Safe-haven demand continued to support gold Tuesday as prices advanced for a fourth straight session to log a fresh three-week high.
Gold for April delivery gained $6.70, or 0.4%, to finish at $1,611.30 an ounce on the Comex in New York. The close was the highest since February 26. Gold traded from a daily low of $1,599.00 to a high of $1,615.00.
Cyprus debt woes remained in focus Tuesday after the country’s parliament rejected a proposal to tax bank deposits.
"They rejected this version of the plan, but presumably there will be something else forthcoming. So, the genie is still out of the box in that your bank account is not necessarily secure and that is broadly supportive of gold," Reuters quoted Peter Buchanan, commodity analyst at CIBC World Markets, Toronto.
Gold has climbed in eight of the last nine sessions.
Snapping a two-session winning streak, silver for May delivery shed 3.1 cents, or 0.1%, to $28.843 an ounce. Prices ranged from $28.62 to $29.09.
PGMs continued lower Tuesday:
-
April platinum lost $23.80, or 1.5%, to $1,555.40 an ounce, trading between $1,549.80 and $1,584.90.
- Palladium for June delivery plunged $29.65, or 3.9%, to $735.20 an ounce, trading between $727.30 and $766.65.
London Precious Metals
Changes were narrow Tuesday for precious metals in London. In contrasting the Monday PM to Tuesday PM London Fix prices:
- Gold added $7.00, or 0.4%, to $1,610.75 an ounce,
- Silver tacked on 5.0 cents, or 0.2%, to $28.85 an ounce,
- Platinum lost $1.00, or 0.1%, to $1,579.00 an ounce, and
- Palladium declined $4.00, or 0.5%, to $761.00 an ounce
US Bullion Coin Sales in March
U.S. Mint coin sales were wider Tuesday but leaned modest. Two gold bullion products advanced on the day to account for gold coin sales of 2,500 ounces. The Mint’s American Silver Eagles also rose, up 54,000. The silver bullion coins topped 13 million for the year on Monday, a level never seen by March.
Current sales for each of the U.S. Mint’s bullion products follow.
| American Eagle and Buffalo Bullion Coin Sales | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tuesday Sales | Last Week | Week-To-Date | March Sales | YTD Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle Gold Coins | 2,000 | 7,500 | 2,000 | 31,500 | 224,000 |
| $25 American Eagle Gold Coins | 0 | 1,000 | 0 | 3,000 | 25,000 |
| $10 American Eagle Gold Coins | 0 | 2,000 | 0 | 6,000 | 42,000 |
| $5 American Eagle Gold Coins | 0 | 10,000 | 0 | 20,000 | 200,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo Gold Coins | 500 | 1,000 | 500 | 7,000 | 91,000 |
| American Silver Eagle Coins | 64,000 | 814,500 | 692,000 | 2,413,500 | 13,270,000 |
| America the Beautiful 5 Oz. Silver Bullion Coin Sales | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tuesday Sales | Last Week | Week-To-Date | March Sales | All-Time Sales | |
| 2012 El Yunque National Forest 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | Sold Out | 0 | 24,000 | ||
| 2012 Chaco Culture National Historical Park 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 600 | 24,400 | |||
| 2012 Acadia National Park 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 25,400 | |||
| 2012 Hawai’i Volcanoes 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 20,000 | |||
| 2012 Denali National Park 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 20,000 | |||
| 2011 Olympic National Park 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 104,900 |
| 2011 Vicksburg National Military Park 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10,400 | 58,100 |
| 2011 Chickasaw Park 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8,800 | 48,700 |
| TOTAL | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19,800 | 325,500 |
All bullion figures above are in the number of coins sold. Calculate total ounces by using the bullion coin’s weight.
Thanks for your fine articles. I wish there were more frequent reports on US Mint numismatic coins. Also, when you have articles that contain numismatic reports, perhaps hat word could be in the title? Or am I missing an easy way to locate numismatic figures?
Thanks!