Gold futures notched their tenth loss in eleven sessions on Thursday, and closed at a fresh, more than 14-week low.
Gold for August delivery shed $2.10, or 0.2%, to close at $1,212.60 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement was the lowest since Feb. 22 when the yellow metal ended at $1,210.10 an ounce.
"Open interest has been steadily declining and that’s because the funds have been fleeing ahead of the Fed rate hike," Bloomberg News quoted George Gero, a managing director at RBC Wealth Management in New York. "It’s no longer a question of if, but it’s a question of when for the rate hike.
Gold futures traded from a low of $1,213 to a high of $1,220. They slipped by $2.80 on Wednesday but climbed 80 cents on Tuesday — their first gain in nine sessions.
Sister metal silver bounced from an almost 2-month low. Silver for July delivery gained 9.8 cents, or 0.6%, to settle at $16.025 an ounce. Silver prices ranged from $15.925 to $16.065. In the previous session, they closed at their lowest level since April 8.
In rounding out precious metals trading:
-
July platinum dropped $11.80, or 1.2%, to $960.10 an ounce, trading between $958.50 and $978.90.
- Palladium for September delivery fell $12.30, or 2.3%, to $534.45 an ounce, ranging from $532.65 to $549.65.
London Precious Metals Prices
In comparing earlier fixed London gold and silver prices from Wednesday PM to Thursday PM:
- Gold fell $2.10, or 0.2%, to $1,212.40 an ounce.
- Silver rose 3 cents, or 0.2%, to $15.99 an ounce.
LBMA platinum and palladium prices are available on the LBMA’s website with a delay of midnight.
US Mint Bullion Coin Sales in 2016
U.S. Mint bullion sales moved up by 12,500 ounces in gold coins and by 71,000 ounces in American Silver Eagles.
The U.S. Mint is limiting this week’s sales of American Silver Eagle to 1,166,500 coins. Bullion distributors ordered 55.8% of them through Thursday. 2016 American Silver Eagles are running at a record pace with 23,413,000 sold, representing a 32.5% increase over those sold through same time in record-breaking year 2015.
Below is a sales breakdown of U.S. Mint bullion products with columns listing the number of bullion coins sold during varying periods of time.
| US Mint Bullion Sales (# of coins) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thursday / June Sales | Last Week | This Week | Mar Sales | Apr Sales | May Sale | 2016 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coins | 9,500 | 18,500 | 17,000 | 29,000 | 93,500 | 64,500 | 353,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 1,000 | 2,000 | 1,000 | 6,000 | 7,000 | 43,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 6,000 | 0 | 4,000 | 14,000 | 10,000 | 76,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 10,000 | 10,000 | 75,000 | 55,000 | 60,000 | 435,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coins | 3,000 | 3,000 | 5,500 | 7,000 | 19,500 | 18,500 | 101,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coins | 71,000 | 891,000 | 650,500 | 4,106,000 | 4,072,000 | 4,498,500 | 23,484,000 |
| 2016 Shawnee 5 Oz Silver Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 105,000 |
| 2016 Cumberland Gap 5 Oz Silver Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 64,000 | 11,000 | 75,000 |
I wonder why so few bullion version 5-oz silver Cumberland ATB pucks have sold so far to the US Mint’s 13 worldwide bullion coin Authorized Purchasers? With silver around $16 or less some days they should be selling like hotcakes (pancakes for you millennials)!
-NumisDudeTx
You think 75K is not much? I know the price of silver is down, but I think the coin design is well…lets say I think it’s …WEAK? OK, how I really feel is, I think it…suc…ziz WEAK. There, I said it. But I still bought a Puck, or Hotcake, or pancake or whatever anyone wants to call them.
I’m in for the long haul.
The bullion pucks make good paper weights. I like the collector versions because of the finish and the lower mintage. Some of the designs are iffy but will buy them to keep the series going for my collection.
Still believe the mint may not have the 5 oz blanks available to strike them. The next in the series is due out soon so if there is a shortage of blanks it makes sense to strike some of the next ones first.
Time will tell us, perhaps. After all there is still demand for 1 oz eagles. But, the 75k Cumberland is still one of the highest of the series to date.
Thanks for the feedback all. I collect the “P” Mint mark “collectible” vapor-blast version on a selective artistic basis & due to the very low mintages on them versus the bullion versions. The Mint this year set their mintages between both options at 150,000 coins, with a based on sales demand estimate of 120,000 bullion versions & 30,000 “P” versions of each design. I just thought that with spot silver at $15.99 today that sales would be higher. The day this 5-ounce coin series launched in 2010, spot silver was $48.88 per ounce! Such a bargain today. The “collector” version… Read more »
OK, so from what I can see here Seth, with all those facts and figures what your trying to tell us all is , WE ALL GOT BURNED on those early issues! Yeah, we sure did. Well, you can’t take it with you.
I don’t buy the bullion either only the P marks. I’ve got myself believing it’s all going to be worth SO much more in the end.
When I buy silver, I go strictly for price. Not interested in the premiums on the “special coin type” silver that is out there.
Jp –
I don’t feel I got burned since some issues have increased a lot. My Hawaii “P” puck is worth $600 now! Like I stated, I just buy the designs I really like & I feel the “P” Mint mark versions are worth the premium. My collection goes to my 4 nephews when I depart.
-NumisDudeTX
I agree. The Hawaii and Arcadian? and one other one I think that same year all have increased pretty well.
I do also like the vapor blast look. I don’t care for the bullion version look for some reason.
There are some bullion coins with a lower mintage than their P counterpart such as Arches, Sand Dunes. It will be interesting to see whether such lower mintage bullion ones will someday exceed their P counterpart’s price. Personally, like the P ones better too but mark up a lot higher so think both have merits. Like many things one must choose based on ones resources. Some day silver will exceed the $50 again but $50 will not be the same as $50 today. Many of the bullion coins might then be melted but perhaps the P ones not so much.… Read more »
I bought the Shennandoah, Great Smoky Mountains, and Olympic National Park ATB’s because those places are very near and dear to my heart.
Mammoth –
When I first saw the design for the Great Smoky Mountains coin, I thought it looked like a great, balanced, beautiful landscape painting in round form. It reminds me of the area Dolly Parton is from in Tennessee. Good to know there are still places like it to enjoy nature. No wonder it is the most visited national park!
-NumisDudeTX
As with all collectable coins the 5 ounce silver issues have numismatic value over and above the silver “spot” price. Graded coins add additional value.