Precious metals moved in the same direction Wednesday as they did Tuesday with gold and palladium rising and silver and platinum falling. Gold’s gain was its fifth in a row, and the yellow metal marked another three-week high.
Gold for August delivery climbed $7.90, or 0.4%, to settle at $1,802.10 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement was the highest since June 16 when gold ended at $1,861.40 an ounce.
"Rising uncertainty around monetary policies, inflation and increasing risk of equity market volatility should favor safe-haven gold demand," ANZ analysts said in a note reported by Reuters.
"Central banks have increased gold purchases in recent months, offsetting some of the physical demand losses in Q2 2021."
Gold futures ranged from a low of $1,794.10 to a high of $1,810.20. They rose 0.6% in the start to the trading week on Tuesday.
Silver for September delivery shed 4.5 cents, or 0.2%, to end at $26.129 an ounce. Silver futures traded between $26.17 and $26.55. They fell 1.2% on Tuesday.
In PGM futures on Wednesday:
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October platinum edged down $2.10, or 0.2%, to $1,081.90 an ounce, ranging from $1,071 to $1,100.
- Palladium for September delivery tacked on $52.20, or 1.9%, to $2,848.30 an ounce, trading between $2,771.50 and $2,869.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2021
The United States Mint on Wednesday published American Eagle bullion sales for the first time in over three weeks. Changes included adjustments to sales in June and July.
Below is a sales breakdown of U.S. Mint bullion products with columns listing the number of coins sold during varying periods.
| US Mint Bullion Sales (# of coins) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wednesday / July | Last Week | March Sales | April Sales | May | June | 2021 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 26,000 | 0 | 55,500 | 38,500 | 20,500 | 158,000* | 610,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15,000* | 46,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 20,000 | 0 | 0 | 30,000* | 86,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 55,000 | 0 | 0 | 90,000* | 240,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 6,500 | 0 | 33,500 | 11,000 | 44,000 | 27,500 | 200,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 849,000 | 0 | 4,087,000 | 1,053,000 | 0 | 2,800,000* | 16,755,500 |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 35,000 | 0 | 40,000 | 0 | 75,000 |
| Tuskegee Airmen 5 oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | N/A | 50,000 | 2,900 | 0 | 52,900 |
*The U.S. Mint adjusted June sales of American Gold Eagles with 1oz coins to 158,000 from 4,000; 1/2oz coins to 15,000 from 0; 1/4oz coins to 30,000 from 0 and 1/10oz coins to 90,000 from 0. The agency also lifted June sales of American Silver Eagles to 2.8 million from 0.
Sir Kaiser, I am also trying to interpret the newly updated US Mint American Eagle Bullion sales totals by month for 2021 (as referenced above, “United States Mint on Wednesday published American Eagle bullion sales for the first time in over three weeks“), which were first published Tuesday, July 6th on the Mint’s web site. I think the confusion stems from the Mint not discerning between 2021 Type 1 and Type 2 bullion American Eagles. I understand the mint began selling the Type 2 Gold and Silver Eagle bullion coins the last week of June, so the newly added sales… Read more »
Indeed Sir Kaiser… I was able to learn the following from the Mint Bullion Sales department: The “adjusted” June sales figures and the July sales figures for the One Ounce Silver American Eagle (SAE) Bullion coins published on July 6th were all for the new Type 2 reverse design version. That is, 2,800,000 2021 Type 2 SAE bullion coins were sold in June and 849,000 have been sold so far in July (as of 07/08/2021). Therefore, 13,106,500 2021 $1 SAE Type 1 bullion coins were sold in 2021 (January – May) and 3,649,000 2021 $1 SAE Type 2 bullion coins… Read more »
Yes Sir Kaiser, the 2021 One Ounce Silver American Eagle – Type2 uncirculated bullion coins distributed by the Mint through the network of Authorized Purchasers (wholesalers, precious metal firms, coin dealers and brokerage companies) over the past two weeks are now being sold to the public (from online dealers) as available in stock for the ungraded coins and as pre-sale for the PCGS/NGC graded coins. Whereas the Collector/Numismatic Grade 2021-W Type 2 Proof American Silver Eagle coins are only being sold on a pre-sale basis (ungraded and graded) by the online dealers due to Mint’s revised launch schedule and delayed… Read more »