With its "Instant" Price Hike of 90%, the U.S. Mint Shocked Silver Investors

Observers are calling it “The Great Silver Shakeup.”

Or “The Market-Reality Reset.”

Coin collectors and silver stackers are angry and seeing red.

But you and I and the entire Stock Picker’s Corner (SPC) community? We all knew this was coming … so we just keep pocketing green.

I’m talking about some uncharacteristically aggressive moves the U.S. Mint has made this month. The moves have some customers cursing, many investors hedging and just about everyone asking “what comes next?” for precious metals and other commodities.

But we’ll focus here on silver, the metal that’s an inaugural slice of the Model Portfolio — and an investment that’s paid off in a huge way for you. From an initial price just around $27 an ounce back in 2024, we’ve seen the metal surge to about $94 today — a windfall of nearly 250%.

And these new moves by the normally conservative U.S. Mint are another sign that silver prices should remain strong — and are likely headed higher over the long haul.

Let me tell you this story which, not surprisingly, has yet to be addressed by the mainstream news groups.

Under Pressure

The Mint is the Treasury Department agency that produces coins for commerce — as well as special coins (like the famed Silver Eagle) for collecting and investing.

On Monday, Jan. 12, the Mint told customers it was reviewing the prices it was charging for silver coins — something it hadn’t done for quite some time, but needed to in the face of that metal’s surging price.

Two days later, it suspended sales of silver coins and medals — removing some from its website entirely.

By the weekend, the Mint’s website was back up and running. Silver Eagles and other coins were again available — with those price “adjustments.”

It wasn’t “sticker shock.” It was more like “sticker electrocutions” — with some instant price increases approaching 90%.

Here’s how investors and collectors are responding. Here’s what it means for the U.S. Mint. And here’s what it tells us about “what’s next” for silver — part of a key storyline we’ve been keeping you ahead of here.

Disgruntled Blowback

Although smart collectors and investors swept in to buy immediately after the Mint’s price-review warning, that buying frenzy was quickly shut down.

And some customers felt like the U.S. Mint outright put the screws to them: Many who’d placed orders at the “old” prices received refunds — not the coins they thought they’d bought; and those on subscriber programs were faced with higher prices — and planned purchases that might now bust their budgets.

Forums run by coin collectors, dealers, so-called “silver stackers” and other investors were lit up with militant grousing about:

• Price gouging.

• Breaking trust with collectors.

• Mint profiteering.

• And such flinty words as “I’ll never buy from them again.”

Said one collector in an online forum: “Slowly and surely the Mint is curing me of the desire to order anything from them.”

Truth be told, the Mint had no choice.

Silver prices were approaching the $90-an-ounce threshold; at its “old” prices, it faced a reality where it would be retailing products at less than their melt value — hardly a sustainable business model.

The last price increase was back in July 2024 (when silver was at about $31 an ounce). And it was tied to higher material and labor costs — meaning silver coin prices were left untouched for 18 months, even as silver zoomed 174%.

And many analysts believe silver is headed higher, still: Using historical metrics, Michael Widmer, Bank of America’s head of Metals Research, says silver could hit peak prices between $135 and $309 per ounce — perhaps this year.

Two factors exacerbated the drama:

No. 1: The “overnight” nature of the price increases.

No. 2: And the fact that the premiums over the metal’s spot price are much fatter than usual: Numismatic coins typically retail for a $25 to $40 premium; at $90 an ounce, that premium is $80 to $90 over the spot price of silver — or double or triple what they were a year ago.

Pulling the Fire Alarm

This isn’t a “coin story.” It’s a signal flare — a warning sign that folks are fearful that truly tough times are headed this way. It means that this “silver stampede” should continue.

Uncertainty is the Watchword: The economy is weaker than the “official” numbers are telling us — which is just what I’ve been saying for months. The Middle Class is feeling the squeeze. Markets will be volatile. And investors want an asset (an “investment”) that gives them a sense of control.

Investors Don’t Trust the Dollar: They distrust fiat currencies in general. Governments are printing money and loading up on debt. The Trump Administration’s plan to ramp up defense spending will add to spending. These factors will help feed the next catalyst.

Inflation Could Return: Here I’m talking about virulent inflation. Prices are higher than they were just a few years ago – and they’re not going back down. The White House’s assault on the U.S. Federal Reserve and a desire to lower rates to make public debt cheaper to service will throw gasoline on still-present inflationary embers. Investors want an asset they believe will hold its value.

Precious Metals Are Going Mainstream: Retailers like Costco Wholesale Corp. COST 0.00%↑ and Walmart Inc. WMT 0.00%↑ made news by selling silver and/or gold to shoppers. But new studies show that more Americans than ever want gold-and-silver investments. Just this month, in fact, a national survey found that nearly 40% of U.S. adults invested in gold or silver in the past 12 months — and 92% of those buyers say they are likely to buy again this year.

