Precious metals retreated together for a second straight session Friday but most of them still scored weekly gains, led in performance by silver and then gold.
Gold for February delivery shed $4.90, or 0.3%, to settle at $1,816.50 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Gold prices advanced 1.1% this week after falling 1.7% last week. On Wednesday, they ended at their highest price since Dec. 31. They are 0.7% lower on the year to date.
In looking ahead to next week, Kitco News offers the following forecasts via their Wall Street & Main Street surveys:
"This week 16 Wall Street analysts participated in Kitco News’ gold survey. Among the participants, nine analysts, or 58%, called for gold prices to rise next week. At the same time, three analysts, or 19%, were bearish on gold in the near term, and four analysts or 25% were neutral on prices.
Meanwhile, a total of 928 votes were cast in online Main Street polls. Of these, 529 respondents, or 57%, looked for gold to rise next week. Another 225, or 24%, said lower, while 174voters, or 19%, were neutral."
Elsewhere, silver for March delivery lost 24.4 cents, or 1.1%, to settle at $22.918 an ounce. Silver prices jumped 2.3% this week after sinking 4% last week. Like for gold, silver on Wednesday finished at its best price since Dec. 31. The precious metal has declined 1.9% this year.
In PGM futures on Friday and for the second trading week of 2022:
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April platinum fell $7.60, or 0.8%, to end at $964.60 an ounce, but posted a 0.9% weekly gain.
- Palladium for March delivery fell $11.80, or 0.6%, to end at $1,878.20 an ounce, for a 2.3% drop on the week.
Both are down on the year so far with losses of 0.2% for platinum and 1.8% for palladium.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2022
United States Mint bullion sales slowed this week from the surging gains last week when the newly 2022-dated coins launched. In week-over-week comparisons:
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Sales of American Gold Eagles rose 30,000 ounces after advancing 107,500 ounces last week.
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Sales of American Buffalo gold coins increased 7,000 ounces after climbing 35,000 ounces last week.
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Sales of American Silver Eagles rose 500,000 ounces after rising 3,001,000 ounces last week.
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) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Friday | Last Week | This Week | December | 2021 Sales | 2022 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 73,500 | 14,000 | 41,000 | 1,115,500 | 87,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 26,000 | 18,000 | 1,000 | 95,000 | 44,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 38,000 | 14,000 | 2,000 | 162,000 | 52,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 115,000 | 35,000 | 0 | 490,000 | 150,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 35,000 | 7,000 | 10,500 | 350,500 | 42,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 3,001,000 | 500,000 | 0 | 28,275,000 | 3,501,000 |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 75,000 | 0 |
| $25 American Eagle 1 Oz Palladium Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8,700 | 0 |
| Tuskegee Airmen 5 oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 52,900 | 0 |
Heads Up, the Mint has just updated their 2022 Product Schedule and has set the release date for both the 2022-W ASE Proof and Congratulations Set 2022 for April 14, 2022.
That’s a fact, Sir Kaiser. Trying to order one of those 2022 Congratulations Set at launch time on April 14th will be extremely difficult, not to mention it is being released simultaneously with the 2022-W ASE Proof. At this time, the Mint has only set the rescheduled date for the releases; the prices, product limits and household order limits are TBD. The 2021 Congratulations Set was the last Set with the old reverse design of 1986 (Type 1) and the 2022 Congratulations Set will be the first Set with the new reverse design of 2021 (Type 2). Therefore, the 2022… Read more »
It all depends on demand. Was the demand in 2020 as high as that in 2021? It may not be as it was in 2021 as in 2022. Remember, there were two types of reverses, also, demand for silver in 2021 was high and it may not be the case in 2022. Also, hopefully, the Mint will have corrected the problems encountered in ordering 2021 coins. Fingers crossed.