On Friday, three out of four major precious metals advanced, with palladium standing out for its daily loss but more so for its impressive weekly gain of over 5%, which was the highest among the group. Gold, meanwhile, had the weakest performance among the metals for the week.
Up for a second day after hitting a three-week low on Wednesday, gold for December delivery tacked on $13.40, or 0.7%, to settle at $1,946.20 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"Gold and silver are rallying on a wall of worry," Reuters quoted Tai Wong, a New York-based independent metals trader. "The UAW strike looks like it could last some time given what the union is demanding. And the possible govt. shutdown at the end of the month is getting more press," Wong said.
Gold prices inched 0.2% higher this week after having fallen by 1.2% last week. On Wednesday, gold marked its lowest settlement since August 22, trading at $1,932.50 an ounce. In terms of year-to-date performance, the value of the yellow metal has risen by 6.6%.
Looking to the week ahead, Kitco News offers the following forecasts via their Wall Street vs. Main Street surveys:
"This week, 12 Wall Street analysts participated in the Kitco News Gold Survey, and their predictions were evenly distributed, with four experts each, or 33%, expecting gold prices to be bullish, bearish and unchanged during the week ending September 22.
Meanwhile, 415 votes were cast in online polls. Of these, 180 respondents, or 43%, looked for gold to rise next week. Another 156, or 38%, expected it would be lower, while 79 voters, or 19%, were neutral in the near term."
Snapping a two-session losing streak, silver for December delivery jumped 39.2 cents, or 1.7%, closing at a price of $23.386 an ounce. This daily gain resulted in a weekly increase of 0.9% after prices tumbled 5.7% last week. Year to date, silver prices have declined by 2.7%.
In other precious metals, both on Friday and for the week:
-
October platinum added $18.40, or 2%, to end at $929.50 an ounce, increasing its weekly gain to 3.9%.
- Palladium for December delivery shed $2.10, or 0.2%, to finish at $1,252.70 an ounce, trimming its weekly increase to 5.1%.
Reviewing their performance since the beginning of the year, platinum has declined by 14.2%, whereas palladium has dropped by 30.3%.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2023
On Thursday and Friday, U.S. Mint bullion sales remained unchanged. They advanced for the first time this week on Wednesday, with increases of 20,500 ounces in American Gold Eagles, 1,500 ounces in American Gold Buffalos, and 785,000 ounces in American Silver Eagles.
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 | Last Week | This Week | July | August | September | 2023 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 3,500 | 8,500 | 41,000 | 78,000 | 12,000 | 756,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 10,000 | 0 | 2,000 | 10,000 | 85,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 22,000 | 0 | 2,000 | 22,000 | 156,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 20,000 | 15,000 | 0 | 150,000 | 35,000 | 570,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 14,000 | 1,500 | 16,500 | 19,500 | 15,500 | 328,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 717,000 | 785,000 | 209,100,000 | 3,124,000 | 1,502,000 | 16,441,000 |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12,700 |
Kaiser Wilhelm, talk about not giving any love to that “other” Precious Metal? As a side note, how about our friend, “unobtanium”, better known as Rhodium. Rhodium – Down 318% Not too many(1?) Rhodium coins out there and none by our US Mint, however I thought I’d add since it’s one of the Big 4, listed daily on Kitco and probably others. Talk about losing big time on a 1oz Rhodium coin, depending on purchase/sale date? Or a windfall possibly, if one’s timing lined up appropriately? 2018 would have been the time to buy and 2021 the time to have… Read more »
Kaiser Wilhelm said, previous thread: “I know, CaliSkier; hasn’t this edit malfunction kind of worn out its (un)welcome?“
Indeed, indeed…LOL Nice choice & appropriate meme. Perhaps, Jeff and yourself are correct in your deduction, that this may be an “Intentional Speedbump” placed to make sure, that you(we) “Check Yo Self(ourselves), before you(we): “Wreckity, Wreck, Wreck.. Yourself”? Ice Cube LOL As Jeff pointed out, even if you check for typos multiple times, invariably one still usually sneaks through. Oh well most of us can tell or interpret what was meant, regardless?
While we patiently wait for the “Edit Function Service Person”(hopefully person isn’t offended, LOL) to arrive in addition to a new article Monday from our friends here at CoinNews, let’s talk coins, shall we? Granted the Mint has shown negative sales the past 2(?) sales reports for the AWQ’s PDS Jovita Idar 3-roll sets, it’s really hard to fathom how these numbers are actually related and computable: sales, negative sales, over the product limit(at one point PDS Eleanor Roosevelt’s were) at the product limit, Currently Unavailable, “No Orders Before Sale Date Will Be Accepted, yet you can subscribe and there’s… Read more »
Kaiser Wilhelm, perhaps you should draw up a contract to, pitch the US Mint, so that each return must go through AVS inspection, then AVS stickered, prior to being accepted back into US Mint Inventory? Just saying…. Ripe for the picking! LOL the consumer pays you $10 and you get $25 per the US Mint inspection fee you get them to agree to? I know it’s less than the original business plan, however this would just be an additional avenue of play? What do you say?
CaliSkier,
Y’all propose an interesting business model for sure! Lol.
I would like to be a U.S. Mint contract private vendor in this plan…I will accept anyone’s Mint products in their original Mint packaging & original mailing box at my address & will inspect the coins/medals & packaging and then put an AVS sticker on the box. Just send your Mint items to me at: AVS, LLC, P.O. Box 666, Cayman Islands…or call my toll-free customer service number at:800-RipMeOff… Operators are standing by to take your money! Lol.
NumisdudeTX