Gold and Silver End Around 21-Week Lows

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Gold and Silver Bullion
Gold and silver futures lost ground on Monday while platinum and palladium gained

Precious metals were mixed Monday. Gold and silver futures closed only slightly lower. Both, however, settled at about 21-week lows.

Gold for February delivery dipped $1.50, or 0.1%, to close at $1,246.90 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement is the weakest since July 20 when prices ended at $1,245.50 an ounce.

"Speculators, having positioned themselves for a break [for gold] above $1,300 per ounce, got wrong-footed on a combination of a U.S. tax deal moving closer and the stronger dollar," MarketWatch quoted Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank, capturing the recent decline.

Gold futures traded from a low of $1,242.40 to a high of $1,253.40. They fell 2.6% last week.

Elsewhere, silver for March delivery declined 3.8 cents, or 0.2%, to settle at $15.785 an ounce. The close is the lowest since July 13 when prices ended at $15.691 an ounce. Silver futures ranged from $15.70 to $15.91. They dropped 3.5% last week.

In other precious metals prices:

  • January platinum gained $9.10, or 1%, to $892.80 an ounce, trading between $883.70 and $893.30.

  • Palladium for March delivery added $2.35, or 0.2%, to $998.75 an ounce, ranging from $993.25 and $1,002.

Last week, platinum plunged 6.1% and palladium fell 2%.

London Precious Metals Prices

In comparing earlier fixed London gold and silver prices from Friday PM to Monday PM:

  • Gold declined $3.50, or 0.3%, to 1,247.15 an ounce.
  • Silver rose a penny, or less than 0.1%, to $15.835 an ounce.

LBMA platinum and palladium prices are available on the LBMA’s website with a delay of midnight.

Last week, London bullion prices posted losses reaching 2% for gold, 3.6% for silver, 4.5% for platinum and 0.7% for palladium.

US Mint Bullion Sales in 2017

United States Mint bullion sales soared with gold coins advancing by a total of 33,500 ounces and silver coins rising by 622,000 ounces. The one- day of gains for gold coins was nearly more than their advances in the last two months combined.

Below is a sales breakdown of U.S. bullion products with columns listing the number of coins sold during varying periods. Products with an asterisk (*) are no longer available.

US Mint Bullion Sales (# of coins)
Monday Last Week November December YTD
$100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin 0 0 0 0 20,000
$25 American Eagle 1 Oz Palladium Coin* 0 0 0 0 15,000
$50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin 21,000 0 9,500 21,000 211,500
$25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin 3,000 0 2,000 3,000 37,000
$10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin 4,000 0 2,000 4,000 64,000
$5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin 15,000 10,000 10,000 25,000 395,000
$50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin 8,500 1,000 2,000 9,500 95,000
$1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin 622,000 120,000 385,000 742,000 18,065,500
2017 Effigy Mounds 5 Oz Silver Coin 0 0 0 0 35,000
2017 Frederick Douglass 5 Oz Silver Coin 0 0 0 0 20,000
2017 Ozark Riverways 5 Oz Silver Coin 0 0 0 0 20,000
2017 Ellis Island 5 Oz Silver Coin* 0 0 0 0 40,000
2017 George Rogers Clark 5 Oz Silver Coin 0 0 32,400 0 32,400
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