In kicking off the new trading week on Monday, platinum gained while gold, silver and palladium declined.
Gold for June delivery lost $11.80, or 0.7%, to settle at $1,723.80 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"While the broader macro backdrop remains supportive for gold prices in the near term, they’re tracking real yields most closely. U.S. treasury yields are ticking higher this morning and that has ended up weighing down gold prices," Reuters quoted Standard Chartered Bank analyst Suki Cooper. "Safe-haven buying has continued to support gold primarily through ETF inflows and continued retail investor demand … So if we see different economies starting to reopen, we might see some of that safe haven demand starting to ease."
Gold futures ranged from a low of $1,720 to a high of $1,745.80. They advanced 2.2% last week.
Silver for May delivery declined 5.3 cents, or 0.4%, to end at $15.21 an ounce. Silver futures traded between $15.10 and $15.45. They shed 0.2% last week.
In other precious metals futures prices on Monday:
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July platinum rose $3.20, or 0.4%, to $777 an ounce, ranging from $767.60 to $788.30.
- Palladium for June delivery fell $90.50, or 4.6%, to $1,894.80 an ounce, trading between $1,875 and $2,029.40.
Last week, platinum declined 1.5% and palladium sank 6.8%.
London Precious Metals Prices (LBMA)
In comparing earlier fixed London gold and silver prices from Friday PM to Monday PM:
- Gold dipped 95 cents, or 0.06%, to $1,714.95 an ounce.
- Silver fell 11 cents, or 0.7%, to $15.205 an ounce.
In LBMA weekly results last week, gold rose 1.4%, silver gained 1%; platinum fell 2.2% and palladium declined 6.9%.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2020
United States Mint bullion sales increased by a combined 18,500 ounces in silver coins and by 400,000 ounces in silver 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 | January | February | March | April | 2020 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 9,000 | 36,000 | 38,000 | 3,500 | 133,000 | 101,500 | 276,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 23,000 | 2,000 | 8,000 | 0 | 33,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 18,000 | 2,000 | 20,000 | 0 | 40,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 60,000 | 20,000 | 95,000 | 0 | 175,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 9,500 | 12,000 | 21,000 | 1,000 | 65,500 | 25,500 | 113,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 400,000 | 0 | 3,846,000 | 650,000 | 5,482,500 | 750,000 | 10,728,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 14,500 | 9,300 | 31,200 | 1,500 | 56,500 |
In terms of 5-ounce silver bullion sales for 2020, the U.S. Mint is working on getting them automated and reported. Initial U.S. Mint-provided figures have the first two 2020-dated pieces at 45,000 produced and sold per issue. These amounts are being verified.
Thank you for the information on the 5-ounce silver bullion sales. When might we have an update on the sales for the 2019 ones? Are sales not verified at the time of the sale? Does the mint not know what they sale/ or sold? If they do not know, that is frighting to me.