Gold Prices Soar in July, US Mint Silver Coin Sales Unmatched

Gold fell for a second session Wednesday, cutting a slice from gains notched earlier this month.

Gold for December delivery shed $11.80, or 0.9%, to settle at $1,313 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Despite the lower close, gold in July soared $89.30, or 7.3%, for its biggest monthly increase since January 2012.

On Wednesday, markets awaited news from the Fed. The FOMC wrapped up its two-day meeting earlier, making little changes to its policy statement.

"Modest selling pressure early on was accelerated shortly after a batch of U.S. economic data Wednesday morning came in a bit stronger than expected. Wednesday afternoon’s FOMC statement produced no strong, fresh clues on the future timing of U.S. monetary policy changes," said Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Inc, in a daily note. "The market place is girding for more major economic data due out on Thursday and Friday. Trading in many markets, including the precious metals, will likely be more active the rest of this week."

Gold’s large monthly gain made its year to date loss a tad less acute. The precious metal is down $362.80, or 21.6%, since the end of 2012.

Silver, Platinum and Palladium Futures

Other precious metals also declined on Wednesday but, like gold, ended higher for the month. For platinum and palladium, much higher as they logged respective July increases of 6.7% and 9.9%. Silver’s gain in July was modest by comparison, up 0.8%. In their daily breakdowns:

• Silver for September delivery closed down 5.2 cents, or 0.3%, to end at $19.63 an ounce.

• October platinum lost $8.20, or 0.6%, to finish at $1,429.30 an ounce.

• Palladium for September delivery fell $2.30, or 0.3%, to close at $726.35 an ounce.

As for 2013 so far, only palladium is higher with its 3.3% pick-up. Silver leads year to date losses, down 35.1%, followed by a 7.3% decline for platinum.

London Fix Precious Metals

In London precious metals fixings, all but silver declined on the day. When comparing the Tuesday PM to Wednesday PM London Fix prices:

• Gold fell $9.65, or 0.7%, to $1,314.50 an ounce,
• Silver advanced 26 cents, or 1.3%, to $19.94 an ounce,
• Platinum dipped $6, or 0.4%, to $1,433 an ounce, and
• Palladium declined $5, or 0.7%, to $733 an ounce

Their July increases tally to 10.3% for gold, 5.7% for silver, 8.8% for platinum and 14% for palladium.

Year to date, palladium is up 4.9% while the other metals are tagged with declines of 21% for gold, 33.4% for silver and 5.9% for platinum.

US Bullion Coin Sales in July

July is normally a seasonally slow time of year for United States Mint bullion sales. Demand for gold coins tapered for sure but it soared to unprecedented levels for silver coins. While U.S. Mint figures for July are not likely to change, the bureau has not officially closed the month out. As the numbers stand now:

• American Eagle silver coin sales at 4,406,500 mark: the highest total ever for a July, the second highest month in 2013 and, more notably, the fifth best month all-time. That is quite the accomplishment considering the coin series has a history going back to 1986.

• July sales of American Eagle gold coins total 50,500 ounces, which is the weakest monthly showing since August 2012.

• American Buffalo gold coins at 18,500 are the highest for a month since 37,000 moved in April.

• July sales of America the Beautiful Five Ounce Silver Bullion Coins reached 17,000 coins. That compares to 25,300 in June; 25,800 in May; 19,800 in March; and 14,340 in February; and 28,960 in January. The Mint’s supply of the five ounce coins sold out in early March and new ones were not offered until May.

The following are the available daily, July and year-to-date bullion coin sales totals as published by the United States Mint.

Figures above are in the number of coins sold, not in ounces.

Current US Silver Coin Melt Values

Coin melt values climbed in July with silver. They remain well lower on the year, however. Below is a grid listing melt values of older circulating U.S. coins that had been produced with 90% silver. These coins, at least those that have little numismatic value because they are too common or too worn, are the ones often sought for their silver content.

All coin melt values above are based on the final London silver fixings in 2012, June and July. For reference, melt values of newer bullion silver coins are also provided.