Gold, silver and platinum dropped together for a fifth straight session on Friday. Palladium also ended lower after rising on Thursday. All the metals plunged on the week. Gold’s and platinum’s weekly declines were their first in five weeks.
On Friday, gold for December delivery shed $8.30, or 0.5%, to settle at $1,762.90 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement was the lowest since July 27.
Gold fell 2.9% this week following four weekly gains that had lifted prices by a combined $111.90, or 6.6%. Gold prices are 3.6% lower on the year to date.
In looking ahead to next week, Kitco News offers the following forecasts via their Wall Street & Main Street surveys:
"Kitco’s weekly gold survey results revealed that Wall Street is now bearish on gold prices next week. Out of 11 analysts participating in the survey, 55% expect prices to fall, 27% are neutral, and only 18% are calling for prices to move higher.
The Main Street side remained bullish for next week. Out of 709 retail participants, 46% projected higher prices, 35% called for a move lower, and 19% were neutral, Kitco’s survey showed."
Elsewhere, silver for September delivery gave back 39.5 cents, or 2%, to settle at $19.069 an ounce. Like for gold, the finish was silver’s weakest since July 27. Silver prices plunged 7.9% this week after rising 2.5% last week. They are 18.3% lower on the year.
In PGM futures on Friday and for the week:
-
October platinum dropped $16.90, or 1.9%, to end at $888 an ounce, for a 7.4% weekly loss. The precious metal previously scored four consecutive weekly gains that had driven prices higher by a total of $128.50, or 15.5%.
- Palladium for September delivery lost $18, or 0.8%, to end at $2,131.40 an ounce, for a 4% weekly decline.
Both remained divided on the year so far with platinum 8.1% lower and palladium 11.5% higher.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2022
Published United States Mint bullion sales were unchanged on Friday. 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) | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Friday | Last Week | This Week | May | June | July | August | 2022 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 21,000 | 6,000 | 164,500 | 31,000 | 59,500 | 27,000 | 712,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 1,000 | 0 | 7,000 | 6,000 | 5,000 | 1,000 | 72,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 2,000 | 0 | 8,000 | 18,000 | 2,000 | 2,000 | 132,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 15,000 | 0 | 50,000 | 135,000 | 20,000 | 15,000 | 540,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 6,500 | 4,500 | 56,000 | 21,500 | 39,500 | 11,000 | 310,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 408,000 | 17,000 | 1,350,000 | 925,000 | 850,000 | 425,000 | 11,981,500 |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 1,000 | 0 | 0 | 23,500 | 15,500 | 1,000 | 80,000 |
I feel your pain, Sir Kaiser. Next week may be a rough one for silver and gold, with next Thursday, August 25th being a gold and silver precious metal option expiration on the Comex.
Almost sounds like T. rex teens fighting and disfiguring each other.
Yes, but a Euro is finally equal to a U.S. $
Do you think the Euro did this? I have a 100 ECU silver coin from France. It’s worth quite a bit more than when I first bought it some years ago. One of the better purchases I made. It started out as a curiosity for me and has turned into an investment. You never know, you know?
Maybe it was a 15 ECU.
Sir Kaiser, Besides the routine ordering online and by phone on release day, there were 3 other sources of sales: The American Liberty Silver Medal is part of the Authorized Bulk Purchase Program and is available to Authorized Bulk (AB) purchasers; This product is also available at the Mint’s sales centers at the Philadelphia Mint, the Denver Mint, and from the Mint Headquarters Coin Store in Washington, DC; This product was also sold at the American Numismatic Association’s World’s Fair of Money, Aug. 16 to 20 in Rosemont, Illinois. The mintage and product limit = 75,000. I wonder what the… Read more »
Major D and Sir Kaiser, According to this March 19, 2021 US Mint News Press Release, United States Mint Announces New Authorized Bulk Purchase Program: “The United States Mint (Mint) is committed to improving the distribution of our Numismatic coin products. As part of this ongoing effort, the Mint has established a new Authorized Bulk Purchase Program (ABPP), which permits qualifying bulk purchasers to purchase a limited number of numismatic Mint products prior to their official on-sale date under an active embargo agreement allowing their resale only on or after the Mint’s official on-sale date, time, and conditions, such as household… Read more »
Yes, Major, all these (other) sales will be accounted for in the total sales figures for the individual item #22DB, unlike Bulk – 40 coins (e.g., Bulk 40 Proof and Uncirculated Silver Eagles) which are assigned and sold under a separate item #.
Sir Kaiser and Major D, the old strategy used by the Mint in the past for instances like this was called Back Order: When products are in “Back Order” status, this means that the product is available for sale, however there is no inventory in stock and a future ship date is displayed on our website. Products in this status can still be ordered online or through the Customer Contact Center.
Major, perhaps a better example for comparison are the other two One Ounce American Liberty Silver Medals, the 2016-S & 2016-W American Liberty Silver Medal and the 2017-P American Liberty 225th Anniversary Silver Medal. The 2016-S and 2016-W American Liberty Silver Medal original Mint sale price was $34.95 each and are selling today (at APMEX) for $180 (2016-S) and $190 (2016-W). The 2017-P American Liberty Silver Medal original Mint sale price was $59.95 and is selling today (at APMEX) for $200 (all ungraded in US Mint OGP/COA).
Major D, Here are the associated final mintage figures for the 2016 and 2017 American Liberty Silver Medals:
2016-S = 12,176 (mintage limit = 12,500)
2016-W = 12,183 (mintage limit = 12,500)
2017-P = 55,187 (mintage limit = none)
Major, just came across this online dealer offer the new 2022 American Liberty Silver Medal:
2022-P Proof American Liberty Silver Medal w/Box & COA sale price = $145.00 .