Precious metals mostly declined on Friday, while posting mixed results for the week, with both gold and silver gaining for the first time in four weeks, and platinum and palladium falling for a second week in a row.
Gold for August delivery lost $25.90, or 1.3%, to settle at $1,969.60 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, trimming its weekly gain to 1.3%.
On Thursday, gold ended at its highest point since May 15. Year to date, the yellow metal is showing a gain of 7.9%.
As we look ahead to next week, Kitco News offers the following forecasts via their Wall Street & Main Street surveys:
"This week, 19 Wall Street analysts participated in the Kitco News Gold Survey. Among the participants, ten analysts, or 53%, were bullish on gold in the near term. At the same time, five analysts, or 26%, were bearish for next week, and four analysts, or 21%, saw prices trading sideways.
Meanwhile, 509 votes were cast in online polls. Of these, 307 respondents, or 60%, looked for gold to rise next week. Another 124, or 24%, said it would be lower, while 78 voters, or 15%, were neutral in the near term."
Elsewhere, silver for July delivery declined by 24 cents, or 1%, to close at $23.747 an ounce. Silver prices climbed 1.7% this week. On Thursday, silver marked its highest settlement since May 19. Year to date, silver has decreased by 1.2%.
Exploring other precious metals, during Friday and throughout the week:
-
July platinum shed $6.60, or 0.7%, to end at $1,003.50 an ounce, resulting in a weekly loss of 2.4%.
- Palladium for September delivery increased by $12.80, or 0.9%, to close at $1,403.50 an ounce, reducing its weekly decline to 1.4%.
Examining the year-to-date results, platinum has witnessed a decline of 7.3%, while palladium has sustained a sizable loss of 21.9%.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2023
When analyzing U.S. Mint bullion sales on a week-over-week basis, the Mint’s bullion products exhibited significant increases and a broader range. Here are the specific comparisons for each product:
- American Gold Eagles: 28,500 ounces against 18,000 ounces
- American Gold Buffalos: 8,500 ounces compared to 6,000 ounces
- American Silver Eagles: 693,000 ounces against 47,000 ounces
- American Platinum Eagles: 1,200 ounces compared to 0 ounces
The table below presents a breakdown of U.S. Mint bullion products sold, with columns indicating the number of coins sold (not total ounces) during different time periods.
| US Mint Bullion Sales (# of coins) | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Friday / June | Last Week | Week | February | March | April | May | 2023 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 18,000 | 8,000 | 41,500 | 211,000 | 159,000 | 60,500 | 590,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 18,000 | 8,000 | 1,000 | 8,000 | 18,000 | 72,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 14,000 | 12,000 | 10,000 | 12,000 | 32,000 | 146,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 80,000 | 85,000 | 10,000 | 35,000 | 80,000 | 325,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 6,000 | 8,500 | 19,500 | 73,000 | 61,000 | 47,000 | 259,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 47,000 | 693,000 | 900,000 | 900,000 | 900,000 | 1,593,000 | 8,242,000 |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 1,200 | N/A | 7,500 | 500 | 1,200 | 9,200 |
Kaiser,
Rhodium is the King! It closed at nearly $30,000 per ounce in 2021 at its highest price ever. Today it closed at $5,450 an ounce, up $1,350 per ounce since yesterday.
But no legal tender coins have ever been made with pure rhodium, only ingots (mostly by Baird & Co. in London).
The sales figures above are for May, as the Mint didn’t sell any bullion version coins yesterday or today.
NumisdudeTX
Kaiser, Lol. It’s a great 5-star hotel, but you can’t leave! You are so right about those other rare metals, that are so expensive but can’t be used to make coins for different reasons. And can you imagine a mercury metal coin – a truly “liquid” asset! (And poisonous too). Lol. Didn’t they tell that hillbilly Jed Clampet, “Californium is the place you want to be…”? He diversified his portfolio with “black gold, Texas tea” & Californium futures! Lol. That Beverly Hillbillies tv sitcom was so well written & acted – I still watch the reruns. Only “Jethro/Jethrine” from that… Read more »
I don’t know how one would make a coin out of mercury. I have some and while you can pour it into a coin holder, pressing a date and monetary value on its surface would be the problem.Of course, if you kept it in a frozen state, -40F, it would be possible. I think I’ll just stick with gold and silver coins.
Craig,
I’m going to be a little nosey, if you don’t mind, & ask why you have some poisonous mercury in your vicinity??
NumisdudeTX
On the periodic table, it’s listed as Mercury (Hg), not as ‘poisonous mercury.’ It’s only toxic if consumed, much like most of the products in our homes used for cleaning or chemicals used in our pools or for garden management. I wouldn’t recommend consuming any of the above.
Craig,
Yes, good advice for sure! Mercury can also get in the pores of your skin by touching it, my high school chemistry teacher said. But, I’m not sure how much exposure to it over time would cause a major health problem.
I loved looking at it in chemistry class because it is so shiny & liquid at room temperature & it moves around in a strange way when you move the glass petrie dish holding it.
NumisdudeTX
Kaiser,
The “Arsenic and Old Lace” modus operandi…
NumisdudeTX
Kaiser,
Green Acres was another funny tv sitcom I watched early on & enjoyed – you would like The Beverly Hillbillies show I’m sure. I have relatives in Arkansas that might just be a little “Hillbilly” in some ways, but salt of the Earth kind. Mazel Tov to your grandkid on turning 16 & able to get that important rite of passage – a limited driver’s permit!
