AGE Gold Commentary

AGE Gold Commentary is our regular report analyzing trends in precious metals and rare coins. We monitor domestic and international markets and extrapolate from our 30 years in metals to place current events into a hard asset perspective. View archives.

2/17/2025: Trump triggers flood of gold into US

Greetings!

Concerns over the possibility of tariffs on precious metals have caused premiums to skyrocket since election day. Demand has exploded for gold and silver that is physically present here in the US, as opposed to lying in a vault somewhere else waiting for export. Prices and premiums have risen along with demand, resulting in the biggest flood of physical precious metals into the US since Covid hit in 2020.

With premiums in New York reaching as high as $60 on gold and $1 on silver, huge financial houses like JP Morgan Chase, HSBC, Goldman Sachs, and Deutsche Bank have brought more than 14 million ounces of gold and 45 million ounces of silver into the US. This sudden, huge surge in demand has drained global supplies, primarily in London, while also straining the ability of traditional storage facilities like the Bank of England to deliver in a timely manner.

Uncertainty over the Trump administration’s tariff policies, disruptive cost-cutting measures, and reordering of the US roll in international relations, is driving investors toward safe havens. Gold has climbed a wall of worry to new all-time highs over $2,925 while silver is once again testing a major breakout.

Against this background, and for many of the same reasons, global demand for gold continues to grow. China has resumed buying of physical gold after allegedly pausing for six months, and India has just seen record imports. The World Gold Council reported that gold purchases by global central banks reach the third-highest level ever in 2024, just behind 2022 and 2023.

In this new edition of AGE Gold Commentary, we’ll examine all these factors to help you understand why gold has hit new all-time highs and why its record surge is far from over.

You can also view this video on the AGE YouTube channel, which includes a transcript.

Sincerely,

Dana Samuelson
President