Precious metals futures ended mixed, though mostly lower Tuesday. Gold posted its lowest close in a week while silver extended its losing streak to three sessions and registered its weakest settlement in about 1-1/2 weeks.
Gold for December delivery fell $13.70, or 1%, to settle at $1,330.40 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The close is the lowest since Sept. 20.
"Unless we get a real drama before next week’s monthly nonfarm [payrolls data] Friday fun, gold remains stuck in this post-Brexit range, capped by the July peak’s downtrend — now at $1,342 — and the last 3 months’ floor at $1,302," MarketWatch quoted Adrian Ash, head of research at BullionVault.
Gold futures ranged from a low of $1,327.70 to a high of $1,343.50. On Monday, they edged up 0.2%.
Elsewhere, silver for December delivery tumbled 43.1 cents, or 2.2%, to close at $19.165 an ounce. The settlement is the lowest since Sept. 16. Silver futures traded from a low of $19.04 to a high of $19.61. They lost 1.1% in the previous session.
In other precious metals futures on Tuesday:
-
October platinum declined $17.70, or 1.7%, to $1,025.20 an ounce, ranging from $1,022.60 to $1,050.10.
- Palladium for December delivery gained $4.90, or 0.7%, to $701.05 an ounce, trading between $691.60 and $703.35.
London Precious Metals Prices
In comparing earlier fixed London bullion prices from Monday PM to Tuesday PM:
- Gold lost $13.50, or 1%, to $1,327 an ounce.
- Silver dipped 2 cents, or 0.1%, to $19.42 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 products registered gains of 11,500 ounces in American Eagle and Buffalo gold coins and 295,000 ounces in American Silver Eagles. The agency on Tuesday also reduced the five ounce Theodore Roosevelt total by 500 coins to 29,500 coins.
Below is a sales breakdown of U.S. Mint bullion products with columns listing the number of bullion coins sold during varying periods Products with an asterisk (*) are no longer available.
| US Mint Bullion Sales (# of coins) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tuesday / This Week | Last Week | Aug Sales | Sept Sales | 2016 Sales | |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coins* | 0 | 0 | 1,000 | 0 | 20,000 |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coins | 9,500 | 17,000 | 50,000 | 64,500 | 550,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 0 | 3,000 | 4,000 | 55,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 0 | 4,000 | 10,000 | 110,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coins | 5,000 | 15,000 | 60,000 | 70,000 | 685,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coins | 1,500 | 5,500 | 9,000 | 14,500 | 146,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coins | 295,000 | 255,000 | 1,280,000 | 1,600,000 | 30,500,500 |
| 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 | 200 | 1,900 | 200 | 36,300 |
| 2016 Theodore Roosevelt 5 Oz Silver Coins | -500 | 0 | 27,500 | 2,000 | 29,500 |
CoinNews readers FYI – September 23rd marked a numismatic milestone many are unaware of – the 42nd anniversary of the last public audit of the gold held at the Fort Knox Bullion Depository in Kentucky by then U.S. Mint Director Mary Brooks. Even though gold was only valued around $190 an ounce on the world market then, many citizens were worried about the rumors that the U.S. Government had sold off some or all of our national gold reserves. Since the facility is to this day operated by the U.S. Mint & U.S. Mint Police, she gathered the press &… Read more »
Must be nice. Canada sold off all of its gold reserves. As a Canadian, I was not pleased when I found out. That gold belonged to all Canadians, and not the government. Gold is the finest and secure international currency. To sell it off for a quick profit and to buy paper stocks was irresponsible. Make sure your reserve stays just that. It belongs to the people, not a government official.
Seth – not to wax political, but on November 8 we have the choice to vote for more of the same, or for someone who is not entrenched in the Washington DC ‘same-old, same-old.’
Guess which candidate is more likely to implement a Presidential Executive Order to enable an audit of Fort Knox?
-Mammoth