It’s Part of the “Long-Term Commodities Supply Shortfall:” When I said “we saw this coming,” this is what I meant. We believe “if you find the best storylines, you’ll find the best stocks.” The looming shortage in key commodities — critical minerals and more — will be huge, driven by such intersecting storylines as Deglobalization, the New Cold War, the Artificial Intelligence Era and more. AI, drones, electric vehicles, alternative energy sources and other innovations have created an insatiable appetite for rare earths, metals, fossil fuels and more. In my 40-plus years as a journalist and investor, I’ve never seen retail investors this enamored with commodities. Silver will be one of the biggest beneficiaries.

Against such a backdrop, the U.S. Mint is being admirably smart. With gold products, it sets prices weekly. Not so with silver coins.

Before the sales freeze, some Mint silver coins had been priced below common bullion issues sold by dealers,” said Mike Unser, the senior editor with Coin News, and a respected analyst on the industry.

That just couldn’t continue.

Now, however, instead of playing the “cost-plus” game in setting prices, the agency is no longer treating silver as a fixed-price collectible: It’s correctly viewing the metal as a floating commodity — and one that could continue a meme-stock-like climb.

It seems to be viewing this as a supply chain issue — which demands a margin-protection mindset and a shift toward real-time pricing.

Collectors will hate it: They like predictability. (And they love it when they can buy a product at a price so low that it guarantees an immediate profit — either “on paper” or for real as a reseller.)

“The new prices may feel abrupt and could push some collectors to the sidelines,” says Unser, the Coin News editor. “Viewed against silver’s rise since the Mint’s last adjustment, however, the increases appear more reasonable.”

The Real Impact

All of this has had an odd impact on retail investors: It stokes interest — while it also makes it more expensive for retail investors to play.

As a young reporter, one of my crusty old editors told me “whenever possible, it’s better to show than to tell.” So let me show you how expensive it’s getting, by sharing records of my own.

Back in 2022, I was buying 10-coin “lots” of one-ounce (.9999% silver) coins — Silver Eagles, Maple Leafs and others — for less than $300 shipped.

Today, that same shipment is $1,040.

That’s an increase of nearly 260%.

And don’t obsess over the fact that it’s a Canadian Maple Leaf. When prices normalize, all the coins of similar weights and make-ups sell for generally the same prices.

So once the U.S. Mint’s price increases work their way through the system — with an ungraded Silver Eagle retailing for $169 — that same 10-coin lot will cost you nearly $1,700.

Think about that …

From $290 … to $1,040 … to $1,700 — for that same 10-coin “lot.” That’s a cost gain of about 486% — in 18 months.

But let me “show” you the real effect.

When a coin is selling for $29, it’s easy to dig into your wallet — to buy one here, one there …. or even two or three at a time with some spare cash. And you can keep buying singles — or five-coin or 10-coin lots — pretty regularly.

At $90, you can still do it — but it takes some planning. And probably just one at a time.

Once you get up near $200 a coin, building a “stack” of silver gets a lot tougher.

A Buying Tip for Silver Investors

We’re seeing other effects — some with long-term implications.

With silver prices high, many investors and collectors have been raising cash by selling “junk silver” (old coins, including pre-1965 U.S. quarters, dimes and half dollars — which are 90% silver).

Morgan Silver Dollars — iconic 90% silver U.S. coins minted from 1878 to 1904, and again in 1921 — are suffering the same fate, says Jeff Garrett, a well-known expert who founded Mid-American Rare Coin Galleries.

Writing in Coin Week, Garrett recounted how “one large shop owner recently told me he sent 10,000 Morgan and Peace dollars in for melting. For most collectors, that kind of story is painful to hear. Unfortunately, it is becoming more common.”

As a result, “collectors are feeling the impact as base values rise,” he wrote. “Common Mint State Morgan dollars have nearly doubled in a short time.”

That’s Econ 101: When the supply of something drops while demand holds steady, the price will rise. But if that supply drops — and demand simultaneously rises because more folks want it — the price skyrockets.

One lesson here: We believe silver prices will keep rising long-term; and as more old coins end up with the smelter, those “junk” coins you’ve been saving in a shoebox may become “collectible” — or even “classic.”

I’ll share it with you next time, but I recently put together a short “cheat sheet” list for Morgan Silver Dollars. Bargain-hunters can use it as a kind of “watch list” — or as a starting point for their own research.

See you then.

The Same Insight That Nailed Silver — Applied Across Your Portfolio