Today’s AM fix was USD 1,567.75, EUR 1,261.47, and GBP 1,008.98 per ounce.
Yesterday’s AM fix was USD 1,567.50, EUR 1,255.31, and GBP 1,003.39 per ounce.

Silver is trading at $26.93/oz, €21.77/oz and £17.39/oz. Platinum is trading at $1,406.50/oz, palladium at $575.20/oz and rhodium at $1,190/oz.

Volatile trade yesterday saw gold surge nearly $20 after news that the ECB was considering entering the monetary twilight zone of NIRP or negative interest rate policies.

However, the gains were capped and prices quickly gave up those gains and gold dropped $16.00 or 0.99% and was last quoted in New York at $1,571.50/oz. Gold rose slightly in Asia but then fell soon after the European opening.
   

There was also chatter that the spike in gold may have been a reaction to a statement from the World Gold Council which said demand for gold in Asia is stronger than what the market is pricing in.

The market has been long under appreciating Asian demand. 

Indian demand may be set to pick up again. Prithviraj Kothari, president of the Bombay Bullion Association, told Reuters in an interview this morning that gold imports could pick up in the second half of 2012.

Japan’s exports of gold plunged to a 15-month low in May to 2.79 tonnes, down 67 percent from a  year ago, as sales of gold bars and jewellery fell sharply and there was a steep fall in gold scrap sales by the public.

EU leaders remain divided as the meetings begin today in Brussels.  The debt crisis is now in its third year since it began in Greece.  The European Union summit will not produce a “magic” solution to the Eurozone’s deepening debt crisis. Indeed, there is the potential for serious disappointment which could lead to market volatility and increased safe haven demand for gold.

Gold coins sales at The Perth Mint have fallen in the past three months after the record breaking sales of recent months and as buyers await more clarity regarding the near term outlook for gold prices but staff at Australia’s oldest producer of precious metal coins have reason to be happy.

The 2012 Australian Kangaroo One Tonne Gold Coin issued by The Perth Mint has been confirmed as the largest coin in the world by Guinness World Records and will be featured in the 2013 Guinness Book of World Records available in October.

It is also the world’s largest and heaviest gold bullion coin -made from 1 tonne of 99.99% pure gold.

Ed Harbuz, CEO of The Perth Mint, stands beside the massive
1 Tonne Australian Gold Kangaroo Coin

"We faced an incredible challenge to produce a coin of this scale, so this is a wonderful endorsement of the talent and expertise of those involved," said Ed Harbuz, Perth Mint Chief Executive Officer.

Cast from 99.99 percent pure gold extracted from Australian mines, the coin weighs a total of 1,012 kilograms and measures 80 centimeters wide and 13 centimeters deep. The coin was made earlier this year in the presence of experts from the fields of metal assaying, numismatics — or coin collecting — quality assurance, and scale calibration and weighing, who verified the specifications of the coin.

Key facts about Australia’s world beating gold coin:

•The coin is cast from 99.99% pure gold

•It weighs a whopping 1,012 kilograms

•It measures 80cm wide by 13cm deep

•And it’s official Australian legal tender!

Staff involved in the mammoth project, whose skills include designing, refining, assaying, casting, finishing and more, gathered together for this celebratory photo call on receipt of their official record certificate.
  
Perth Mint Staff and the 1 Tonne Australian Kangaroo Gold Bullion Coin

Australia’s iconic national animal, "was a natural choice" for the giant coin as the marsupial has been a consistent feature of the Australian Kangaroo Gold Bullion Coin Series 1 kilo release for 25 years, Harbuz said.

The record-breaking coin’s smaller and more affordable brethren have seen record sales in recent months as investors and savers internationally have bought the gold coin as a store of value.

While there has been a slight dip in sales recently, sales are expected to remain robust and even increase given the scale of the Eurozone debt crisis and risk of the debt crisis spreading to Japan, the UK and indeed the U.S.

Gold coin sales (bullion and collectible) from The Perth Mint totaled 32,094 ounces in May, down from 35,900 during the same month last year. April’s sales fell to 18,915 ounces, their lowest since the 10,645 ounces recorded in August 2010. March sales hit 38,109 ounces, down 9.6 percent from the comparable month last year.

The record-breaking golden kangaroo coin is currently on display at The Perth Mint’s Gold Exhibition but that doesn’t necessarily mean it will remain a museum piece.

"The Perth Mint would consider selling it to an interested party at the right price," Ellis told CNBC. "This would include the spot price of the metal value, plus a significant premium for production. Terms would obviously need to be negotiated."

The coin is worth more than $51 million at current prices — not cheap but possibly a bargain for a store of value gold buyer concerned about currency debasement.

