Prices for precious metals split on the final trading day in May, with gold and silver gaining and platinum and palladium declining. Gold marked its best price in two weeks, although it still ended the month lower, along with the other metals.
Gold for August delivery rose by $5, or 0.3%, to settle at $1,982.10 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement was the highest since May 17.
Gold and silver prices were "boosted by some safe-haven buying just ahead of U.S. lawmakers voting to extend the U.S. government’s debt limit. While the majority of the marketplace expects the debt deal to pass both the U.S. House and Senate, there is just uncertainty over the outcome to produce some trader and investor anxiety. Falling U.S. Treasury yields this week are also working in favor of the gold and silver market bulls,” Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Inc, said in a daily research note.
Gold prices decreased by 0.9% in May after rising 0.7% in April. They are 8.5% higher on the year to date.
Meanwhile, silver for July delivery gained 34.8 cents, or 1.5%, to finish at $23.587 an ounce. Silver prices dropped 6.5% in May after rallying 4.4% in April. They have decreased by 1.9% so far this year.
In other precious metals prices on Wednesday and for the month:
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July platinum fell $22.90, or 2.2%, to end at $999 an ounce, adding to its loss in May, which now stands at 8.4%.
- Palladium for September delivery declined $38.50, or 2.8%, to close at $1,359 an ounce, resulting in a 10% monthly drop.
In terms of year-to-date performance, platinum has fallen by 7.8%, while palladium has experienced a decline of 24.4%.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2023
U.S. Mint published bullion sales have been unchanged so far this week. 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) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wednesday / Week | Last Week | February | March | April | May | 2023 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 18,000 | 41,500 | 211,000 | 159,000 | 52,500 | 582,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 8,000 | 1,000 | 8,000 | 0 | 54,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 12,000 | 10,000 | 12,000 | 18,000 | 132,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 85,000 | 10,000 | 35,000 | 0 | 245,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 6,000 | 19,500 | 73,000 | 61,000 | 38,500 | 251,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 47,000 | 900,000 | 900,000 | 900,000 | 900,000 | 7,549,000 |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | N/A | 7,500 | 500 | 0 | 8,000 |
Man, I’m glad I never bought one of those over-priced palladium 1oz. coins when they first came out. If I remember correctly, they were around $3300 when they first became available from the mint.