Bullion Prices Rebound, Gold Eagle and Buffalo Bullion Coins Rise

US bullion prices rebounded Wednesday after the Federal Reserve released its statement saying it would maintain low interest rates for an extended period. That news pounded the greenback and fueled inflation-hedged precious metals buying.

June gold prices rallied $13.60, or 0.9%, to a new closing record of $1,517.10 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold hit a low of $1,503.30 an ounce and a high of $1,524.20 an ounce.

"This move is about the dollar," Frank Lesh, a trader at FuturePath Trading LLC in Chicago, was quoted on Bloomberg. "There’s no hint whatsoever of the Fed being close to raising rates, so people are buying gold."

"There will be no speed about reversing policy. Their accommodative policy has been ascribed in part to concerns about higher inflation and also have pumped up commodity demand abroad," James Steel, metals analyst and Senior Vice President at HSBC in New York, was quoted on Reuters. "Both of those things are good for gold."

May silver prices rose 90.8 cents, or 2.0%, to $45.96 an ounce, regaining nearly half of the losses it posted during the previous session.

In PGM futures prices, palladium gained $2.40, or 0.3%, to $758.10 an ounce and platinum gained $13.80, or 0.8%, to $1,819.20 an ounce.

In comparing current to previous London bullion PM fixing prices:

• Gold rose $13.50, or 0.9%, at $1,511 an ounce
• Silver fell 18 cents, or 0.4%, at $45.30 an ounce
• Palladium and platinum were unchanged with respective fixings of $754 an ounce and $1,812 an ounce

United States Mint Authorized Purchasers picked up more gold bullion coins on Wednesday. The only gold product that did not rise was the 1/4 oz Gold Eagle. The Mint’s silver bullion products remained at the same levels as the previous day.

For detailed information on numismatic and bullion coin weekly performances, read the latest US Mint sales article.

Daily, April and 2011 bullion sales figures follow:

Figures above are in coins, not ounces sold.