The Vienna Philharmonic was the best-selling gold coin in Europe and Japan in 2022
During the 2008 financial crisis, demand for bullion coins exploded worldwide. In 2008, the Austrian Mint recorded a veritable boom in sales of the Vienna Philharmonic in gold - the one-ounce denomination was minted around 715,000 times (in comparison: in 2007 there were only around 109,000). This made the Philharmonic the best-selling gold coin in the world during the hot phase of the crisis. According to Reuters, the Vienna Philharmonic was the world's number one gold bullion coin in the 4th quarter of 2008. This even surpassed the American Eagle, of which the US Mint sold around 710,000 one-ounce pieces in 2008 as a whole (an increase of over 400% compared to 2007). If smaller denominations are also included, the Eagles sold a total of around 24.5 tons of gold in 2008 - a figure similar to that of the Philharmonic.
Note: Even before 2008, the Vienna Philharmonic was one of the most popular bullion coins. In 1992, 1995, 1996 and 2000, the World Gold Council had already declared it the world's best-selling gold coin - a foretaste of its success in later crises.
Other classic coins also benefited from the run on gold: the Canadian Maple Leaf and the South African Krugerrand also recorded a sharp rise in sales in 2008. Although exact sales figures were rarely published, reports suggest that the Krugerrand was able to regain its historic top position after years of weak demand due to the crisis. Overall, however, the Vienna Philharmonic was at least temporarily at the top of the global rankings in the crisis year 2008. The following table gives an impression of the 2008 sales ranking based on available figures:
| Gold coin | Sales 2008 (in 1oz coins) | Ranking 2008 (global) | |
| Vienna Philharmonic (Austria) | ~715,000 1 oz coins (jump to record level) |
| |
| American Eagle (USA) | 710,000 1 oz (total ~788,000 oz incl. small denominations) | #1 for the whole of 2008 (just ahead of the Philharmonic) | |
| Maple Leaf (Canada) | n.a. (massive increase in demand, 2nd place in Europe behind the Philharmonic) | Among the top 3 worldwide | |
| Krugerrand (South Africa) | n.a. (strong demand, historically best-selling coin overall) |
|
Sources: Austrian Mint, US Mint, Reuters , World Gold Council.
Even during the COVID-19 pandemic (2020-2022), the Vienna Philharmonic proved to be a key product on the gold market. The uncertainty caused by the pandemic, lockdowns and later the war in Ukraine triggered a new flight into gold. Since then, the Philharmonic has consistently been the best-selling gold coin in Europe. According to the Austrian Mint, the Philharmonic held a market share of around **67% across Europe in 2020 and was also the world leader at times. In spring 2020 in particular - when other mints had to take a break partly due to lockdowns - the Vienna Philharmonic was the world's No. 1 gold coin. Independent data from Metals Focus/GFMS confirms that the Philharmonic temporarily achieved the largest global market share during the first wave of the pandemic in 2020.
However, the competition should not be ignored: US American Eagles even achieved record-breaking sales in 2020 and 2021, which secured them the top spot in the overall annual statistics. The U.S. Mint sold approximately 747,500 one-ounce gold Eagles (plus smaller denominations, totaling ~26.3 tons) in 2020 - the highest figure since the financial crisis. In 2021, Eagles increased further to 1,122,000 1 oz (split into Type 1 and 2 after design change), totaling over 39 tons of gold - an all-time high for the American Eagle. By comparison, the Royal Canadian Mint reported around 982,800 ounces of gold sales (mainly Maple Leafs) for 2020 and as much as 1.47 million ounces for 2021. This put Maple Leafs and Philharmonics slightly behind the American Eagles in the pandemic year, but still well ahead of all other coins.
Despite this US dominance in absolute terms, the Philharmonic maintained a leading role in Europe and Asia. In Japan, for example, it is practically the sole ruler among gold coins with a market share of ~90% - the Krugerrand hardly plays a role there. The "Phil" also dominated the rest of Europe in 2020-2022: German dealers report that the Philharmonic accounted for around 1/3 of the global market when the pandemic reached its peak.
In 2022, this trend continued and intensified due to the war in Ukraine and record inflation. The Austrian Mint was barely able to keep up with demand: "Every gold coin that comes off the production line has already been sold," said Mint CEO Gerhard Starsich. He noted that there had not been such high demand "since the mint was founded in 1989" - 2022 even surpassed the first coronavirus year 2020. The Vienna Philharmonic continued to be the best-selling gold coin in Europe and Japan in 2022. Globally, it was in direct competition with the American Eagle at the top of the sales rankings in the years 2020-2022. This underlines the Vienna Philharmonic's outstanding position as the world's most sought-after investment coin in times of crisis.
The following table compares the key figures available for the most important bullion coins during the coronavirus crisis:
| Mint | 2020 (sales volume) | 2021 (sales) | 2022 (sales) | Remark / Rank |
| Vienna Philharmonic (AT) | ~19% global market share in spring 2020; estimated >20 t 1 | n.a. (very high demand; sales >2020) | n.a. (demand increased again; highest sales since 1989 ) | #1 Europe (2020-22); spring 2020 worldwide #1 ; 2022 #1 in EU & Japan |
| American Eagle (USA) | ~26.3 t (approx. 844,000 oz) | ~39.2 t (approx. 1,260,000 oz) | ~30.5 t (approx. 980,000 oz) 2 | #1 worldwide (annual sales 2020-21); mainly US market |
| Maple Leaf (Canada) | ~30.6 t (982,800 oz) | ~45.7 t (1,470,500 oz) | ~46.3 t (1,489,700 oz) | #2 North America; global 2020-22 with Eagle/Philh. in top group |
| Krugerrand (South Africa) | n.a. (Rand Refinery temporarily closed) 3 | n.a. (production ramped up again) | n.a. (sales high, exact figures open) | World's best-selling coin over all years (>58m oz total); 2020ff in high demand |
Sources:
1 Own estimate: exact annual figures for 2020-22 were not published by the Austrian Mint. However, the OeNB confirmed that over 1.8 million ounces of gold were sold in the 2½ years from the start of the pandemic - almost as much as the record of ~2 million ounces during the financial/euro crisis .
2 2022: US Mint sales figure for gold Eagles (all sizes) was slightly below the record year 2021 (2022: approx. 980,000 oz; 2021: ~1,250,000 oz) .
3 South Africa had to close the refinery in April 2020 due to COVID; supply of new Krugerrands was temporarily scarce.
Both during the global financial crisis of 2008 and the coronavirus crisis of 2020-2022, the Vienna Philharmonic proved to be one of the best-selling gold bullion coins in the world. In Europe (and parts of Asia) in particular, there was no way around the coin from Vienna. In 2008, the Philharmonic even took first place worldwide at times. In the turbulent years 2020-2022, it maintained its dominance in Europe and almost matched the sales figures of the American Eagle globally, briefly becoming the world's No. 1 coin again in spring 2020. Reliable sales statistics show that the Vienna Philharmonic is in disproportionately high demand, especially in times of crisis, and is often the only coin available - a factor that should give investors confidence in this coin. As official bodies and market data show, the "Philharmonic" thus plays in the premier league of bullion coins and was able to take a leading role in the international comparison against the Krugerrand, Maple Leaf, American Eagle & Co. during the crisis years mentioned.
Sources:
Mint sales statistics and industry reports, including Austrian Mint, U.S. Mint, Royal Canadian Mint; World Gold Council; Reuters; Goldreporter.
