Gold and silver retreated Monday, extending their streak of back and forth action. The two metals have rotated between gains and losses in succeeding sessions since June 6.
In starting the trading week, gold for August delivery fell $4.50, or 0.3%, to settle at $1,383.10 an ounce on the Comex in New York. The precious metal traded from an intraday low of $1,379.80 to a high of $1,391.40.
Trading volume was light Monday as investors await the outcome of the Fed’s monthly monetary policy meeting which starts on Tuesday and ends on Wednesday.
"People are looking for more clarity – or not, as the case may be – on whether the Fed starts to ease off the Quantitative Easing bandwagon," SocGen analyst Robin Bhar was quoted on Reuters.
Gold prices last week edged up 0.3%, supported by Friday’s 0.7% increase.
Silver tracked gold with July futures down 19.6 cents, or 0.9%, to $21.76 an ounce. Prices ranged from $21.61 to $22.06. Silver advanced 1.7% on Friday and 1% last week.
In PGM futures on Monday:
-
Platinum shed $12.60, or 0.9%, to $1,434.80 an ounce, trading between $1,432.00 and $1,454.20.
- Leading losses among precious metals, palladium for September delivery declined $13.85, or 1.9%, to close at $717.85 an ounce. Prices ranged from $713.85 to $733.40.
Last week both metals fell, platinum by 3.7% and palladium by 3.9%.
London Fix Precious Metals
London precious metals fixings split Monday with silver higher and the others lower. In contrasting the Friday PM to Monday PM London Fix prices:
- Gold dipped $6.50, or 0.5%, to $1,384.75 an ounce,
- Silver added 18.0 cents, or 0.8%, to $21.87 an ounce,
- Platinum declined $5, or 0.3%, to $1,443 an ounce, and
- Palladium shed $7, or 1%, to $721 an ounce
Last week gold was the only precious metal higher in London, up 0.4%. Declining were silver by 4%, platinum by 3.8% and palladium by 3.4%.
US Bullion Coin Sales in June
Sales advanced for every major bullion coin produced by the U.S. Mint. In total, gold coins rose 2,000 ounces and silver coins gained 633,000 ounces.
In a fresh milestone, American Silver Eagle bullion coins topped year-to-date sales of 24 million. The Silver Eagle annual sales record at just under 40 million coins happened in 2011. That year, it took until July 18, 2011 for sales to reach above 24 million. Last year sales did not hit the mark until September 17, 2012.
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 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday Sales | Last Week | June Sales | YTD Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins | 1,000 | 3,500 | 18,500 | 514,000 |
| $25 American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 42,000 |
| $10 American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins | 2,000 | 0 | 2,000 | 80,000 |
| $5 American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins | 0 | 15,000 | 45,000 | 405,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo Gold Bullion Coins | 500 | 2,500 | 7,500 | 152,000 |
| White Mountain 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 1,200 | 1,200 | 27,000 |
| Perry’s Victory 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 300 | 5,900 | 14,200 | 14,200 |
| American Silver Eagle Bullion Coins | 631,500 | 846,000 | 2,259,500 | 24,028,000 |
Figures above are in the number of coins sold, not in ounces.
Delivery for my West Point set was delayed by two weeks today. It was supposed to go out on Tuesday the 17th. Anyone else get the great news?
Sean-it is a major issue with bullion dealers presently. Many are selling product they do not have in inventory and therefore the shipping delays are extraordinary because the dealers need to buy the product themselves. For a better experience, only buy from bullion dealers who ONLY sell gold and silver they have in stock….
Full disclosure: online precious metals dealer in Canada http://www.canadianbullionservices.com
This is from the US Mint. Most bullion dealers have caught up or have alternative stock. Mr Peterson has mentioned difficulty in getting planchets. I was just wondering if anyone else was delayed. I had my order in the first five minutes with a very low number.
sean – there are a number of people who have noted the delay. I believe the delay is universal, and no one got a shipping notice yesterday that I have seen so far. Many indicate the notice they recieved has a 7/2 ship date – but my order was moved up from 7/11 ship date to 6/24 this morning.
I put queries out on Kitco and NGC, and followed PCGS’s thread. No one claims to have had a set shipped yet. All have been delayed until July 2.
So long as everyone’s been delayed, then it’s all good. If HSN or some other large, slimy organization got theirs, then the mint will have hell to pay. 🙂
We’ll know for sure if NGC’s or PCGS’s early/first strike clocks start before July 2…
The mint website has just moved up my expected shipping date from July 25 to July 11 today.
Thanks for the feedback one and all. I had the same concerns about large dealers.
Delays are common. People get far too nervous when there is a small waiting period for their order. At the end of the day, an order is an enforceable contract and it will get fulfilled sooner or later. Most delays have a legitimate reason including over-runs at the mint or possibly courier issues. Ours always get fulfilled sooner or later but delays do happen.