Precious metals lacked a lot of change Thursday. Platinum edged lower while silver, gold and palladium gained. Gold and silver each closed at more than two-week highs.
Gold for February delivery rose $5.70, or 0.4%, to settle at $1,484.40 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement was the highest since Dec. 3.
"The gold market has lacked definitive direction this week as safe haven issues have been moderated at the same time that some signs of demand have surfaced, thereby limiting the market in both directions," analysts at Zaner Metals wrote in a daily note reported by MarketWatch.
Gold futures ranged from a low of $1,477.10 to a high of $1,485.80. They shed 0.1% on Wednesday, they edged 0.01% higher on Tuesday, and they dipped 0.05% on Monday.
Silver for March delivery climbed 10.5 cents, or 0.6%, to close at $17.154 an ounce. The settlement was also the highest since Dec. 3. Silver futures traded between $16.95 and $17.18. They lost 0.1% on Wednesday, they declined 0.2% on Tuesday, and they rose 0.6% on Monday.
In other precious metals futures prices Thursday:
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January platinum dipped 20 cents, or 0.02%, to $935.50 an ounce, ranging from $928.20 to $941.40.
- Palladium for March delivery added $4.80, or 0.3%, to $1,901 an ounce, trading between $1,887 and $1,912.40. On Monday, they settled at a record of $1,963.60 an ounce.
London Precious Metals Prices
In comparing earlier fixed LBMA gold and silver prices from Wednesday PM to Thursday PM:
- Gold rose $2.65, or 0.2%, to $1,476.70 an ounce.
- Silver fell 5.5 cents, or 0.3%, to $16.94 an ounce.
US Mint 2019 Bullion Sales
United States Mint bullion sales were unchanged. Below is a sales breakdown of U.S. Mint 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) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thursday | Last Week | This Week | November | December | 2019 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 1,500 | 8,000 | 2,000 | 108,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5,000 | 0 | 30,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2,000 | 0 | 38,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 195,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 1,500 | 5,000 | 1,500 | 61,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 463,000 | 0 | 14,863,500 |
| Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20,000 | 5,000 | 25,000 |
| San Antonio Missions 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 55,200 |
| War in the Pacific 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 72,500 |
| American Memorial Park 5 Oz Silver Coin* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 80,000 |
| Lowell 5 Oz Silver Coin* | N/A | 80,000 | ||||
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin* | N/A | 40,000 | ||||
Do you believe in conspiracies? Still no report since 11/3 production report. Sure would like to see 11/10 report which we may never see. Since we know several “W” quarters were released early was the enhanced $ released before 11/14 too? Someone said that the mint stated it was because of openings/reassignments but what is worse early releases or not knowing what they sold? Six weeks with no report makes me wonder especially when the mint has said they stopped a “bots” hack on the coin!
Chuck, the Mint sent me some numismatic product sales stats as of the 16th. I’ll published an article with them in a few hours. They expect to resume publication of their weekly sales report in January.