Gold Declines Tues., Feb 16; Platinum Sets Another 6-Year High

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Precious metals divided Tuesday in their start to the new trading week. U.S. markets closed Monday for Presidents Day. Gold and silver declined on the day while platinum and palladium gained. Platinum logged a new, more than six-year settlement high.

Gold for April delivery lost $24.20, or 1.3%, to settle at $1,799 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

"’Risk-on’ trader and investor attitudes and a rebound in the U.S. dollar index today worked against the safe-haven metal," Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Metals Inc., said in a daily research note. "Silver prices are trading just lightly down amid some media and analyst reports that are touting silver as the better investment than gold, at present."

Gold futures ranged from a low of $1,792.30 to a high of $1,827.10. They rose 0.6% last week.

Silver for March delivery dipped less than a half cent to settle at $27.325 an ounce, trading between $26.87 and $28.08. They advanced 1.1% last week, for their fifth straight weekly gain.

In other precious metals futures prices Tuesday:

  • April platinum tacked on $20.60, or 1.6%, to $1,279.60 an ounce, for the highest settlement since Jan. 22, 2015 when the metal ended at $1,284.80 an ounce. Platinum prices ranged from $1,263.10 to $1,348.20.

  • Palladium for March delivery finished up $5.60, or 0.2%, to $2,388.20 an ounce, trading between $2,355 and $2,417.50.

London Precious Metals Prices (LBMA)

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

  • Gold fell $23.05, or 1.3%, to $1,794.25 an ounce.
  • Silver rose a half penny, or 0.02%, to $27.575 an ounce.

US Mint Bullion Sales in 2021

United States Mint bullion sales increased Tuesday by 610,000 ounces in silver coins and 14,500 ounces in gold coins.

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)
Tuesday / This Week Last Week December January Sales February 2021 Sales
$50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin 10,000 37,000 48,500 191,000 111,500 302,500
$25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin 0 0 2,000 22,000 0 22,000
$10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin 0 0 0 36,000 0 36,000
$5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin 0 0 0 95,000 0 95,000
$50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin 4,500 2,500 10,500 61,500 16,000 77,500
$1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin 610,000 500,000 751,000 4,775,000 2,731,000 7,506,000
America Samoa 5 oz Silver Coin* 0 0 0 0 0 0
Weir Farm 5 oz Silver Coin* 0 0 0 0 0 0
Salt River Bay 5 oz Silver Coin* 0 0 0 0 0 0
Marsh Billings 5 oz Silver Coin* 0 0 0 0 0 0
Tallgrass Prairie 5 oz Silver Coin* 0 0 0 0 0 0
$1 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin* 0 0 0 0 0 0
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Kevin Carter

swing and a miss on the website re-design. Can’t easily (or yet) find the once obvious link to US Mint sales of proof and uncirculated Eagles. Don’t really feel like navigating the new site. Also when I hover over certain links, they become unreadable. Example… under coin pricing & collector tools, the pull down menu goes initially from blue print on a white background (readable) to hovering over the category, results in black type on a blue background (completely unreadable)