Precious metals posted sharp declines in pre-holiday trading Wednesday. Markets in the U.S. are closed Thursday for the Thanksgiving holiday but they re-open on Friday.
Gold for December delivery fell $21.90, or 1.8%, to end at $1,189.30 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement is the lowest since Feb. 5 when prices ended at $1,157.70 an ounce.
"Gold prices ended the U.S. day session solidly lower, hit a nine-month low and fell below key chart support at $1,200.00 Wednesday," Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Metals Inc., said in a report. "A higher U.S. dollar index today was a major bearish outside market force working against the precious metals market bulls."
"The bearish near-term technical postures for gold and silver markets also invited more chart-based selling," Wyckoff added.
Gold futures ranged from a low of $1,181.20 to a high of $1,214.70. In the previous session, they rose 0.1%. They edged up less than 0.1% on Monday.
Ending lower for the fifth time in six sessions, silver for December delivery dropped 24.1 cents, or 1.5%, to finish at $16.391 an ounce. The close is the weakest since June 3 when silver ended at $16.365 an ounce. Silver futures ranged from $16.15 to $16.73. On Tuesday, they moved up 0.7%.
In other precious metals dealings:
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January platinum lost $11.90, or 1.3%, to $931.10 an ounce, trading between $919 and $946.70.
- Palladium for December delivery fell $6.85, or 0.9%, to $737.40 an ounce, ranging from $723.70 to $744.85.
London Precious Metals Prices
In comparing earlier fixed London bullion prices from Tuesday PM to Wednesday PM:
- Gold declined $26.90, or 2.2%, to $1,185.35 an ounce.
- Silver fell 20 cents, or 1.2%, to $16.56 an ounce.
LBMA platinum and palladium prices are available on the LBMA’s website with a delay of midnight.
US Mint Bullion Coin Sales in 2016
United States Mint bullion sales advanced on Wednesday by 11,000 ounces in American Eagle and Buffalo gold coins and by 165,000 ounces in America Silver Eagles.
Below is a sales breakdown of U.S. Mint bullion coins with columns listing the number of bullion coins sold during varying periods Products with an asterisk (*) are no longer available.
| US Mint Bullion Sales (# of coins) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wednesday Sales | Last Week | This Week | Oct Sales | Nov Sales | 2016 Sales | |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coins* | – | 20,000 | ||||
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coins | 9,500 | 39,000 | 16,500 | 100,500 | 91,000 | 756,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 8,000 | 6,000 | 70,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 2,000 | 2,000 | 16,000 | 14,000 | 146,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 55,000 | 0 | 75,000 | 80,000 | 860,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coins | 1,500 | 11,500 | 2,000 | 28,500 | 22,000 | 199,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coins | 165,000 | 1,551,000 | 690,000 | 3,825,000 | 2,886,000 | 37,286,500 |
| 2016 Shawnee 5 Oz Silver Coins* | – | 105,000 | ||||
| 2016 Cumberland Gap 5 Oz Silver Coins* | – | 75,000 | ||||
| 2016 Harpers Ferry 5 Oz Silver Coins | 0 | 300 | 1,200 | 200 | 1,500 | 38,000 |
| 2016 Theodore Roosevelt 5 Oz Silver Coins | 0 | 2,300 | 6,000 | 3,100 | 8,600 | 41,200 |
| 2016 Fort Moultrie 5 Oz Silver Coins | 0 | 24,800 | 6,000 | – | 30,800 | 30,800 |
Gold is tanking! Happy Thanksgiving everyone.
-NumisDudeTX
Yet another reason not to buy the over-priced Walking Liberty Half Dollar. For that price, I’d much rather have a silver MS 65 1938-D example.
Aww, don’t rub it in Tim. I feel bad enough already. That’s why I’m thinking there will be some “returns” for the gold Walker. Waiting out the lower gold price.
Hope silver keeps dropping for the new year so the new silver eagles will be under $20 each…. last 2 years I bought them from govmint.com for $17.95 each…
Seth – Notice that as the Gold price tanks, so do Gold coin sales (of the highest weight, anyway).
Gold will not tank indefinitely. A savvy investor could purchase today, then sell in a few month’s time when Gold climbs back up to where it was just a few months ago. Wish I had the funds to do this right now, but since I don’t – I will just dispense of free advice instead.
Happy Thanksgiving
-Mammoth