Monthly Archives: June 2011

While still impressively high, demand for American Gold Eagle bullion coins weakened in May 2011, according to finalized monthly sales figures from the United States Mint.

Sales were modestly slower than the previous month, and down significantly from the levels of a year ago -- although May 2010 happened to be a gigantic month as gold bullion sales reached their highest point since June 1999 [...]

Precious metals opened under selling pressure as the midweek trading session got underway this morning. The losses ranged from $12.20 per ounce in spot gold (opening at $1,532.50) to almost $1 in silver (trading at $36.21 per ounce on the open). Declines were also noted in platinum (it fell $22 to start at $1,811.00 per ounce) and palladium (it dropped $11 to the $796.00 mark).

Sentiment in the complex was largely similar to the goings-on in crude oil (it fell nearly 1% to $98.00), copper (it lost 2.5% this morning), and assorted other base metals. Black gold fell [...]

U.S. gold prices edged lower Tuesday, breaking away from a string of two session gains. Prices were little changed following Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's comments about a slowing in the American economy. Bernanke gave no indication as to whether interest rates would be raised or further monetary stimulus attempted to bolster the economy.

"Everybody was looking for some concrete proposal but his (Ben Bernanke's) speech is pretty vague right now. That's one of the reasons why [...]

One of the United States Mint's most popular coins will be hitting the streets on Thursday, June 30 -- the 2011 Proof American Silver Eagle.

The silver coin market has been fierce, and this year's coin will cost more as a result. The 2010 Proof Silver Eagle had a price tag of $45.95, but the price of silver then was around $22 per ounce as compared to about $37 an ounce today. Subsequently, the US Mint indicated that it will offer the 2011 Proof Silver Eagle for a price of [...]

The Numismatic Guaranty Corporation (NGC) on Tuesday announced that it will certify San Francisco minted Silver Eagles. The San Francisco struck bullion coin was introduced just one week ago by the United States Mint.

NGC will designate such coins with a label reading "Struck at San Francisco Mint." Additionally, the label will have the "S" mintmark in parentheses next to the coin's date.

San Francisco is no stranger to the American Silver Eagle bullion coin, but the U.S. Mint's facility in California had not produced them in more than a decade. In an attempt to help [...]

The Perth Mint of Australia has launched four 2011 Australian Koala Gold Proof Coins, marking a 4th annual appearance in a series that is dedicated to the marsupial native to that country.

Koalas have appeared on collectible coins from The Perth Mint for several years now. The companion silver koala series debuted in 2007. Realizing the popularity of the creature and their inclusion on precious metal legal tender coinage, the Mint released the first gold proof coins the following year [...]

U.S. gold prices rose Monday, marking a second straight day of gains. Silver advanced 1.6 percent, its best pick-up in nearly two weeks and its first in four sessions. Safe-haven buying over economic concerns was a factor analysts pegged in driving demand for the precious metals.

August gold prices rose $4.80, or 0.3 percent, to $1,547.20 an ounce on the Comex in New York. Gold prices hit an intraday low of $1,541.60 and a high of $1,553.40 [...]

Last month turned out to be the best ever May and the fourth best month in history for United States Mint American Eagle Silver bullion coins.

Despite a United States Mint allocation policy which limits the number of Silver Eagles sold to its distributors through rationing, a total 3,635,500 of the .999 fine silver bullion coins were sold in May 2011. Sales easily exceeded last month's, which came in at 2,819,000 -- a top fifteen all-time month in its own right [...]

The Stack's Bowers Galleries June 2011 Baltimore Auction will feature 7,107 total lots, including more than 4,100 lots of U.S. coins and exonumia and an additional 680+ lots of U.S. currency, plus three foreign coin and paper money sessions by Stack's Bowers and Ponterio, presenting more than 1,700 lots of world coins and 520+ lots of world paper money.

Lot viewing will be conducted by appointment at the firm's Irvine, California, headquarters May 27-June 1, at the firm's New York office June 6-June 9, and onsite at the Baltimore Convention Center June 13-18 [...]

U.S. gold prices settled modestly higher this week, boosted by safe-haven buying on the back of poor U.S. economic data. Gold registered a 0.3 percent weekly gain, ending above $1,542 an ounce.

Other precious metals to advance since last Friday included platinum at 1.3 percent and palladium at 3.1 percent. Silver continued is slide of the last three days and closed with a weekly loss of 4.4 percent [...]