Rhodium Coins Coming Soon!

Rhodium Price and Rhodium Volatility

This blog is dedicated mainly to palladium, however, you could say it's a "volatile precious metals site." The more volatile the metal, the less popular it is. In order of volatility, and popularity, are these metals: Au, Ag, Pt, Pd, and then, rhodium.

Of the preceding when dealing with price, rhodium bullion is generally the most expensive. As I write this it's exactly $1050 an ounce. It was $1100 a couple days ago. The platinum price is right around there too, but, when rhodium moves, it moves! It never moves less than $50 at a time. It was $750 in December. When Au climbed from $850 to $1000 the price Rhodium price jumped from $750 to $1100.

Rhodium Coin and Rhodium Bars

What does a rhodium coin look like? Well, I don't know, they've never been made. Rhodium bars don't yet exist, nor to rhodium coins. Wouldn't it be nice to buy a 1 oz rhodium coin or 1 oz rhodium bar? I thought so too, but you can't. The only way you can buy it is in its raw, flake form, called rhodium sponge (rhodium article with pictures). If you were to buy rhodium 1 ounce, it would likely be in a plastic container, similar to how they sell Au flake, but it there would be some small particles and some broken pieces.

Rhodium Pieces

Au Flake in Vials (C481025A-77-t.on-C23-94)

Small Rhodium Mint

However, today I talked to a guy who owns a small mint, and his company is working to make rhodium coins! Rhodium one ounce coins would be ideal, and while possible, he said a one gram rhodium coin is more likely. The coins will be rhodium bullion coins, though, and they will not have much numismatic value, i.e., they'll be very similar to rhodium bars, which also don't exist.

Rhodium Bullion Coins Availability

He assured me that the invest rhodium coins will be ready for sale within a few months! He also said that by then the spot rhodium price might be over $2000 (It's around $1000 today). However, the buy rhodium online is the price of only a contract that you own the metal. To actually take delivery of the metal you must pay fabrication charges since for a rhodium mint is very difficult. And, these charges will be 170% of the spot price rhodium invest. Ouch! I hear that there are 1 oz rhodium coins and rhodium bars available made by other, smaller mints, but as of now I have no reliable information. I've sent out a couple emails and am waiting for a response!

Rhodium: Physical Properties

The owner of the mint told me that physical rhodium isn't as brittle as people say it is. Sure, it will break if you take a 1 ounce rhodium piece between two pair of pliers and bend, but it won't break if you drop in from a couple inches on a wooden table. So, it can be made into 99.99% pure rhodium bullion, but it just costs more than the other metals. (This reason, BTW, is likely why it's so hard to find palladium near spot prices.) So, the rhodium bullion coins will be available, but shipped within plastic cases to keep those who are less careful from breaking them

What Will the Rhodium Bullion Coin Look Like?

Like I said, it's not a government making the coin, it's a small melter--a small company--and it will have the company name on it. They will be 1 gram, not one ounce. That's disappointing, but good in a way, as we can only spend a little money to own rhodium bullion. One gram is really tiny. They'll be smaller than a dime by far. And, while I do know the name of the company and what the coins will likely look like, as I've seen their other coins, as of now, until they're out, I can't leak that information. Sorry guys!

Bullion Rhodium Price

If these coins were available today, dividing the spot price of an ounce ($1050) by 31.1 (31.1g=1 oz), we get around $33/gram. However, remember I said we have to pay 170% melter's fee? (It's not that they're greedy, it's actually that they had to put a lot of work into melting rhodium bullion down.) So, 1.7 x $33 = $56. So, for now, $56 per tiny 1 gram coin. If you buy 31 of these, you'll have an ounce, and it will cost you $1700. If rhodium doubles by then, you pay double that.

Let's hope I have enough spare cash to get some of these when they're out! I'll let you know! Thanks for looking!

Quarter Gram Palladium. How Cute!

Here it is folks, the smallest coin ever. A 1/4 gram palladium coin!



I say this before, but I never really thought how ridiculous it is until now. I found it on Ebay and the price is $10. What a rip off! Here are some facts

• It takes 124 of these coins to make 1 ounce palladium
• It's worth $1.70
  
• If palladium goes to $1000, this coin will be still be worth under $10
• A sheet of paper is around 4 grams
• This palladium coin would stick to your skin and you'd easily lose it
• It's a quarter inch in diameter
  

Well, the coins are cute, but that's about it. I guess they're good for experimenting, too see how much they will scratch, when they will melt, etc.

