Gold and silver futures moved higher Friday, scoring their sixth consecutive gains, their ninth pair of increases in ten sessions, and their second straight weekly win after falling for five weeks in a row. The metals also posted milestone highs of four weeks for gold and three weeks for silver.
Gold for August delivery tacked on $9.40, or 0.8%, to finish at $1,254.90 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement is the highest since June 23.
"The dollar has been under serious assault, which has pushed the price of gold higher," MarketWatch quoted Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at ThinkMarkets UK. "As long as the dollar bleeds, we do think that the gold price would continue to move higher and could touch the level of $1,300."
Gold futures advanced 2.2% this week after rising 1.5% last week. The yellow metal is 9% higher so far this year. In looking ahead to next week, Kitco News offers the following forecasts via their Wall Street vs. Main Street survey:
"Eighteen professionals took part in a Kitco News Wall Street survey. Thirteen voters, or 72%, see gold prices rising by the end of next week. Four voters, or 22%, look for a sideways market, while just one, or 6%, said lower.
The Kitco online Main Street poll resulted in 974 votes, with 567 participants, or 58%, calling for gold to climb over the next week. Another 269 voters, or 28%, said that gold will fall, while 138, or 14%, were neutral."
Meanwhile, silver for September delivery added 11.2 cents, or 0.7%, to close at $16.457 an ounce. The settlement is the strongest since June 30. Silver futures rallied 3.3% this week, matching their gain last week. The precious metal is 2.9% higher on the year to date.
In PGM futures on Friday and for the week:
-
October platinum rose $4.20, or 0.5%, to $937.40 an ounce, for a 1.5% weekly increase.
- Closing lower for a fourth day in a row, palladium for September shed $3.25, or 0.4%, to $844.35 an ounce, for a 1.5% weekly decline.
Both metals are higher on the year with advances of 3.5% for platinum and 23.6% for palladium.
London Precious Metals Prices
London precious metals prices ended higher on Friday and mixed for the week. In comparing their levels from Thursday PM to Friday PM:
- Gold added $9.85, or 0.8%, to 1,248.55 an ounce.
- Silver added 25 cents, or 1.6%, to $16.43 an ounce.
- Platinum added $19, or 2.1%, to $937 an ounce.
- Palladium added $3, or 0.4%, to $852 an ounce.
For the week, palladium slipped 0.9% while the other London bullion prices logged gains of 1.5% for gold, 4.6% for silver and 2.1% for platinum.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2017
United States Mint bullion sales slowed from last week. In week-over-week comparisons:
-
Gold coins moved up by 6,000 ounces after rising by 8,000 ounces last week. Splits include 5,500 ounces in American Gold Eagles compared to 6,500 ounces previously and 500 ounces in American Gold Buffalos compared to 1,500 ounces previously.
-
Silver coins advanced by 725,000 ounces compared to 970,000 ounces previously — the highest weekly total since the week of Jan. 9 when 2017-dated Silver Eagles launched. American Silver Eagles accounted for all silver sales for a fourth straight week.
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) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Friday | Last Week | This Week | June | July | YTD | |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20,000 |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 5,500 | 5,000 | 4,000 | 12,000 | 153,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4,000 | 52,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 10,000 | 5,000 | 20,000 | 30,000 | 290,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 1,500 | 500 | 2,000 | 3,000 | 69,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 970,000 | 725,000 | 986,000 | 2,015,000 | 14,248,500 |
| 2017 Effigy Mounds 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8,800 | 0 | 35,000 |
| 2017 Frederick Douglass 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20,000 |
| 2017 Ozark Riverways 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20,000 | 0 | 20,000 |
The Mint’s bullion coin Authorized Purchasers haven’t bought a single 5-oz silver ATB puck in four weeks. Sales are very slow this year. A total of only 75,000 bullion pucks have sold this year!
NumisDudeTX
So how are the Philly P Pucks doing? I know the mintage is low but what are opinions on the numismatic value of collecting the 5oz mint versions? I was amazed at the price of the Hawaiian Volcano puck. Though it has a awesome design.. the blue ridge puck did well also. Just wondering on the collectable versions.
NW Robert –
The “P” pucks have had a roller coaster type of ride over the years. Some have mintages well over 22,000 while others are around 15,000. It seems collectors only buy the designs they really like & pass on the rest since they issue 5 a year it is hard to buy them all at $149.95 each & still have enough left in a budget to buy all the other Mint products a collector wants.
-NumisDudeTx