Over 44,850,000 ounces of American Eagle silver bullion coins have been sold in 2015, setting a new historical record for the United States Mint.

The prior record of 44,006,000 ounces sold was set last year. Total sales for 2015 dated American Eagle silver bullion coins are projected to be between 45 million ounces and 47 million ounces.

Since 2007, American Eagle silver bullion coin sales have increased every year.  It began setting new historical records in 2008 after selling 19,583,500 ounces, surpassing the prior record of 10,475,500 ounces set in 2002.

Record sales of silver bullion coins extends internationally. Sales of the Royal Canadian Mint’s Silver Maple Leaf bullion coin will likely exceed 30,000,000 ounces, thereby setting their new historical record.

As the price of silver hovers near seven year lows, bargain hunters have driven sales of physical silver.  These individual investors are mostly small retail investors looking for portfolio diversification into precious metals.  Silver is a fraction of the price of gold.  Government minted silver bullion coins are one of the most popular ways to buy physical silver.

Low silver prices also attract speculators. Historically, it takes about 50 ounces of silver to buy one ounce of gold.  Today, the silver-to-gold ratio is 75 ounces of silver to buy one ounce of gold.  That means that gold is overpriced or silver is underpriced.  Many speculators are betting that silver is underpriced.

The United States Mint has announced that it will stop producing 2015 dated coins on December 11, 2015.  The last sales of 2015 silver bullion coins will be on Monday, December 14, 2015.  Because demand exceeds supply, the United States Mint will allocate the remaining inventory.  Then 2016 dated coins will begin production and inventories built to prepare for new sales beginning on January 11, 2016.

Ed Moy served as the 38th Director of the United States Mint from 2006-2011. Moy is the chief strategist for Fortress Gold Group, a provider of gold IRA rollovers and physical U.S. gold and silver bullion coins for direct delivery. Read more from Ed Moy — Click Here Now.