Precious metals declined together for a third day in a row on Thursday, potentially leading to enormous weekly losses if there are no turnarounds on Friday. Both gold and silver reached their lowest prices in just over three months.
Gold for August delivery fell by $21.20, or 1.1%, to settle at $1,923.70 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement was the lowest since March 16.
"Central banks are in focus late this week and they are still leaning hawkish on their monetary policies. That’s bearish for the precious metals markets, both from a demand perspective and as it makes the competing asset class of government bonds more attractive as bond yields are rising," Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Inc, said in a daily research note.
Gold futures traded between $1,922 and $1,945.10, after dipping 0.1% on Wednesday and dropping 1.2% at the start of the new trading week on Tuesday. (U.S. markets were closed on Monday for the Juneteenth holiday.) The yellow metal is down 2.4% week to date.
Meanwhile, silver for July delivery gave back 34.3 cents, or 1.5%, to close at $22.467 an ounce. The settlement was the lowest since March 21. The range for silver futures was between $22.20 and $22.75. They lost 1.8% on Wednesday and tumbled 3.7% on Tuesday. Silver is 6.9% lower week to date.
In other precious metals prices on Thursday:
-
July platinum declined by $22.50, or 2.4%, to $926.50 an ounce, trading between $923.40 and $950.40.
- Palladium for September delivery sank by $71.70, or 5.3%, to $1,272.60 an ounce, ranging from $1,265 to $1,349.50.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2023
A week ago Tuesday, June 13, the U.S. Mint published bullion sales gains for the first time this month. No further sales have been reported since then. 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) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thursday / This Week | Last Week | March | April | May | June | 2023 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 16,000 | 211,000 | 159,500 | 60,500 | 16,000 | 606,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 8,000 | 18,000 | 1,000 | 73,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 4,000 | 10,000 | 12,000 | 32,000 | 4,000 | 132,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 15,000 | 10,000 | 35,000 | 80,000 | 15,000 | 340,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 7,000 | 73,000 | 61,000 | 47,000 | 7,000 | 266,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 725,000 | 900,000 | 900,000 | 1,593,000 | 725,000 | 8,967,000 |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 3,500 | 7,500 | 500 | 1,200 | 3,500 | 12,700 |
The headline to this article should really be that palladium dropped almost $72 today, down 5.3% and below $1300 on ounce.
The better headline would be if this happened: U.S. Mint Director Madame Ventris C. Gibson would observe how much silver has dropped since the last price increases at the beginning of this year and announce: “The U.S. Mint is lowering its silver coins & silver medals & silver coin sets prices to better reflect the much lower costs of production on silver products & to stimulate sales of these items.”
NumisdudeTX
Kaiser, The U.S. Mint recently “bragged” that it had added more than 100,000 new customers to its active buyer list due to the popularity of the AWQ 25-cents coin program that started last year. And, I support that fine, innovative coin program in all aspects. BUT, (and yes, this is a big BUT!) don’t you think the Mint is short sided in the numbers game since it lost approximately 400,000 loyal buyers in the past 3.5 years due to massive price increases on almost all products??!! I don’t ever mind paying a fair price for Mint products & I have… Read more »
Major D
Yes, for sure, the high numbers & higher costs of the ASEs is a “bummer”…I do not like the new reverse design with the eagle’s left wing clipped, so I purchased only a couple of each in 2021 just to end my ASE collection. I haven’t purchased anymore since.
NumisdudeTX
Kaiser,
The Mint’s “traditional customer base” you mention is getting much older & not many new, young collectors can afford their products. The Mint needs a new strategy or they will not have a single loyal customer some day.
NumisdudeTX
Kaiser,
With the average age of serious coin collectors in the USA approaching the typical 65 year old retirement age, not to mention recent high inflation on all consumer goods, I too feel the U.S. Mint is in a precarious position.
In the USA our businesses typically have had a 5-year plan on the books, while in Japan for instance, they typically have a 100-year plan – the U.S. Mint would be wise to plan long-term for either fewer customers, or readjust its pricing structure & possibly keep some loyal old-timer customers happy & actively purchasing from them.
NumisdudeTX
Kaiser, That’s a very good synopsis of where the U.S. Mint stands right now for sure. Back in the day, the Mint even struck small denomination coins for other countries on a contract basis during their spare time, because they didn’t offer anywhere near the number of Numismatic Program products they offer now. One time they struck some coins for the China Republic with silver China shipped to San Francisco. And, of course, they struck silver coins at the San Francisco Mint for both our protectorate of The Philippines & for the Kingdom of Hawai’i before we took their sovereign… Read more »
Major D
It is a sad thing for sure! I bought that set for each of my 4 nephews on first day of issue in 2014, & at the time I thought it would sell out fairly quickly because of all the nice items in that boxed set geared toward Young Numismatists – But, it sadly shows how little interest most young kids have in the coin hobby.
NumisdudeTX
Kaiser,
Amen on that idea! They could also give a few sets away to kids at the major coin shows the Mint started attending once again this past January, after a 3-year break during the pandemic. It could be a “loss leader” product, if the kids who get one decide to start collecting coins.
NumisdudeTX