The precious metals declined collectively again on Tuesday, with platinum leading the way with a 2.5% drop. This drop also marked platinum’s lowest finish since October 2022. Palladium did not experience as severe a decline, but it notably closed at its weakest price since the beginning of 2019. While gold and silver saw settlement lows that were less dramatic, both metals recorded their fifth loss in six sessions.
Gold for December delivery shed $10.10, or 0.5%, to settle at $1,959.90 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement was the lowest since July 27.
"The two precious metals [gold and silver] were pressured following surprisingly weak import and export data coming out of China overnight. A rally in the U.S. dollar index and weaker crude oil prices also weighed on the metals today," Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Inc, said in a daily research note.
On the day, gold futures traded between $1,956.50 and $1,972.80. They fell by 0.3% on Monday.
Meanwhile, silver for September gave back 42.5 cents, or 1.8%, closing at $22.807 an ounce. The close was silver’s worst since June 29. Silver futures ranged from $22.72 to $23.26. They dropped 2% on Monday.
In other precious metals prices on Tuesday:
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October platinum declined by $22.70 to $904.20 an ounce, trading between $899.70 and $926.90. The settlement was platinum’s weakest since Oct. 19, 2022.
- Palladium for September delivery fell by $18.10, or 1.5%, to $1,218.10 an ounce, ranging from $1,196.50 and $1,240. The close was palladium’s lowest since Jan. 3, 2019.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2023
On Tuesday, the U.S. Mint published the first bullion sales additions for August. Gains included 823,000 ounces in American Silver Eagles and a combined 15,000 ounces in American Gold Eagles.
The table below presents a breakdown of U.S. Mint bullion products sold, with columns indicating the number of coins sold (not total ounces) during different time periods.
| US Mint Bullion Sales (# of coins) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tuesday / August | May | June | July | 2023 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 8,000 | 60,500 | 35,000 | 41,000 | 674,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 2,000 | 18,000 | 1,000 | 0 | 75,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 2,000 | 32,000 | 4,000 | 0 | 134,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 55,000 | 80,000 | 60,000 | 0 | 440,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 47,000 | 17,000 | 16,500 | 293,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 823,000 | 1,593,000 | 1,482,000 | 209,100,000 | 12,638,000 |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 1,200 | 3,500 | 0 | 12,700 |
When it’s low, buy. When it’s high, sell. Simple. People panic and do rash things.
Silver futures down about 14.5% in 2 weeks. Wow! (Hint to U.S. Mint).
NumisdudeTX
Kaiser,
Then we all need to yell louder at the Mint on this matter.
NumisdudeTX
Seth, Major D-
“None so blind as those who will not see”…or so deaf as those who refuse to hear. Good luck – I suspect things will stay as they are until either A) industrial use of silver pulls enough from the market (solar panels) or B) major monetary collapse (Great Recession redux).