH current and former US Mint officials talking about tightness in the physical gold and silver markets. 

This article in Coin Week mainly talks about the upcoming public ordering process for the new 2021 dated Morgan and Peace silver dollars which we covered earlier here. Another point of interest from this article is that US Mint officials are expecting heavy demand for the new versions of these silver dollars and may continue to make them annually going forward if the demand meets their expectations. Based on the pricing listed by the Mint ($85 for coins with .858 ounces of silver), these new silver dollars will sell at almost $100 per ounce based on their silver content. 

Of course, collectors who buy these coins will view them as numismatic collector coins rather than as silver bullion coins. We can expect that any of these coins certified in MS70 (perfect) condition will sell for substantial premiums over the uncertified $85 price listed at the US Mint. As far as I know, no original Morgan or Peace dollars certified in perfect 70 condition are known to exist; so perfect certified coins will probably be popular for collectors who appreciate the Morgan and Peace dollars.


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