Eric Sepanek
SBC Founder
Eric Sepanek is the founder of Scottsdale Bullion & Coin, established in 2011. With extensive experience in the precious metals industry, he is dedicated to educating Americans on the wealth preservation power of gold and silver.
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The Royal Mint, which is the United Kingdom’s equivalent of the U.S. Mint, has reported a slew of record precious metals activity over calendar year 2025 and the first quarter of 2026.
Overall, the mint saw record-setting customer growth, especially among first-time buyers, and peak bullion purchases spread across various products.
As one of the world’s most reputable and active producers of precious metals assets, these trends point to a major step change in investment behavior.
The Boom Didn’t End in 2025
The British Royal Mint has released reports on two distinct timelines:
- Calendar Year 2025 (January–December 2025)
- Fiscal Year 2025/26 (April 2025–March 2026)
To avoid overlapping dates, we’ll look at 2025 alone as well as Q1 2026.
This setup highlights one of the most important takeaways, which is that demand hasn’t waned after 2025. Even as gold prices lost momentum through early 2026, precious metals activity accelerated.
2025 Became a Breakout Year for Precious Metals
The 2025 calendar year marked several milestones for the Royal Mint.
A Flood of New Investors Entered the Market
Between 2024 and 2025, bullion customers surged by 35%. Furthermore, 62% of these buyers were first-time investors, underscoring the swell of fresh demand. The total amount customers spent on precious metals spiked by a staggering 150%. This includes various products and precious metals, such as physical gold, silver, and platinum, as well as digital metal assets.
Gold & Silver Demand Exploded
Compared to 2024, full-year gold demand rose 142% in 2025. Purchases picked up momentum at the end of the year, rising 144% in Q4 alone. Notably, gold buyers far outpaced sellers. For every consumer who sold gold, seven investors purchased the metal.
Total annual silver purchases eclipsed gold demand, jumping 253% between 2024 and 2025. Once again, Q4 saw heightened activity, with silver sales elevating by 526%. The silver consumers dominated offloaders with a buyer-to-seller ratio of 15:1. Not only was silver in higher demand than gold, but the market leaned more heavily in favor of buyers.
Although gold and silver routinely steal the headlines, platinum bullion purchases posted an impressive demand increase of 249% in 2025. In Q4 alone, consumption skyrocketed to 332%.
Investors Loaded Up on Physical Bullion
Investors displayed a strong appetite for bullion coins with exemptions from capital gains taxes, with these assets experiencing a 155% increase in purchases. Bullion bars also saw elevated demand in 2025, as buying leapt by 78% from 2024 levels.
The Momentum Carried Into 2026
Precious metals demand didn’t stall after a record-setting 2025. In fact, the Royal Mint described Q1 2026 as the strongest quarter since its precious metals investment business began. More benchmarks were set across transaction volume, customer activity, and individual metal demand.
Investors Started 2026 at Full Speed
Between Q1 2025 and Q1 2026, online transaction volume more than doubled, increasing by 130%. The number of singular customers also rose by 80%. Similar to the 2025 calendar year, the Royal Mint witnessed a dramatic spike in first-time investors. Early 2026 was the busiest quarter in the mint’s history for new customer acquisitions.
Gold and Silver Buyers Stayed Aggressive
As gold prices soared to all-time highs, demand didn’t falter. At the British Royal Mint, purchases of tax-exempt bullion assets climbed by 94%. As was the case in 2025, the increase in silver buying outperformed that of gold, with the shiny metal seeing a stark 1,000% boom in demand in Q1 2026, driven in part by an ongoing silver supply deficit. Additionally, the value of silver sold back to the mint increased by 3,300%. The purchase-to-sell back ratio condensed to 2:1, but investors remained in control of the market.
Investors Jumped on Every Pullback
One of the most revealing findings of the Royal Mint report is the buying trends during price dips. The British precious metals dealer recognized major transaction spikes at the end of both January and March 2026, which coincided with price pullbacks. These purchase surges not only suggest that investors are eagerly looking for buy-the-dip opportunities, but also that the market anticipates higher prices in the near-term. This mirrors the broader institutional demand for gold, where central banks have similarly used price dips to accumulate the metal.