Three of four major precious metals futures advanced on Monday. Gold climbed for a fourth straight session and ended at a more than five-week high.
Gold for April delivery rose $5.10, or 0.4%, to settle at $1,355 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement is the strongest since Feb. 16 when gold prices finished at $1,356.20 an ounce. The yellow metal gained supported, opined analysts, after the U.S. said it would expel 60 Russian diplomats.
"I would attribute the rise in gold in the afternoon to the political developments," Reuters quoted Quantitative Commodity Research consultant Peter Fertig. "You could expect the Russians to retaliate."
Gold futures traded from a low of $1,343.40 to a high of $1,356.00. They surged 2.9% last week.
Elsewhere, silver for May delivery rose 10.2 cents, or 0.6%, to settle at $16.684 an ounce. Silver futures ranged from $16.52 to $16.80. They gained 1.9% last week.
In other metals futures on Monday:
-
April platinum added $2, or 0.2%, to $950.40 an ounce, trading between $947.50 and $985.
- Palladium for June delivery lost $4.70, or 0.5%, to $966.85 an ounce, ranging from $965.50 to $980.50.
Last week, the two posted respective losses of 0.2% and 1.7%.
London Precious Metals Prices
In comparing earlier fixed London gold and silver prices from Friday PM to Monday PM:
- Gold declined $5.80, or 0.4%, to $1,352.40 an ounce.
- Silver fell 8 cents, or 0.5%, to $16.61 an ounce.
LBMA platinum and palladium prices are available on the LBMA’s website with a delay of midnight.
Last week in LBMA metal prices, palladium slipped 0.1% while the others logged gains of 2.8% for gold, 0.3% for silver, and 0.4% for platinum.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2018
U.S. Mint bullion sales advanced on Monday by a combined 335,000 ounces in silver coins with splits of 285,000 ounces in ounces in American Silver Eagles and 50,000 ounces in Pictured Rocks Five Ounce Silver Bullion Coins.
Below is a sales breakdown of U.S. Mint bullion products with columns listing the number of coins sold during varying periods.
| US Mint Bullion Sales (# of coins) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | Last Week | February | March | 2018 Sales | |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 20,000 | 0 | 20,000 |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 5,000 | 2,500 | 43,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 5,000 | 10,000 | 95,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 2,500 | 1,000 | 27,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 285,000 | 195,000 | 942,500 | 915,000 | 5,092,500 |
| Pictured Rocks 5 Oz Silver Coin | 10,000 | 0 | 20,000 | 10,000 | 30,000 |
Cold war tactics are gonna bring some new and needed security to precious metals. Hope silver continues to climb, have some 100oz bars I want to dump for some more graded 2008 – Buffalo’s.
Mouse
HEADLINE: North Korea Nukes Fort Knox – Gold Goes Thru The Roof!
I don’t think the problem here is that coin collectors don’t have a sense of humor. As we are all well aware there is an abundance of original, intentionally funny material on this very site. I think instead it is the need of some people who lack a sense of humor to disapprove of any attempt at jocularity.
P.S. – Definition of a puritan: Someone who is deathly afraid that somewhere out there someone else might just be having fun.
Old Collector
Mike Unser –
I didn’t receive any e-mail notifications today about your new articles posted today. Is something wrong with the WordPress system again? Thanks!
-NumisdudeTX