2008-W Uncirculated & Proof Gold Eagle Sales Figures

The 2008-W Uncirculated & Proof American Gold Eagles have been somewhat overlooked this year. The coins were somewhat out shined by other gold offerings from the US Mint, such as the Gold Buffalo, and also hampered by a summer decline in the price of gold. With the recent rise in the price of gold and the potential for some low mintage keys, the 2008-W Gold Eagles deserve a fresh look.

As of the writing of this post, the one-ounce 2008 Proof Gold Eagle has sold out. All of the other individual coins and 4 Coin Sets remain available.

Below are the sales figures as of December 16 from Numismater's Mint Stats. The first column indicates the sales for each individual product offering. The second column indicates the total sales per coin (individual sales + 4 Coin set sales).

2008-W Uncirculated Gold Ealge Sales Figures

1 oz	4,463	6,381
1/2 oz	1,601	3,519*
1/4 oz	2,250	4,168
1/10 oz	6,911	8,829
4 Coin Set	1,918

2008 Proof Gold Eagle Sales Figures

1 oz	16,327	25,896
1/2 oz	3,169	12,738
1/4 oz	4,639	14,208
1/10 oz	10,335	19,904
4 Coin Set	9,569

*plus an unknown number included in Double Prosperity Set

Immediately apparent are the extremely low sales levels for the uncirculated "W" coins. For each coin, this year's sales figures are less than half of last year's final reported numbers. The numbers are also far below the sales figures for the recently sold out 2008-W Unicruclated Gold Buffalo coins, which are already selling for big premiums.

The question is how much longer the 2008-W Unc Gold Eagles will remain on sale, and how much will sales grow during that time? Since one ounce Proof Gold Eagle coin has already sold out, this might be an indication that the US Mint's inventory levels are low and other sell outs might be close behind.

Personally, I like the one-quarter ounce 2008-W Uncircualted Gold Eagle. Although the chart above shows it with a slightly higher mintage than the one-half ounce coin, there are an unknown number of the one-half ounce coins sold as part of the Double Prosperity Set. I have not seen any sales figures for this set, but I would guess that at least 10,000 or more have sold. After this figure is added to the individual sales and 4 coin set sales, the one-half ounce coin becomes less remarkable.

The one ounce 2008-W Unc Gold Eagle also seems like a bargain. After the recent move in the price of gold, this coin has only a small premium over the price of regular bullion versions of the coin. The potential for this coin to be a low mintage key more than makes up for this premium.

What are your thoughts on the 2008-W Unc & Proof Gold Eagles? Join the discussion on Coin Network.