Precious metals finished lower Wednesday for a third day in a row this week. Gold ended at a four-week low and silver settled at a seven-week low.
Gold for April delivery dropped $14.90, or 1.1%, to close at $1,314.60 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement was the lowest since Jan. 9 when prices ended at $1,313.70 an ounce.
"It is hard to say where gold goes from here given that direction in the U.S. stock market remains unclear despite Tuesday’s impressive recovery," MarketWatch quoted Edward Meir, an independent commodity consultant at INTL FCStone.
"All we can say is that gold did not particularly perform well when stocks were melting down, while seeming to crumble rather effortlessly in the aftermath of Tuesday’s sharp rally."
Gold futures traded from a low of $1,313.50 to a high of $1,334.80. They shed 0.5% on Tuesday and dipped less than 0.1% on Monday.
Silver for March delivery tumbled 34.2 cents, or 2.1%, to settle at $16.238 an ounce. The close was the lowest since Dec. 19 when the precious metal finished at $16.153 an ounce. Silver futures ranged from $16.21 to $16.73. They shed 0.6% on Tuesday and lost 0.2% on Monday.
In PGM futures on Wednesday:
-
April platinum declined $12.60, or 1.3%, to $981.70 an ounce, trading between $980 and $998.
- Palladium for March delivery fell $17.95, or 1.8%, to $984.55 an ounce, ranging from $976 to $1,011.
London Precious Metals Prices
In comparing earlier fixed London gold and silver prices from Tuesday PM to Wednesday PM:
- Gold declined $6.75, or 0.5%, to $1,324.65 an ounce.
- Silver fell 11.5 cents, or 0.7%, to $16.69 an ounce.
LBMA platinum and palladium prices are available on the LBMA’s website with a delay of midnight.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2018
United States Mint bullion sales were unchanged. Below is a sales breakdown of U.S. bullion products with columns listing the number of coins sold during varying periods.
| US Mint Bullion Sales (# of coins) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wednesday | Last Week | This Week | December | January | February | 2018 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 2,000 | 500 | 38,000 | 36,000 | 1,500 | 37,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3,000 | 16,000 | 0 | 16,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4,000 | 26,000 | 0 | 26,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 5,000 | 0 | 25,000 | 80,000 | 0 | 80,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 1,500 | 500 | 14,000 | 24,000 | 1,500 | 25,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 140,000 | 225,000 | 742,000 | 3,235,000 | 225,000 | 3,460,000 |
Silver has basically been going down for over 2 years overall & yet the U.S. Mint decides to raise its silver coin prices this year! It hasn’t lowered its silver coin prices in a long time even back a couple of years ago when silver reached a 6-year low twice that year! The Mint continues to not have a pricing grid for its silver products, although it has such a grid for gold, platinum & palladium coin products. Congress needs to fix this unfair situation. The Mint states on its website & in all catalogues & post cards mailed out… Read more »
Seth – I could not agree more. The days of any modern silver coin becoming the next or future million dollar auction ticket item are over. It appears to me that perhaps their over-inflated silver products are an attempt to push the market to purchase recycled silver numismatic and bullion products. There is always an inflated price when stocks are low / last kick at the can. Just a though. When it comes to my mint (RCM) they seem to base their inflated prices on the lower mintage’s they assign to a coin product. I have been purchasing internationally minted… Read more »
Mouse – Good analysis. At least the RCM gives a reason why its silver coins are priced so high & it actually makes since in that very low mintages is what we collectors usually look for. But, they raised prices too much & I got out. I was a RCM Masters Club member for a few years from 2012 to 2016 & really like the high-quality coins & low mintages & vast variety the RCM offers compared to the U.S. Mint for sure. I still buy the occasional “special” coin when I can’t resist it from RCM & still buy… Read more »
don*t worry*, what go’s around, comes around, *always.
Seth – very well put. I have also shifted the focus of my collection and shop for deals and investment based coins to ensure my sons coin collection will be strong when he inherits mine. It appears to me that since our dollars are no longer based on the gold standard, precious metals (coin manufacturing) has become another highly controlled (monopoly) supply and demand tool. I have heard tale that within the next 100 years, we as a human race may have exhausted our ability to mine substantial amounts of precious metals for our ever hungry market. Maybe now we… Read more »