Palladium declined Friday as gold, silver and platinum gained. All the metals posted robust weekly increases, however. In milestones, platinum ended the day at another two-month high while gold closed at a more than six-week high. The pair have advanced for four straight weeks.
Closing higher for the fifth time in six sessions, gold for December delivery rose $8.30, or 0.5%, to settle at $1,815.50 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement was the best since Jun 29.
“Currently the gold market is seeing some short-covering and is supported by lower yields,” Reuters quoted Bart Melek, head of commodity strategy at TD Securities.
Gold prices tacked on 1.9% this week, lifting their combined four-weekly win total to $111.90, or 6.6%. Before then, the yellow metal had dropped for five straight weeks for a combined loss of $171.90, or 9.2%. Gold prices are now a smidgen, 0.7%, 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 evenly split regarding which direction gold prices will go next week. Out of 11 analysts participating in the survey, only 9% were neutral, 45.5% projected higher prices, and the other 45.5% called for gold to head lower.
The Main Street side remained bullish for next week. Out of 216 retail participants, 42.1% expected higher prices, 28.7% called for a move lower, and 29.2% remained neutral, Kitco’s survey showed."
Elsewhere, silver for September delivery advanced 34.9 cents, or 1.7%, to close at $20.698 an ounce. Silver prices drove 2.5% higher this week after falling 1.8% last week. They are down 11.4% on the year. On Wednesday at $20.742 an ounce, silver finished at its best price since June 29.
In PGM futures on Friday and for the week:
-
October platinum was unchanged at $959.40 an ounce — the best close since June 11. It scored a 7.8% weekly gain. Platinum’s four weeks of increases total $128.50, or 15.5%.
- Palladium for September delivery fell $69, or 3%, to end at $2,219.40 an ounce, but settled 4.2% higher on the week. On Thursday, palladium closed at its strongest price since April 29.
Both remained divided on the year so far with platinum 0.7% lower and palladium 16.1% higher.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2022
Published United States Mint bullion sales were unchanged for a fourth day in a row on Friday after showing gains on Monday for the first time this month.
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 | May | June | July | This Week / August | 2022 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 164,500 | 31,000 | 59,500 | 21,000 | 706,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 7,000 | 6,000 | 5,000 | 1,000 | 72,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 8,000 | 18,000 | 2,000 | 2,000 | 132,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 50,000 | 135,000 | 20,000 | 15,000 | 540,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 56,000 | 21,500 | 39,500 | 6,500 | 305,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 1,350,000 | 925,000 | 850,000 | 408,000 | 11,964,500 |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 23,500 | 15,500 | 1,000 | 80,000 |
Zimbabwe is issuing gold coins. I read a one ounce coin is selling for $1,800. Smaller denominations will be available later this year.
Indeed Sir Kaiser, Zimbabwe’s central bank is hoping these “Mosi-oa-Tunya” gold coins will help solve its inflation problem.
I think it would simply be hyperbole.
I know exactly what it means!
After reading Kaiser Wilhelm’s original comment and the follow ups, I believe skepticism is a closer fit than hyperbole, Larry. I misread or misunderstood a comment about the “S” eagles the other day. I just apologized and moved on. Probably did not need to use the meme though, Kaiser Wilhelm. I was not a big fan when SENZA was using them, either. Ask if it is a positive or negative before including one. SENZAs were always to amplify a negative. This one is more (not much) on the negative side, too. The comment itself was great- Educating, not Decimating. Thanks… Read more »
Antonio,
Would you buy one of these coins from an African ‘country?’ I wonder what odds the Vegas bookies would give on the coins being pure gold. High inflation…there’s more than one way to skin a cat! Personally, I don’t look at the world thru ‘rose coloured glasses.’
One can test the purity of these gold coins. I doubt they are less than a pure ounce. Risk is to high. They might even have good anti counterfeit features similar to Canada and England. However, there isn’t much demand for another gold coin in the marketplace and these will always trade at bullion prices even if made as a proof. More of a novelty coin from what I can see.
Agree Major D. Perception of a better coin like an eagle is always stronger than reality. Dealer buy backs for Eagles are a bit over $50 when compared to gold maples , roos, Brit’s, Phil’s etc. selling to the public is about $50 or more depending on the mint compared to the eagle. I find myself gravitating toward the eagle every time I buy gold. More buyers seem to want them and I don’t care for the queens mug on one side. But to each his own.