Gold, Silver Prices Rebound; Bullion Coins Muted

After three straight session loses, gold prices rose Wednesday. December gold futures added $17.80, or 1%, to $1,729.60 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold traded between $1,715.50 an ounce and $1,745.60 an ounce.

"Comex December gold futures ended the U.S. day session with moderate gains Wednesday," wrote Jim Wyckoff of Kitco News. "Traders and investors once again stepped in to ‘buy the dip’ following some selling pressure earlier this week. Safe-haven buying interest was also featured Wednesday amid the latest developments in the ongoing EU debt crisis. The FOMC results failed to significantly impact the precious metals."

In other futures, December silver prices added $1.21, or 3.7%, to $33.94 an ounce, December palladium added $13.65, or 2.1%, to $648.65 and January platinum prices added $19.30, or 1.2%, to $1,601.30 an ounce.

London Bullion Prices

Like futures in New York, London bullion prices also rose. Changes from the Wednesday PM to Tuesday PM fixings in London show that:

• Gold added $44, or 2.6%, to $1,743 an ounce
• Silver prices added 86 cents, or 2.6%, to $33.83 an ounce
• Palladium added $15, or 2.4%, to $646 an ounce
• Platinum added $37, or 2.4%, to $1,609 an ounce

United States Mint Bullion Coins

United States Mint bullion coins were muted Wednesday, in the sense that no sales gains were published by the government agency. The latest bullion figures are provided below in the daily, weekly, October 2011 and YTD 2011 columns.

Notes. Figures above are in coins, not ounces sold. The United States Mint last updated 5 oz. America the Beautiful Silver Bullion Coin sales on Monday, October 31, 2011. All other figures have an "as of date" of Wednesday, November 2, 2011.

For a breakout of recent silver coin performances — both bullion and numismatic, read about the latest United States Mint silver coin sales in the article entitled Glacier 5 Ounce Silver Uncirculated Coin Sales Debut.