Gold, silver, platinum and palladium ended the final day in 2010 higher, capping sweeping double-digit annual gains in precious metals prices.
Gold futures prices for February delivery settled to a record high of $1,421.40 an ounce on the Comex in New York, marking its 10th straight annual gain with an impressive 29.7 percent increase over 2009’s settlement price of $1,096.20.
"As for next year, I’m thinking gold could trade firmly over the next quarter or two. And then have the potential to see some weakness in the second half of the year," Tom Pawlicki, precious metals analyst at MF Global in Chicago, said and was quoted on Reuters.
"If short-term yields start rising because the economy gets better or because monetary policy gets normalized that may take away that negative yield argument for holding gold and add pressure later in the year," Pawlicki added.
Silver futures prices for March delivery reached near $31 an ounce for another 30-year high. Prices eventually settled at $30.937 an ounce, registering an 83.7 percent annual gain over 2009’s closing price of $16.845. Silver was the second best performing metal in 2010.
"The wind is at silver’s back. When there’s good (economic) news, it runs up because of the feeling that demand will be higher. When there’s bad news, people run to it for flight to safety," Bob Haberkorn, senior market strategist, Lind-Waldock, said and was quoted over at Kitco News in a column by Debbie Carlson titled METALS OUTLOOK: Strength In Precious Metals Likely To Linger Into Early 2011.
Silver reached its all-time record of $50.35 in 1980 when the Hunt brothers attempted to corner the market.
Palladium futures prices for March delivery ended the year at $803.50 an ounce. Prices earlier reached as high as $804.90, which was the best level for palladium since March 2001. Palladium earned the title as the best performing precious metal in 2010, soaring 96.5 percent over the 2009 closing price of $408.85.
Platinum was the weakest of the metals, but still easily out-performed the stock market in 2010 (the Dow ended up 11 percent for the year while the S&P 500 rose 13 percent and the Nasdaq rallied 17 percent). Platinum futures prices for April delivery settled at $1,778.20 an ounce, recording an annual gain of 20.9 percent over the 2009 settlement of $1,471.00.
In London bullion prices, the benchmark gold Fix price ended 2010 at $1,410.25 an ounce for an annual increase of 27.7 percent — a 10th straight annual gain and the best in the streak of yearly advances.
2000-2010 Gold Prices and Annual Gains
| Year | Price | $Annual Gain | % Annual Gain |
| 2000 | $272.65 | ||
| 2001 | $276.50 | $3.85 | 1.41% |
| 2002 | $342.75 | $66.25 | 23.96% |
| 2003 | $417.25 | $74.50 | 21.74% |
| 2004 | $435.60 | $18.35 | 4.40% |
| 2005 | $513.00 | $77.40 | 17.77% |
| 2006 | $635.70 | $122.70 | 23.92% |
| 2007 | $836.50 | $200.80 | 31.59% |
| 2008 | $865.00 | $28.50 | 3.41% |
| 2009 | $1,104.00 | $239.00 | 27.63% |
| 2010 | $1,410.25 | $306.25 | 27.74% |
2000-2010 Silver Prices and Annual Gains
The London silver fixing was $30.63 an ounce. It has soared for two straight years, with the 2010 gain at 80.3 percent.
| Year | Price | $Annual Gain | % Annual Gain |
| 2000 | $4.58 | ||
| 2001 | $4.52 | $(0.06) | -1.20% |
| 2002 | $4.67 | $0.15 | 3.21% |
| 2003 | $5.97 | $1.30 | 27.87% |
| 2004 | $6.77 | $0.81 | 13.50% |
| 2005 | $8.83 | $2.06 | 30.43% |
| 2006 | $12.90 | $4.07 | 46.09% |
| 2007 | $14.76 | $1.86 | 14.42% |
| 2008 | $10.79 | $(3.97) | -26.90% |
| 2009 | $16.99 | $6.20 | 57.46% |
| 2010 | $30.63 | $13.64 | 80.28% |
2000-2010 Platinum Prices and Annual Gains
London platinum rose 18.1 percent for the year with its final 2010 fixing of $1,731.00 an ounce. Its biggest gain in the last 10 years was in 2009.
| Year | Price | $Annual Gain | % Annual Gain |
| 2000 | $611.00 | ||
| 2001 | $477.00 | $(134.00) | -21.93% |
| 2002 | $598.00 | $121.00 | 25.37% |
| 2003 | $814.00 | $216.00 | 36.12% |
| 2004 | $859.50 | $45.50 | 5.59% |
| 2005 | $964.00 | $104.50 | 12.16% |
| 2006 | $1,117.00 | $153.00 | 15.87% |
| 2007 | $1,529.00 | $412.00 | 36.88% |
| 2008 | $899.00 | $(630.00) | -41.20% |
| 2009 | $1,466.00 | $567.00 | 63.07% |
| 2010 | $1,731.00 | $265.00 | 18.08% |
2000-2010 Palladium Prices and Annual Gains
Finally, London palladium was $791.00 an ounce. The metal has been on fire since falling in 2008. It rose nearly 120 percent in 2009 and was up 96.8 percent in 2010.
| Year | Price | $Annual Gain | % Annual Gain |
| 2000 | $954.00 | ||
| 2001 | $440.00 | $(514.00) | -53.88% |
| 2002 | $233.00 | $(207.00) | -47.05% |
| 2003 | $193.00 | $(40.00) | -17.17% |
| 2004 | $184.00 | $(9.00) | -4.66% |
| 2005 | $253.00 | $69.00 | 37.50% |
| 2006 | $324.00 | $71.00 | 28.06% |
| 2007 | $370.00 | $46.00 | 14.20% |
| 2008 | $183.50 | $(186.50) | -50.41% |
| 2009 | $402.00 | $218.50 | 119.07% |
| 2010 | $791.00 | $389.00 | 96.77% |
In U.S. bullion coins, the United States Mint has not yet published their final 2010 sales figures. However, 2010 is already known as a year of records and new bullion coins.
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American Silver Eagles marked three records in November 2010, including the best ever month since the series was introduced in 1986 and the best annual sales and yearly mintage levels.
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The new America the Beautiful Silver Bullion Coin™ series was launched in December (see bullion coins program information). All 165,000 of the 2010-dates coins have been sold and will begin entering the secondary market during the first week of January.
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Another bullion American Eagle coin is set to join the family of gold, silver and platinum coins already produced by the United States Mint. American Palladium Eagles were authorized when President Obama signed the American Eagle Palladium Bullion Coin Act of 2010 into Public Law 111-303 on December 14, 2010.
The United States Mint is expected to release the finalized bullion coin 2010 coin sales figures in early January.
