On Monday, prices of precious metals changed only marginally, with modest gains in gold and platinum and slight losses in silver and palladium.
Gold for February delivery edged up by $4.80, or 0.2%, to settle at $2,040.50 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold futures traded between $2,029.50 and $2,048. Prices climbed by 1.1% last week.
Meanwhile, silver for March delivery shed 4.7 cents, or 0.2%, to settle at $24.107 an ounce. Silver futures ranged from $23.95 to $24.36. Last week, prices increased by 3.8%.
In other precious metals prices on Monday:
-
January platinum added $1.70, or 0.2%, to $954.30 an ounce, trading between $944.30 and $964.30.
- Palladium for March delivery edged down by $3, or 0.3%, to $1,199.40 an ounce, ranging from $1,158 to $1,226.50.
Last week, platinum rose by 3.6%, while palladium soared by 26.4%.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2023
On Friday, the U.S. Mint published new bullion sales data, which includes updated figures for November and the initial figures for December. No further changes have been published 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) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October | November | December | 2023 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 97,000 | 40,000 | 12,500 | 921,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 7,000 | 6,000 | 1,000 | 102,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 18,000 | 16,000 | 0 | 198,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 30,000 | 55,000 | 10,000 | 670,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 36,500 | 14,000 | 12,500 | 394,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 3,938,000 | 2,378,000 | 368,000 | 24,593,000 |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12,700 |
