Precious metals gained on Wednesday, recovering at least a portion of their prior-day losses. They still declined in June, however, although gold, silver and palladium managed to score strong gains in the second quarter.
Gold for August delivery rose $8, or 0.5%, to settle at $1,771.60 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"Short covering and perceived bargain buying are featured after [gold] prices hit 2.5-month lows Tuesday. Falling U.S. Treasury bond yields this week are also a minor positive for the precious metals markets. However, gains in gold and silver are still being limited at mid-week by bearish near-term technical charts and scant risk aversion in the marketplace as the first half of 2021 draws to a close today," Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Inc, said in a daily research note.
Gold futures ranged from a low of $1,753.20 to a high of $1,774.70. They fell 1% on Tuesday, for their lowest settlement since April 14, and they rose 0.2% on Monday.
In the longer haul, gold prices declined 7% in June, trimming their second quarterly gain to 3.3%. They are 6.5% lower through the first half of 2021.
Meanwhile, silver for September delivery moved up 29.3 cents, or 1.1%, to end at $26.194 an ounce. Silver futures traded between $25.80 and $26.22. They lost 1.3% on Tuesday, for their weakest close since June 22, and they climbed 0.5% on Monday.
Silver prices booked a 6.5% monthly loss, pulling down their quarterly increase to 6.8%. They are 0.8% lower for the year to date.
In PGM futures on Wednesday, for the month and in the second quarter:
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October platinum added $2.30, or 0.2%, to $1,072.90 an ounce, ranging from $1,049.10 to $1,075.50. Platinum dropped 2.6% on Tuesday and fell 0.5% on Monday. The metal sank 9.3% in June and plunged 10% in the quarter.
- Palladium for September delivery jumped $98, or 3.7%, to $2,779.20 an ounce, trading between $2,670 and $2,793. Palladium slipped 0.7% on Tuesday but surged 2.4% on Monday. It has a week-to-date gain of 12.5%. Prices declined 1.8% in June but still registered a quarterly advance of 6.1%.
Through the first half of 2021, platinum dipped 0.6% while palladium soared 13.3%.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2021
The United States Mint has not published bullion sales gains for more than two weeks. 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) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wednesday / This Week | Last Week | March Sales | April Sales | May | June | 2021 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 55,500 | 38,500 | 20,500 | 4,000 | 430,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 31,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 20,000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 56,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 55,000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 150,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 33,500 | 11,000 | 44,000 | 7,000 | 173,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 4,087,000 | 1,053,000 | 0 | 0 | 13,106,500 |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 35,000 | 0 | 40,000 | 0 | 75,000 |
| Tuskegee Airmen 5 oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | N/A | 50,000 | 2,900 | 0 | 52,900 |
Isn’t the latter material what those 2021 Morgan & Peace Dollars are made of?