Fail-Proof Plan to Create Wealth with Palladium (Pt, and Ag)

Who am I to make up a fool-proof plan? Well, I haven't gotten rich off of buying and selling precious metals. However, I have made money! Remember last year when we had $1000 Au, $2000 Pt, $20 Ag, and $600 palladium bar? Well, I sold off some gold and platinum and used the money for, well...food, travel, etc. I guess I'm not a real investor if I spend the money now am I!

But, I did use some of the money to buy Ag and palladium. I wanted to buy palladium coins when it was around $200/oz and the Ag was around $10, and I got pretty close. Granted, I paid a large coin palladium premium (and a small silver premium too).

Fool-Proof Plan for Investing Palladium and Other PGMs

Here's my fool-proof plan. No, I don't guarantee it, but I am following this get-rich plan myself. I read a lot about the precious metals market. There's a lot about Au and even some about silver. There's very little about platinum and only will you find rhodium or palladium information on small Internet sites like this one. Thus, I created this (mainly) palladium investing site.

Also, let me note, this is my plan. I haven't read this anywhere, it's just something I've noticed. This will work if just one factor holds:

Palladium, platinum, and Ag follow gold.

You see, Au makes its move first, maybe 10% or so from $800 to around $900. That's a big jump. Then silver will follow and jump from $9-12, for a 25% jump. Platinum moves slowly and is pretty volatile, but for now all it has done is stays ahead of gold because that's where platinum investors think it should be. Palladium sits tight where it was.

Our Current Situation

The move I just mentioned in the previous paragraph was happening at the end of 2008. Now, in 2009, we've seen this: Au jump from $900 to $970, for nearly a 10% jump. Ag followed suit and went from $12-14, for a nearly 20% increase. Platinum? Just as suggested, it's just moving as much to stay ahead of Au (gold surpass platinum only for a day or two last year). And Palladium? Well, it moved over all a good 15-20% from $180-$200, but no one has really noticed it yet.

The Future and My Prediction

Price of gold will peak around $1050 or so for another 10% increase. Platinum and silver increase, on the other hand, might see up to a 75% jump! So, if silver doubles even, it wouldn't be too crazy, because it would be at $28. I think it will stop around $20 though, and I think platinum will stop around $1800 max. And finally, what about palladium? Invest now is what I say. Palladium has barely moved, and has proven to be quite volatile. I think palladium rise another 100% to at least $450, probably more. This'll happen after silver and platinum have moved.

The Palladium Plan

Do you kind of get the picture to get rich with rare palladium? If not, keep reading, I'll explain in a second.

First of all, if you don't have a good $100,000 in it it's not going to work as quickly as you'd like. You could start with $1000 and still make money, but would take years. So, let's pretend that we all have $100,000. (I don't have this much myself, but when I get it I plan to follow this plan).

So, I'm sure you've seen by now that you simply wait for Au to rise, then you buy silver or platinum. But, at that point the silver and platinum price has already risen a certain percent, say 20% by the time you get your hands on some. So, what to do? The title of this blog: you buy palladium! (if you can't find palladium, read this: I Can't Find Palladium! Where to Buy Palladium Coins?).

If you read the post that I linked too you'll know that many places require to spend at least $1000 palladium or else buy 10 oz palladium or so. That's good, right? If you buy $1000 worth of $200 palladium then you'll have 5 oz. If that goes up to $600/oz then you can sell it, and you'll have made $3000 on your $1000 investment, for a profit of $2000.

Say you bought $100,000 of palladium. It doubles or triples, then you sell it when it's worth $250,000, just to be safe. How long can you live on $150,000? Well, for now, I won't be traveling as much as I plan to in a year or two, so that money would last me a couple years. Life without a job traveling the world just for buying 500 palladium coins! And by the way, you'd still have you initial $100,000!

Now folks, how you get that initial $100,000 is up to you. And if you blow the money, that's up to you too. I wouldn't spend it all on travel as I mentioned, although it would be tempting.

