Palladium aside, prices of precious metals changed little at the start of the new trading week on Tuesday, following a break on Monday for Christmas.
Rising for a third session in a row, gold for February delivery inched up 70 cents, or 0.03%, to settle at $2,069.80 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement was the highest since gold marked a record close of $2,089.70 an ounce on Dec. 1.
Gold futures traded between $2,065.10 and $2,076.30. They increased by 1.6% last week.
Falling for a third consecutive session, silver for March delivery gave back 16.9 cents, or 0.7%, to end at $24.396 an ounce. Silver futures ranged from $24.34 to $24.70. They increase by 1.7% last week.
In other precious metals prices on Tuesday:
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April platinum — the new, most-active contract — climbed by $1.90, or 0.2%, to $995.60 an ounce, trading between $987.50 and $1,001.60.
- Palladium for March delivery fell by $34.30, or 2.8%, to $1,189.40 an ounce, ranging from $1,185.50 to $1,227.50.
Last week, platinum advanced by 3.1%, while palladium rose by 1.8%.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2023
On Friday, Dec. 15, the U.S. Mint published new bullion sales data, including updated figures for November and the first figures for December, with no further changes published since then.
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) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October | November | December | 2023 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 97,000 | 40,000 | 12,500 | 921,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 7,000 | 6,000 | 1,000 | 102,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 18,000 | 16,000 | 0 | 198,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 30,000 | 55,000 | 10,000 | 670,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 36,500 | 14,000 | 12,500 | 394,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 3,938,000 | 2,378,000 | 368,000 | 24,593,000 |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12,700 |
