A turnaround in gold and silver on Friday buoyed prices up for the week. In seesaw daily action, the two precious metals flipped from settlement losses to following session gains.
On Friday, gold for August delivery rose $9.80, or 0.7%, to finish at $1,387.60 an ounce on the Comex in New York. That brought prices into the win column for a weekly increase of $4.60, or 0.3%.
"(Gold) cannot break below $1,370 and cannot break above $1,420," Reuters quoted Afshin Nabavi, head of trading at MKS. "There seems to be very good buying around the lows and good selling around the highs."
"The Fed meeting next week has kept a lot of people on the sidelines," he said. "We may have some moves next week after the FOMC (meeting)."
End-of-week surveys often cited here diverge in overall expectations for gold prices next week.
"In the Kitco News Gold Survey, out of 36 participants, 23 responded this week. Of those 23 participants, 15 see prices up, while six see prices down and two see prices moving sideways or are neutral," reports Kitco.
"Those who see higher prices said they expect gold to bounce slightly after holding the bottom end of the established range, which is roughly from $1,375 to $1,425 an ounce… Those who see weaker prices said they expect gold to test the downside because there’s little reason for gold to rise."
Bloomberg’s gold survey is weighted bearish for the first time in a month. Eighteen participants expect lower prices with 14 bullish and 4 neutral.
Gold prices are well lower in 2013. The precious metal has given up $288.20, or 17.2%, from its final closing in 2012.
Silver, Platinum and Palladium Futures
Rounding out precious metals futures in New York on Friday and for the week:
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Silver for July delivery surged 37.1 cents, or 1.7%, to close at $21.94 an ounce. As a result of gains on Friday, silver prices returned to the black this week and picked up 21.1 cents, or 1%.
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Platinum was nearly unchanged Friday with the July contract up 30 cents to $1,447.40 an ounce. The precious metal plunged 3.7% this week.
- Palladium for September delivery inched up 65 cents, or 0.1% , to $731.70 an ounce. It suffered a weekly loss of 3.9%.
As for the year and despite the week’s heavy fall, palladium is still 4% higher. Off by sizable amounts are silver by 27.4% and platinum by 6.2%.
London Fix Precious Metals
London precious metals were mixed every day of the week. When comparing the Thursday PM to Friday PM London Fix prices:
- Gold added $6.25, or 0.5%, to $1,391.25 an ounce,
- Silver slid 14.0 cents, or 0.6%, to $21.69 an ounce,
- Platinum lost $10, or 0.7%, to $1,448 an ounce, and
- Palladium fell $15, or 2%, to $728 an ounce
In weekly changes, gold edged up 0.4% while precious metals with losses stacked to 4% for silver, 3.8% for platinum and 3.4% for palladium.
US Bullion Coin Sales in June
It does not happen often but sales levels for U.S. Mint bullion coins were unchanged for a third straight day Friday. That did result in a sharp slowdown for gold coins but not for silver coins. In weekly bullion breakdowns:
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Gold coins advanced 7,500 ounces after jumped 21,500 ounces in the previous week. Splits were 5,000 ounces in 22-karat American Gold Eagles and 2,500 ounces in 24-karat American Gold Buffalo coins.
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Silver coins gained 881,500 ounces against the prior week’s 822,000 ounces. Splits were 846,000 ounces in American Silver Eagles and 35,500 ounces in America the Beautiful Five Ounce Silver Bullion Coins. Most of the ATB sales came from the new Perry’s Victory coin.
The following are daily, June and year-to-date bullion coin totals as provided by the United States Mint.
| American Eagle and Buffalo Bullion Coin Sales | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Friday Sales | Last Week | Weekly Sales | June Sales | YTD Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins | 0 | 14,000 | 3,500 | 17,500 | 513,000 |
| $25 American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 42,000 |
| $10 American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 78,000 |
| $5 American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins | 0 | 30,000 | 15,000 | 45,000 | 405,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo Gold Bullion Coins | 0 | 4,500 | 2,500 | 7,000 | 151,500 |
| White Mountain 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 1,200 | 1,200 | 27,000 |
| Perry’s Victory 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 8,000 | 5,900 | 13,900 | 13,900 |
| American Silver Eagle Bullion Coins | 0 | 782,000 | 846,000 | 1,628,000 | 23,396,500 |
Figures above are in the number of coins sold, not in ounces.
In related coin news, bullion American Gold Eagle coins are produced at the U.S. Mint facility at West Point, New York. Check out these West Point Mint gold bars that are used to produce the bullion coins.
US Silver Coin Melt Values in June and 2013
Melt values of silver coins are falling this month based on London silver fixings, mostly due to the latest declines this week. The following table shows melt values of older circulating U.S. silver coins. Values are based on the London silver Fix prices at the end of 2012, on May 31 and on June 14. For reference, melt values of newer bullion silver coins are also provided.
| US Silver Coins | Silver Coin Melt Values (12/31/2012) | Silver Coin Melt Values (5/31/2013) | Silver Coin Melt Values (6/14/2013) | Net Change in June | Net Change Year-To-Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1942-1945 Jefferson Nickels | $1.68 | $1.27 | $1.22 | -$0.05 | -$0.46 |
| 1892-1916 Barber Dimes | $2.17 | $1.63 | $1.57 | -$0.06 | -$0.60 |
| 1916-1945 Mercury Dimes | $2.17 | $1.63 | $1.57 | -$0.06 | -$0.60 |
| 1946-1964 Roosevelt Dimes | $2.17 | $1.63 | $1.57 | -$0.06 | -$0.60 |
| 1892-1916 Barber Quarters | $5.42 | $4.08 | $3.92 | -$0.16 | -$1.49 |
| 1916-1930 Standing Liberty 25c | $5.42 | $4.08 | $3.92 | -$0.16 | -$1.49 |
| 1932-1964 Washington Quarters | $5.42 | $4.08 | $3.92 | -$0.16 | -$1.49 |
| 1892-1915 Barber Half Dollars | $10.83 | $8.16 | $7.85 | -$0.32 | -$2.99 |
| 1916-1947 Walking Liberty 50c | $10.83 | $8.16 | $7.85 | -$0.32 | -$2.99 |
| 1948-1963 Franklin 50c | $10.83 | $8.16 | $7.85 | -$0.32 | -$2.99 |
| 1964 Kennedy Half Dollars | $10.83 | $8.16 | $7.85 | -$0.32 | -$2.99 |
| 1965-1970 Kennedy Half Dollars | $4.43 | $3.34 | $3.21 | -$0.13 | -$1.22 |
| 1878-1921 Morgan Dollars | $23.16 | $17.46 | $16.78 | -$0.68 | -$6.39 |
| 1921-1935 Peace Dollars | $23.16 | $17.46 | $16.78 | -$0.68 | -$6.39 |
| 1971-1976 Silver Eisenhower $1s | $9.47 | $7.13 | $6.86 | -$0.28 | -$2.61 |
| 1986-2013 American Eagles | $29.95 | $22.57 | $21.69 | -$0.88 | -$8.26 |
| 2010-2013 ATB Silver Coins | $149.75 | $112.85 | $108.45 | -$4.40 | -$41.30 |
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