Precious metals advanced Monday, with both gold and silver futures ending at their best prices in nearly three months.
Gold for April delivery settled up $11.30, or 1%, to $1,232.10 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement is the highest since Nov. 10 when the yellow metal ended at $1,266.40 an ounce.
"Gold’s solid showing so far this year … is mostly attributable to a weaker dollar and last week’s standoffish Federal Reserve statement with regard to when it would next move on rates," Reuters quoted INTL FCStone analyst Edward Meir. "Geopolitical concerns will now be magnified by the Trump administration’s more aggressive tone in the foreign policy arena and trade will also remain a key flash point."
Gold futures ranged from a low of $1,220.80 to a high of $1,237.50. They advanced 2.7% last week for their biggest weekly increase since June 10.
Higher for a second session in a row, silver for March delivery rose 21.4 cents, or 1.2%, to $17.693 an ounce. The close is also the highest since Nov. 10, when silver ended at $18.737 an ounce. Silver futures traded between $17.46 and $17.76. They advanced 2% last week, for their fifth straight weekly gain.
In other precious metals futures on Monday:
-
April platinum rose $7.40, or 0.7%, to $1,014.10 an ounce, ranging from $1,004.60 to $1,018.60.
- Palladium for March delivery rallied $25.30, or 3.4%, to $774.30 an ounce, trading between $745.40 nd $775.
Each gained last week — by 2.4% for platinum and by 1.4% for palladium.
London Precious Metals Prices
In comparing earlier fixed London bullion prices from Friday PM to Monday PM:
- Gold added $11.55, or 1%, to $1,226.75 an ounce.
- Silver added 32 cents, or 1.9%, to $17.60 an ounce.
LBMA platinum and palladium prices are available on the LBMA’s website with a delay of midnight.
Last week, the metal prices logged gains of 2.6% for gold, 3.5% for silver, 2.8% for platinum and 3.5% for palladium.
US Mint Bullion Coin Sales in 2017
U.S. Mint bullion sales posted increases of 3,500 ounces in gold coins and 162,500 ounces in silver coins.
A portion of the silver sales included the first 2017-dated America the Beautiful Five Ounce Silver Bullion Coin. Emblematic of Effigy Mounds National Monument in Iowa, its first-day sales reached 7,500 coins for a total of 37,500 ounces.
Also on Monday, the U.S. Mint released rolls and bags of Effigy Mounds quarters. The five ounce silver coin and quarter share the same designs.
Below is a sales breakdown of U.S. bullion products with columns listing the number of coins sold during varying periods. Products with an asterisk (*) are no longer available.
| US Mint Bullion Sales (# of coins) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday Sales | Last Week | Jan Sales | Feb Sales | 2017 Sales | |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 20,000 | 0 | 20,000 |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 2,000 | 8,000 | 86,500 | 3,500 | 90,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 19,000 | 0 | 19,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 36,000 | 0 | 36,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 10,000 | 125,000 | 5,000 | 130,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 1,500 | 4,000 | 32,000 | 4,000 | 36,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 125,000 | 230,000 | 5,127,500 | 125,000 | 5,252,500 |
| 2017 Effigy Mounds 5 Oz Silver Coin | 7,500 | – | 100 | 7,500 | 7,500 |
| 2016 Shawnee 5 Oz Silver Coins* | – | ||||
| 2016 Cumberland Gap 5 Oz Silver Coin* | – | ||||
| 2016 Harpers Ferry 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 100 | 0 | 0 |
| 2016 Theodore Roosevelt 5 Oz Silver Coin* | – | – | 800 | – | – |
| 2016 Fort Moultrie 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
I’m feeling Effigy will not do so well in bullion or “P” versions. It’s a nice place to visit in the real world, but a God awful looking coin. I think the version with the pair of hands scooping up (dirt) would have made a much better choice. Even that one would have needed some tweaking. Just MHO….
@JP – Looks like first day sales were very weak for the Effigy puck.
Very undesirable design. May be a real low mintage but…who cares they look like coroner’s tape…