Gold futures advanced again on Wednesday, their fourth increase in five sessions, but gains this week have been modest and offset by the larger decline on Monday.
Gold for February delivery rose $1.20, or 0.1%, to settle at $1,076.50 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"Gold appears vulnerable to further weakness as traders remain fixated on the likely Fed interest-rate rise next week," MarketWatch quoted Mark O’Byrne, research director at GoldCore.
Gold prices ranged from a low of $1,068.70 to a high of $1,085. They inched up 10 cents on Tuesday after falling by 0.8% on Monday. Prices are down 0.7% on the week.
Snapping a two-session losing streak, Silver for March delivery added 7 cents, or 0.5%, to settle at $14.19 an ounce. Silver prices traded from $14.11 to $14.34. They declined 1.5% in the prior session.
In PGM futures on Wednesday:
-
January platinum gained $19.30, or 2.3%, to $865.80 an ounce, ranging from $846.20 to $866.80.
- Palladium for March delivery rose $4.45, or 0.8%, to $552.35 an ounce, trading between $544.25 and $556.25.
London Precious Metals Prices
Earlier fixed London gold and silver prices also climbed. In comparing their prices from Tuesday PM to Wednesday PM:
- Gold added $8.90, or 0.8%, to $1,081 an ounce.
- Silver added 3 cents, or 0.2%, to $14.27 an ounce.
LBMA platinum and palladium prices are available on the LBMA’s website with a delay of midnight.
US Mint Bullion Coin Sales
United States Mint bullion coins logged their first sales gains this week. American Gold Eagles and American Gold Buffalo coins advanced by a combined 1,000 ounces and American Silver Eagles moved up by 936,000 ounces.
2015 Silver Eagle sales jumped well over the 45 million mark, landing at a fresh yearly record of 45,786,000 coins. The previous annual record was established last year at 44,006,000. That record was snapped on Nov. 30.
This week, the U.S. Mint limited Silver Eagle sales to 1,075,000 coins, and 139,000 of those now remain. Production of the 2015-dated coins ends this week with the final allocation amount announced on Monday, Dec. 14. The Mint will begin selling 2016-dated Silver Eagles on Jan. 11.
Below is a listing of U.S. Mint bullion products with the number of coins sold during varying periods. Products with an asterisk (*) are no longer available.
| US Mint Bullion Sales (# of coins) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wednesday / Weekly Sales | Last Week | Nov Sales | Dec Sales | YTD Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coins* | N/A | N/A | 80,500 | N/A | 626,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coins | 1,000 | 0 | 7,000 | 1,000 | 75,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coins* | N/A | N/A | 12,000 | N/A | 158,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coins* | N/A | N/A | 100,000 | N/A | 980,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coins | 500 | 3,000 | 38,000 | 500 | 219,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coins | 936,000 | 920,500 | 4,824,000 | 1,119,500 | 45,786,000 |
| 2015 Homestead 5 Oz Silver Coins* | N/A | 35,000 | |||
| 2015 Kisatchie 5 Oz Silver Coins* | 42,000 | ||||
| 2015 Blue Ridge Parkway 5 Oz Silver Coins* | 45,000 | ||||
| 2015 Bombay Hook 5 Oz Silver Coins* | 45,000 | ||||
| 2015 Saratoga 5 Oz Silver Coins* | N/A | 45,000 | 35,800 | 9,200 | 45,000 |
We think it is time to show the public what a 2006w unc silver eagle 20 coin subset looks like?
Will USA follow China to make 30 grams or 50 grams silver eagle coin? That should be interesting,,Also we can re-use Trade Dollar design on it