American Eagles

Searching for more info on American Eagles, I came across the US Mint's page that describes the requirements for becoming an "Authorized Purchaser" to order bullion directly from the mint.

The United States Mint charges a modest premium above the current market price of platinum, gold, and silver to cover minting, distribution and marketing costs.

• For the Silver Eagle, we charge the United States Mint's Authorized Purchasers the price of silver plus $2.00 per coin premium. Minimum ordering requirement is 25,000 coins.
• For the Gold Eagles, we charge 3%, 5%, 7% and 9% premiums for the one, one-half, one-quarter and one-tenth ounce coins respectively. Minimum ordering requirements are 1000 ounces.
• For the Platinum Eagles, we charge 4%, 6%, 10% and 15% premiums for the one, one-half, one-quarter and one-tenth ounces coins respectively. Minimum ordering requirements are 1000 ounces.

Ow.  25k coins times spot + $2 (currently about $42) is a lot more than I can afford....  At least I have a link to point people to whenever the overhead of bullion comes up.