Week of August 11-15, 2026.
Gold and Silver This Week
Gold traded in a relatively tight range this week, opening around $4,350 and climbing to approximately $4,389 by Friday morning. That puts the weekly gain at roughly 0.8%, extending gold’s monthly advance to nearly 8%. The yellow metal continues to consolidate above $4,300 after last week’s surge on the July jobs report.
Silver was the stronger performer. Spot touched $66.49 on Wednesday, its highest level since June, before pulling back to around $65.33 by Friday morning. The weekly gain of roughly 2.2% outpaced gold again. Silver has now risen more than 10% over the past 30 days. The gold-silver ratio compressed to approximately 67, down from near 69 at the start of the month, a move that tends to reflect rising industrial and investment demand for silver relative to gold.
Platinum pushed above $1,760, continuing its recovery from sub-$1,650 levels in late July. The rally has been driven almost entirely by supply concerns. The World Platinum Investment Council projects a 297,000-ounce supply deficit for 2026, the fourth consecutive year of shortfalls. Above-ground inventories have fallen to an estimated 1.747 million ounces, less than three months of global demand cover. South African mine output, which accounts for 70% to 80% of world supply, has declined roughly 26% since 2006 as electricity costs rose approximately 60% between 2021 and 2026, ore grades deteriorated, and operations moved deeper underground.
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CPI Comes in Below Expectations
Wednesday’s inflation report gave silver and gold a fresh push. The Consumer Price Index for July rose 2.5% year-over-year, coming in below the consensus estimate of 2.6%. Core CPI, which strips out food and energy, also moderated. The softer reading immediately boosted expectations that the Fed could cut rates as early as September, though some analysts still expect the FOMC to hold at the current 3.50%-3.75% target. The debate between a September cut and a September hike is unusually split, and that uncertainty itself has been supportive for metals. Gold and silver both moved higher within minutes of the release.
Shanghai Silver Premium Holds Above 12%
The Shanghai silver price continues to trade at a persistent premium over Western spot. As of August 14, the Shanghai Gold Exchange silver benchmark sat roughly 12.5% above COMEX, with earlier readings during the week hitting 13.9% on the AM fix. China applies a 13% value-added tax on silver imports, which accounts for most of that spread, but the premium remaining at or above the VAT rate suggests real tightness in physical supply rather than simple tax pass-through.
The Shanghai gold price tells a different story. Gold traded near parity with COMEX at a discount of just 0.04%, well within its six-month average premium of +0.19%. The divergence between gold and silver on the Shanghai-COMEX spread reflects the distinct supply dynamics in each metal. Silver faces a fifth consecutive year of global production deficits, driven in part by ongoing industrial demand from solar manufacturing, electronics, and electrical infrastructure, even as the World Silver Survey projects total industrial fabrication will dip roughly 3% this year.
US Mint: August Is Semiquincentennial Month
The United States Mint has packed August with 250th anniversary product releases. Three major offerings have already launched, and two more are scheduled before month-end.
The Comic Art Three Medal Set went on sale August 3 at $130. The set features Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman on bronze medals struck at the Denver facility. It is part of the Mint’s collaboration with Warner Bros. Discovery Global Consumer Products, which launched in 2025 with a Superman coin. Green Lantern, Robin, and Supergirl are scheduled to join the program later this year.
The Walking Liberty Half Dollar Gold Coin and Silver Medal Set followed on August 6 at $2,775 per set. The gold coin is struck in half a troy ounce of 99.99% fine gold and carries a faithful reproduction of Adolph Weinman’s 1916 Walking Liberty design with a Liberty Bell “250” privy mark. The companion medal is one ounce of 99.9% silver. Mintage is capped at 30,000 sets, and the initial household order limit was one. This is the third installment in the five-part “Best of the Mint” series marking America’s 250th anniversary.
Coming up on August 25, the Mint releases Enhanced Uncirculated Morgan and Peace Silver Dollars. Both coins are struck in one ounce of 99.9% fine silver, carry the dual date “1776 ~ 2026” and a Liberty Bell privy mark, and are priced at $169 each with a mintage limit of 250,000 per design. The household order limit is 10 of each. The reverse proof versions of these coins, released in July, moved over 300,000 units in their first four days of sales.
On August 27, the Best of the Mint 1804 Silver Dollar Gold Coin and Silver Medal Set drops. It pairs a one-ounce 99.99% fine gold proof reproduction of Robert Scot’s famous Draped Bust design with a one-ounce silver medal designed by Joseph V. Noorigian. Pricing has not been announced, and the Mint has not set a mintage cap. The household limit is one set.
Other Mint News
The Perth Mint released a 2026 Australian Koala 1 oz silver coin with a Liberty Bell privy mark, struck exclusively for the ANA World’s Fair of Money in Pittsburgh (August 25-29). Mintage is limited to 2,500 coins in 99.99% fine silver with colorized reverse artwork. Perth Mint show-exclusive privy releases have historically held strong secondary market premiums due to their low mintages.
The Royal Canadian Mint continues to sell its $20 Moon Mission fine silver coin, released earlier this year to mark Artemis II and the first Canadian astronaut to orbit the Moon. The coin is struck in one ounce of 99.99% silver with colorized and blacklight-reactive design elements. Mintage is 7,500 coins at $279.95 CAD.
Premium Trends
Average dealer premiums on current year Silver Eagles continue to run in the mid-teens. The current-year 2026 BU Eagle premium ranges from 6.8% to 27% above spot, or roughly $9.70 per coin at a $65 spot price. The average premium is 15.6%, while various dealers have offerings from 6.8% to 10% over spot. Random-year Eagles remain the budget option, with some dealers offering them near spot. Monster box pricing pulls the per-coin premium down to $4 to $6 over spot for bulk buyers.
Gold bar premiums remain historically tight, with 1 oz bars starting around 0.2% above spot at the lowest-cost dealers. For most buyers paying by check or wire, a 1 oz gold bar costs roughly 1% to 3% over spot. Ten-ounce and kilo bars compress that further. The combination of record gold prices and compressed premiums means the total cost of owning gold bars is closer to the raw metal price than it has been in several years.
For real-time premium comparisons across products and dealers, see our gold bullion price comparison and Silver Eagle price comparison pages.
Week Ahead
Watch for the Morgan and Peace Enhanced Uncirculated launch on Monday, August 25. The reverse proofs sold fast enough to suggest these will move quickly as well. The 1804 Dollar gold set follows two days later. On the macro side, traders will be parsing every Fed speaker comment for clues on whether the September meeting brings a hold, a cut, or the rate hike that a few vocal FOMC members have been pushing for. Any surprise in either direction will move gold and silver.
Check live gold, silver, and platinum prices.
Prices as of Friday close. Last PMW issue: August 7.
