Week of August 25-29, 2026. Prices as of Thursday. Last PMW issue: August 20.
Gold and Silver This Week
Gold pulled back to roughly $4,585 by Thursday morning, retreating from a three-month high near $4,700 set on Tuesday. Wednesday’s PCE inflation report was the trigger: headline PCE came in at 3.7% year-over-year, a tenth of a point above consensus, giving the dollar a brief lift and knocking gold off its highs.
The pullback barely dents what has been a historic month. Gold is up about 15% in August from near $4,000, putting it on track for the strongest monthly gain since September 1999. The dollar index sits near 99.20, a three-month low, and institutional money is flowing into gold at a pace not seen in nearly a year (more on that below).
Silver pushed to $69.94 on Thursday, testing the $70 level for the first time. That is up roughly 10% from the $63.77 reading in last week’s issue. The gold-silver ratio narrowed to roughly 66, reflecting silver’s outperformance as industrial demand from solar, electronics, and EV infrastructure adds to the monetary rally.
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The Treasury Buyback and the Warsh Watch
The catalyst behind gold’s August surge arrived on August 19, when Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced the Treasury would double its long-dated bond buyback program, raising the maximum operation size from $2 billion to $4 billion on 10- to 30-year bonds. Markets read the move as a signal of fiscal stress beneath the surface, with the government effectively stepping in to absorb its own long-dated debt. The “debasement trade” narrative reignited. Deutsche Bank and TD Securities both issued explicit “buy gold” calls in the days following the announcement.
Now the focus shifts to Friday morning. Fed Chair Kevin Warsh delivers his first Jackson Hole speech at 10 a.m. Eastern, his first major address since taking office on May 22. The Fed held rates at 3.50%-3.75% at every 2026 meeting so far, but July’s vote was unusually fractured at 9-3, with three regional presidents dissenting in favor of a rate hike. The next FOMC meeting is September 15-16. Any hawkish signal from Warsh could pressure gold; any hint of accommodation would extend the rally.
Gold ETFs See Largest Inflows in 10 Months
Institutional money backed up the rally. Gold ETFs took in $6.4 billion (46.7 tonnes) in the latest weekly reading, the largest single-week inflow in 10 months. SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) alone absorbed $1.19 billion on August 25, pushing its AUM to $150.9 billion. Year-to-date global gold ETF inflows stand at $11 billion through July, and August is adding to that total at an accelerating pace.
Central bank buying continues to add steady demand underneath. Q2 2026’s record 288.9 tonnes, led by Poland (51 tonnes) and China (33 tonnes, its largest quarterly purchase since late 2023), confirmed that sovereign buying is not slowing. Goldman Sachs expects central banks to average 60 tonnes per month through year-end.
US Mint: The 1804 Dollar Goes on Sale
The US Mint’s headline release of the week drops today at noon Eastern: the Best of the Mint 1804 Silver Dollar High Relief Gold Coin and Silver Medal Set. The set pairs a one-ounce .9999 fine gold coin struck in high relief at West Point with a one-ounce .999 fine silver medal designed by Joseph V. Noorigian. Priced at $5,740, mintage is capped at 15,000 sets with a limit of one per household.
This is the fourth of five sets in the Best of the Mint Semiquincentennial series, and the first modern US Mint recreation of the legendary 1804 dollar, known as “The King of American Coins.” Only 15 specimens of the original are known to exist. At 15,000 units, the mintage is half the 30,000 cap on the prior three sets. The Mercury Dime set (first in the series) sits at 97.7% sold. The Walking Liberty Half Dollar set, by contrast, has moved just 32.4%. The series finale, a 1907 Saint-Gaudens High Relief $20 Gold Coin and Silver Medal Set, arrives September 24.
Earlier in the week, Enhanced Uncirculated editions of the Morgan and Peace Silver Dollars launched Monday at $169 each with a 250,000-coin mintage per design. Pre-order sales through the weekend totaled 81,038 Morgan dollars (32.4%) and 75,870 Peace dollars (30.3%). Both remain available. On Tuesday, the Constitution quarter, the fourth of five Semiquincentennial designs, went on sale in rolls and bags. Previous quarter designs have sold out fast: Declaration of Independence roll sets went in minutes.
ANA World’s Fair of Money: Pittsburgh
The American Numismatic Association’s World’s Fair of Money runs through Saturday at Pittsburgh’s David L. Lawrence Convention Center, with nearly 500 dealer tables and a headline exhibit: all 11 government-owned 1933 Saint-Gaudens Double Eagles displayed together for the first time. Combined with S.S. Central America shipwreck gold and a 1921 Satin Finish Proof Saint-Gaudens, the show has over $100 million in historic coins and currency on the bourse floor.
Show-exclusive releases include the Perth Mint’s 2026 Koala with Liberty Bell privy mark (1 oz silver, 2,500 mintage) and Germania Mint’s Pittsburgh Bridge privy silver (500 mintage). PCGS, ANACS, and CAC are all accepting submissions on site.
Industry Notes
Gold.com (formerly A-Mark) completed its acquisition of Sunshine Minting in April, making it one of the largest minting operations in North America with combined capacity over 3 million ounces per week between the Sunshine and SilverTowne facilities. Asahi Refining is building a new 12,000-square-foot refinery in West Valley City, Utah, the company’s only US location and the source of Utah’s biggest single export by value.
Premium Trends
Dealer premiums on Silver Eagles remain in the 15-16% range above spot, roughly $10 per coin at current prices. Random-year Eagles continue to trade closer to spot at some dealers. Gold bar premiums hold at 1-3% for one-ounce bars, putting the total cost of owning physical gold near its narrowest spread to spot in years. For real-time comparisons, see our gold price comparison and Silver Eagle price comparison pages.
Copper pulled back to $6.57 per pound, retreating from the all-time COMEX high of $6.77 reached earlier this month. The Commerce Department is proposing Section 232 duties on 14 additional steel, aluminum, and copper derivative products, while US-Canada tariff negotiations on metals pushed toward a deadline this week.
Week Ahead
Warsh’s Jackson Hole speech Friday morning is the macro event. Any signal on the September 15-16 FOMC meeting will move gold and silver. On the Mint side, the 1804 Dollar set goes on sale at noon today. With 15,000 units at $5,740, sellout pace will be worth watching. The ANA show runs through Saturday. And mark September 24 for the Best of the Mint finale: the 1907 Saint-Gaudens $20 set, which may be the most anticipated Mint release of the year.
