Precious metals kicked off the new trading week on Tuesday with gains ranging from 0.4% for gold to 1.5% for palladium. U.S. markets closed Monday for Presidents Day. Gold ended the day at another, more than 8.5-month high.
Gold for April delivery rose $7.60 to settle at $1,907.40 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement was the highest since June 2 when gold ended at $1,909.90 an ounce.
"Bulls have the solid overall near-term technical advantage. Prices are in a steep uptrend on the daily bar chart. Bulls’ next upside price objective is to produce a close above solid resistance at the May 2021 high of $1,922.40. Bears’ next near-term downside price objective is pushing futures prices below solid technical support at $1,850.00," Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Inc, said in a daily research note.
Gold futures traded between $1,889.70 and $1,918.30. They shot up 3.1% last week.
Silver for March delivery tacked on 31.9 cents, or 1.3%, to finish at $24.311 an ounce. The settlement was the highest since Jan. 21 when silver finished at $24.32 an ounce. Silver futures traded between $23.71 and $24.39. They advanced 2.7% last week.
In other precious metals prices on Tuesday:
-
April platinum added $9.20, or 0.9%, to $1,086 an ounce, ranging from $1,069.80 to $1,095.90.
- Palladium for March delivery gained $33.90 to $2,371.80 an ounce, trading between $2,301 and $2,437.
Last week, platinum surged 5.7% and palladium soared 6.6%.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2022
Published United States Mint bullion sales increased on Tuesday by 500,000 ounces in American Silver Eagles, a combined 18,000 ounces in American Eagle and Buffalo gold coins, and the first increase this year for American Platinum Eagles which advanced 25,300 ounces.
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) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tuesday / This Week | Last Week | January | February | 2022 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 13,000 | 10,500 | 123,500 | 44,500 | 168,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 45,000 | 0 | 45,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 2,000 | 0 | 64,000 | 4,000 | 68,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 5,000 | 195,000 | 15,000 | 210,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 4,500 | 6,500 | 61,500 | 16,500 | 78,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 500,000 | 480,500 | 5,001,000 | 1,480,500 | 6,481,500 |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 25,300 | N/A | N/A | 25,300 | 25,300 |
| $25 American Eagle 1 Oz Palladium Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tuskegee Airmen 5 oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
I’m new to this, so I don’t understand. When I see ~6.5MM ASE coins sold in 2022, I’m confused. How have there already been ASE sales when the earliest release date isn’t until April? And ~6.5MM coins seems like A LOT more than mintage limits? Help me understand oh wise ones.