CaratPerth Mint gold sales fall 22% while the metal gains 10%
Silver sales dropped 31% on the month and platinum 45%, in figures the mint published on 4 September. Holdings in its gold-backed product rose 3.43% to 395,871 ounces.
The counter stepped back. Minted sales of all three metals fell in August against July, by 22%, 31% and 45%, while gold gained about 10% on the month. The mint's gold-backed product went the other way.
If you stock coins and bars: August's price rise did not carry demand with it. Order off the ledger, not the board.
If you read this as sentiment: the fund added 3.43% in the same month.
What this is not: national demand. It is one mint's minted product.
| Minted product | July | August | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gold, oz | 30,871 | 23,932 | −22% |
| Silver, oz | 486,043 | 333,880 | −31% |
| Platinum, oz | 1,915 | 1,060 | −45% |
| PMGOLD holdings, oz | 382,735 | 395,871 | +3.43% |
IJuly reversed, not merely stopped
Silver gave it back. July's silver ounces had risen 65% on June. August took 31% off that count, so the surge did not flatten. It turned.
Platinum fell hardest. Minted platinum went from 1,915 ounces to 1,060, a fall of 45% and the steepest of the three metals in the month.
IIThe fund and the counter swapped
Holdings rose 3.43%. The mint's gold-backed product added 13,137 ounces to reach 12.31 tonnes. In July it had added 1,011 ounces, a rise of 0.26%.
Prices ran the other way. Gold opened near $4,050 and ended near $4,450 on the mint's note, and silver ended near $66.50 after ranging as high as $71.15.
IIIA weak month, mixed quarter
Three months differ. Over three months gold sales are up 23% and platinum 28%, while silver is down 8%. August is the weak month, not the settled trend.
The year is lower. Against the same month last year all three metals sit about a fifth down, at 21%, 21% and 19%.
01What would change this call+
A September update in which minted gold and silver recover most of August's fall while the metal holds near $4,450. That would make August a supply or shipping artefact rather than a buyer stepping back, and the instruction above would be withdrawn.
02What this series counts+
The Perth Mint publishes monthly sales of minted product, meaning coins and minted bars sold through its own channels, separately from holdings in its gold-backed exchange-traded product. Minted product is a retail measure. The mint is a refiner whose retail channel skews to Australian and Asian buyers, so the series is a counter reading rather than a national one.
03Method · the desk’s arithmetic+
The monthly falls are Carat Capital's division of the two months' counts: 23,932 over 30,871 is −22.48%, 333,880 over 486,043 is −31.31%, and 1,060 over 1,915 is −44.65%. These round to the mint's published −22%, −31% and −45%, which is the check that the two releases are being read on the same basis. July's counts are taken from Carat Capital's report of 17 August. The mint states 395,871 ounces after an addition of 13,137; adding that to July's 382,735 gives 395,872, a one-ounce difference left as the mint published it. Price levels are the mint's own approximations and are printed as such.
The Perth Mint sold 486,043 ounces of silver in July
July's release, which said the opposite, and which warned its own figures could not be read forward.
The trade, filed before the New York open.
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