For those who cannot afford the $51 million, the Perth Mint 1 ounce gold coins and bars remain attractive and will reward the prudent buyer.

OTHER NEWS
(Bloomberg) — U.S. Mint Gold-Coin Sales in June Exceed Last Month’s Total
Sales of gold coins by the U.S. Mint have climbed to 54,500 ounces in June, topping the total sales last month of 53,000 ounces, data on the Mint’s website showed today.

(Bloomberg) — Morgan Stanley Recommends Gold, Copper on Outlook for Demand
Morgan Stanley backed gold, copper and iron ore on expectations that demand will increase while supplies are constrained even as it cut forecasts for the metals after prices fell on concern that global growth is slowing.

“The gold bull market is not over,” analysts Peter Richardson and Joel Crane wrote in a report today. The bank reduced gold estimates by as much as 16 percent to 2014, saying bullion may average $1,677 an ounce this year compared with the previous estimate of $1,825. Morgan Stanley is bearish on aluminum, zinc, lead, nickel and thermal coal.

Commodities as tracked by the Standard & Poor’s GSCI Spot Index slumped into a bear market last week on concern that Europe’s debt crisis is worsening, growth in China is faltering and the U.S. recovery may be losing momentum. Gold has rallied for 11 years on increased investor and central-bank demand.

Commodities “have been hard hit by weakening growth, heightened risk aversion linked to a deepening euro-zone debt crisis, a stronger U.S. dollar, and mixed supply responses,” Morgan Stanley said. “We continue to recommend exposure only to those metals and bulk commodities that reflect the benefits of tight supply conditions and pockets of residual demand.”

Gold futures traded at $1,571.50 an ounce at 4:36 p.m. in Singapore, and have averaged $1,654 this year, according to data tracked by Bloomberg. Copper may average $3.60 a pound in 2012, 5 percent less than an earlier prediction, the report said. Copper traded at $3.334, and has averaged $3.6694 in 2012.

Goldman’s Forecast

Credit Suisse Group AG said in a June 21 report that a recovery will spur a 9.3 percent gain in commodities over 12 months, forecasting that “undervalued” metals markets may offer the best opportunities. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. forecast in a June 11 report a 29 percent return for commodities over the next year, with returns led by energy and industrial metals.

Global industrial output may grow 4.1 percent in 2012, down from a previous forecast of 4.8 percent, and by 4.9 percent in 2013, Morgan Stanley said in the report. The bank described the indictor as the best so-called demand proxy for base metals.

The S&P GSCI Index is set to complete its worst quarterly loss this week since the three months to December 2008 as Europe’s debt crisis has stretched into a third year. The dollar has rallied 4.7 percent against a six-currency basket including the euro since the end of March.

“A strengthening U.S. dollar and a weakening euro, reflecting the ongoing sovereign-debt crisis in the euro zone, has also added to the headwinds confronting the gold price,” Morgan Stanley said in the report. The metal may be supported by additional stimulus from central banks and so-called negative real interest rates in the U.S., the bank said.

Copper Deficit

Copper may be supported as there is potential for increased consumption in the second half from infrastructure spending in China, the world’s largest user, Morgan Stanley said. The bank is predicting a 230,000-ton shortfall of refined metal this year, the third straight annual deficit.

China lowered banks’ reserve-requirement ratios three times since November and on June 7 cut borrowing costs for the first time since 2008 as the crisis in Europe, the country’s largest export market, hurt growth. China may introduce “more proactive” policies to ensure stable growth, the China Securities Journal said in a commentary yesterday.

Morgan Stanley backed iron ore as supply is expected to lag behind demand through 2014 and forecast that the steelmaking ingredient may average $139 a ton this year and $155 in 2013. The bank also recommended hard coking coal and tin on the potential for increased disruptions to output.

(Bloomberg) — IShares Silver Trust Holdings Unchanged at 9,876 Metric Tons
Silver holdings in the IShares Silver Trust, the biggest exchange-traded fund backed by silver, were unchanged at 9,875.75 metric tons as of June 27, according to figures on the company’s website.

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                   June 27    June 26    June 25    June 22    June 21   June 20

                      2012       2012       2012       2012       2012      2012

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Million Ounces     317.513    317.513    317.513    317.513    315.767   315.767

 Daily change            0          0          0  1,745,942          0         0

——————————————————————————–

Metric tons       9,875.75   9,875.75   9,875.75   9,875.75   9,821.45  9,821.45

 Daily change         0.00       0.00       0.00      54.30       0.00      0.00

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Cross Currency Table – (Bloomberg)