Precious metals divided Thursday with gold and platinum falling and silver and palladium rising. Gold’s loss was just its second in eleven sessions.
Gold for August delivery — the new, most-active contract — lost $5.30, or 0.3%, to settle at $1,898.50 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"The story for gold remains that it’s not getting sold off hard after a big run. It remains firm," MarketWatch quoted Peter Spina, president and chief executive officer at GoldSeek.com.
Gold futures ranged from a low of $1,890.80 to a high of $1,906.50. They gained 0.2% on Wednesday — for their highest close since Jan. 7, they rose 0.7% on Tuesday, and they moved ahead 0.4% on Monday.
Silver for July delivery added 6.3 cents, or 0.2%, to settle at $27.94 an ounce. Silver futures traded between $27.57 and $27.99. They declined 0.6% on Wednesday, they finished up 0.5% on Tuesday and they tacked on 1.5% on Monday.
In other precious metals prices Thursday:
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July platinum finished down $21.10, or 1.8%, to $1,179.10 an ounce, ranging from $1,171.10 to $1,200.70.
- Palladium for September delivery — the new, most-active contract — advanced $57.80, or 2.1%, to $2,810.50 an ounce, trading between $2,733 and $2,847.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2021
Published U.S. Mint bullion sales increased Thursday by 3,000 ounces in American Buffalo 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) | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thursday | Last Week | This Week | February Sales | March Sales | April Sales | May | 2021 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 18,500 | 2,000 | 121,000 | 55,500 | 38,500 | 20,500 | 426,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9,000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 31,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20,000 | 0 | 0 | 56,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 55,000 | 0 | 0 | 150,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 3,000 | 31,000 | 13,000 | 16,000 | 33,500 | 11,000 | 44,000 | 166,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3,191,500 | 4,087,000 | 1,053,000 | 0 | 13,106,500 |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 26,400 | 13,600 | N/A | 35,000 | 0 | 40,000 | 75,000 |
| Tuskegee Airmen 5 oz Silver Coin | 0 | 2,900 | 0 | N/A | N/A | 50,000 | 2,900 | 52,900 |