NumisdudeTX
Kaiser,
Nice looking 5-star hotel!…with free Continental breakfast & Egyptian cotton robe, gold-foil mint chocolate on your pillow…cost per night –
1 gram of Californium!
“I am your concierge Seth, feel free to check out at your leisure, but No, you cannot leave!” Lol.
NumisdudeTX
Kaiser,
Yep, if you & I did a business venture selling our “Hotel Californium” merchandise, (coffee mugs, t-shirts etc.) we would assuredly be sued big time immediately for copyright infringement by The Eagles band. (I was lucky to see them in concert in Munich in the late 70s & I bought their tour t-shirt for sure).
NumisdudeTX
Kaiser, Can you even imagine how much money The Eagles made off that one album & the t-shirt & poster sales, not to mention the 20-marks concert ticket price I paid around 1977 when they played at the 1972 Olympics stadium arena in Munich when I lived about 60 kilometers south from there. We always had the German motor pool bus driver stop at the Munich McDonald’s to get burgers, fries & milkshakes after the concert. McDonalds & Baskin Robbins were the only USA chain restaurants in Munich at the time I lived there 1976-79, & Harry’s New York Bar… Read more »
Actually Seth, the Worlds first .999 fine Rhodium legal tender coin was issued in 2018. Here’s a link to a CoinWorld article that mentions it. “The Tuvalu Rhodium South Sea Dragon is the world’s first legal tender rhodium coin; with an initial mintage of only 1,000 coins they are extremely rare and valuable!”
https://www.coinworld.com/news/precious-metals/rhodium-next-precious-metal-investment-option.html
Kaiser,
I bet Mike Mezack is working with the so-called “Fiji Mint” to produce a “Farewell to Tuvalu” commemorative rhodium coin for when the tiny country disappears due to global warming/climate change.
NumisdudeTX
On the topic of Rhodium, The best I can do is the Nocturnal by Nature series(4) of Rhodium gilded/plated silver coins and a 2oz Rhodium plated Silver Maple leaf. All 5 coins look pretty cool IMO with the black and silver contrast. BTW, “Black rhodium is, in fact, just one of many colors of rhodium. In its natural state, rhodium is silver-white and is typically plated onto white gold to give it a brighter, more luminous finish. By binding ink to rhodium, however, dark colors can be created that vary from light gray to black.” The series from the Royal… Read more »
CaliSkier,
Thanks for the correction. I totally missed seeing this first rhodium coin in 2018. I had mentioned Baird & Company in London in my comment as having made many rhodium ingots & it looks like they had this coin struck also. It’s nice & pricey too! Some lucky collectors & investors made a major profit on this coin if they sold when rhodium hit its all-time high of nearly $30,000 an ounce!
I had seen the RCM rhodium-plated coins since I have been a customer since 2012, but I didn’t like the dark color.
NumisdudeTX
Seth, I can only imagine what those who didn’t sell a peak Rhodium price must be thinking now? It would be interesting to know how many who picked these up originally, sold at or near peak? Also would be interesting to know how many also held onto these, hoping for an even greater return at some point? Kind of a “My Precious affect” if you will? With my financial situation being what it is, the coin wouldn’t have stood a chance remaining/staying in my collection when the price skyrocketed! I’d have cashed out for sure! Wonder how many dealers are… Read more »
CaliSkier,
I posted a comment in response to your & Craig’s comments. It is below…
I have the same questions about this subject that you both have.
NumisdudeTX
I have to admit that I never knew about coins being minted with rhodium. I see that rhodium is trading around $2500 oz. now, and wonder what created the big spike in spot price for it to $30k. Hell, I thought silver jumping to almost $50/oz. was a big spike that seems quite hard to duplicate in todays environment. If those lucky collectors & investors didn’t sell when rhodium was near $30k, well that train apparently has left the station.
Craig, From what I can tell, the rhodium craze was mostly a fad that was fueled by the fact that it is so much more rare than any coinage metal. It is used mostly to plate items like jewelry, aerospace components & computer hardware circuits, among other uses. But it only takes a tiny, thin plating to serve those purposes. Baird & Company in London, England U.K. produced 1 oz. pure rhodium ingots that for some reason became popular, especially since the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) that sets precious metals spot prices for the whole world is headquartered in… Read more »
Craig, I’m guessing you transposed the numbers? Rhodium currently at $5,250 versus $2,500. Apparently, no futures market, automobile industry demand and and outstripped global supply, in addition to production in South Africa coming to a standstill, more or less. South Africa and Russia, dominate global supply. IMO the price on Rhodium is currently being suppressed or manipulated in order to penalize or at least not let Russia capitalize? Strictly a gut/hunch with zero facts to back this up! The “Train has definitely, left the station!
CaliSkier,
You got it right for sure! We have always known that Russia & South Africa have, from mines & still in mines there, about 75% of the platinum group metals on Earth that we know about. Rhodium is still the only kind of “mysterious” precious metal for some strange reason… manipulation of the market by someone/some companies/some countries for Rhodium seems to be plausible, since it went from low to high, & then from the highest value to today’s comparatively “low” value compared to the 2021 price…
NumisdudeTX