Precious metals futures kicked off the new trading week and month on Monday with gains ranging from 0.2% for gold to 1.1% for platinum. Silver rallied to a two-year high while gold ended at an almost one-month high.
Gold for December delivery rose $2.10 to settle at $1,359.60 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The close is the highest since July 7 when the yellow metal ended at $1,362.10 an ounce.
"Gold needs to break through $1,380 to race higher, but silver is moving 5+ % when gold is moving 1.4%," MarketWatch quoted Julian Phillips, founder and contributor to GoldForecaster.com.
Gold futures traded from a low of $1,353.20 to a high of $1,361.90. They climbed 2.6% last week, gaining 2.8% in July.
Silver for September delivery tacked on 15.3 cents, or 0.8%, to close at $20.50 an ounce. The settlement is the highest since July 30, 2014 when prices ended at $20.60 an ounce. Silver futures ranged from $20.33 to $20.70. They advanced 3.3% last week and logged a monthly increase of 9.3%. With their gains on Monday, they are 48.5% higher on the year to date.
In other precious metals dealings on Monday:
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October platinum settled up $12.70 to $1,163.30 an ounce, trading between $1,149.70 and $1,168.
- Palladium for September delivery tacked on $6.50, or 0.9%, to $716.25 an ounce, ranging from $706 to $724.55.
London Precious Metals Prices
In comparing earlier fixed London gold and silver prices from Friday PM to Monday PM:
- Gold added $7.65, or 0.6%, to $1,349.65 an ounce.
- Silver jumped 52 cents, or 2.6%, to $20.51 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
United States Mint bullion sales were unchanged Monday, following weaker levels in July. 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. Products with an asterisk (*) are no longer available.
| US Mint Bullion Sales (# of coins) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday / August Sales | Last Week | June Sales | July Sales | 2016 Sales | |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coins | 0 | 19,000 | N/A | 19,000 | 19,000 |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 7,500 | 62,500 | 30,000 | 436,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 0 | 3,000 | 2,000 | 48,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 2,000 | 10,000 | 10,000 | 96,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 25,000 | 70,000 | 50,000 | 555,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 2,000 | 14,500 | 10,000 | 122,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coins | 0 | 175,000 | 2,837,500 | 1,370,000 | 27,620,500 |
| 2016 Shawnee 5 Oz Silver Coins* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 105,000 |
| 2016 Cumberland Gap 5 Oz Silver Coins* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 75,000 |
| 2016 Harpers Ferry 5 Oz Silver Coins | 0 | 0 | 34,200 | 0 | 34,200 |
The Mint’s 13 worldwide bullion coin Authorized Purchasers didn’t order any Harpers Ferry 5-ounce silver ATB bullion coins for the past 1.5 months, even though the Mint sent them a reminder that they are still available & a new one will not be issued till August 29. The 34,200 coins they purchased in the first 2 weeks of June must have met demand of collectors & investors.
-NumisDudeTX
FYI CoinNews readers-
The US Mint sent an email today at 10:05am CT which gives the following TBD new products updates:
Sept. 8 2016-W gold Standing Liberty quarter Uncirculated coin.
Sept. 16 2016-W ASE Proof 30th anniversary edge lettered coin.
-NumisDudeTX
Silver!!