After You Make Money Investing Palladium Bars

So, you had your fun. You have $250,000 in your bank account and you're smart enough to have kept your job, or else you quit for a while, spent $10,000 over the next 3 months, then got a part-time job making $15,000 a year. That's fine, as long as you're not dipping too much into your $250,000. The key is to reinvest what you made. But, you can't buy palladium or any other metal that got you here, it's too expensive! So, what can you buy? There are several safe investments:

• Stock market - if PGMs are this high, stocks will be down. Buy some that you know will go up. I would buy shares of the S&P 500 as that would likely be half of what it was before the precious metals take-off.
• Lend your money - you can lend it to an individual secured by their home. You can lend it to the government as a bond. Lend it to the bank in a CD. The lower the percentage, the safer. Shoot for 10% at least, though.
• Buy a business, or start one, or go in with someone.
• Have fun selling single palladium coins on Ebay, now worth $600, for $800 each. They'll sell if they aren't right at the top yet!
• Buy a house. Fix it up with some of your money and sell it

And those are just suggestions. The goal is to increase that $250k, because you're not done yet. You can't live in $250k the rest of your life. So, you need to increase that. And, if Au and it's followers--silver, platinum, then palladium--drop again, buy some and do it again! Oh, and if you find some rhodium let me know. I'd like to buy some with you. Rhodium is $1000/oz, and last year was $10,000!

"Free" Palladium Coin Story

I was reading a site about precious metals the other day and a guy said he got a free palladium coin. That can't be, you say! That's what I said. How can you get it for free? I'll take all I can get for free! So, I read further.

Come to find out, the author said he was looking for some silver coins. He went to local coin shops and everything and they had only a few each. Silver was worth about $12/oz at the time, and they were charging anywhere from $15-20. So, he bought if the premiums were low enough, but mostly, he didn't want to waste his money. But, he knew he wanted coins, and about 20-30 of them.

So, he found someone on ebay who was selling a mixture. There were 10 silver coins, and they were mostly Eagles of different years, but some had pictures of Santa Claus or baseball players on them. They weren't in great condition and the price was only around $150 after shipping so he went for it. There, he had 10 more silver coins along with the few he bought locally. I'm guessing, but we'll say he got his 20 silver coins total.

However, when the Ebay shipment came he found he was shorted an ounce of silver! There were only 9 silver coins. To his astonishment, there was a Canadian Maple Leaf Palladium in there! It's smaller, but a bit thinker, so I guess the seller just assumed it was an oz of silver. Lucky!

Now the guy wasn't up on palladium. He know what it was, but didn't know the exact price. He was actually hoping $500 or so. He checked and saw it was only worth $200, but still, I don't think he's complaining! Now, a good person would probably contact the seller and give him his coin back...but I wouldn't! :)

Anyway, that's a wishful story, huh? I hope I'm someday that lucky. Just thought I'd share it!

Palladium Prices Up, PGMs Edging Higher

We may see prices this year look similar to last! Today Au is at $975/oz and platinum is right around $1100, keeping just ahead of gold. Ag is making its move and is up to $14/oz. Palladium, as we know, is the slowest mover and will follow after the others have moved closer to their peaks. Palladium is right now at $222.

But remember, Au didn't drop too much from its $1000 high of last spring. Ag and platinum were approximately cut in half. Remember though, palladium fell by two-thirds, from around $600/oz to under $200/oz. It's the most volatile for sure.

No one knows where Au will stop, but if it moves up say, $5/day, and ends up around $1025/oz, I'm sure we'll see at least $1600 platinum and $18/Ag. Palladium would probably only reach $400. But, if Ag did hit an all time high of say $1050/oz, then we'd probably see $2000 platinum, $22 Ag, and $600 palladium.

When the price dips I have to sell. I need money right now as I'm investing in real estate as well. Real estate isn't really comparable to the precious metals market in volatility, but if you work hard you can make money in it faster than you can in the palladium/gold/platinum market.

Where to Buy Palladium Bars and Palladium Coins

Where to Buy Palladium Bars and Palladium Coins

I'm sorry to say that palladium, rare in nature, is not a popular vehicle in which to invest. Palladium is mostly used by the auto industry and other industrial palladium facilities. The prices are determined mainly by these, not by investors. However, we're lucky that we can buy palladium coins and palladium bars, thanks to the Canadian and Chinese government mints. Palladium coins are also minted in Russia, the Russian ballerina palladium.

Palladium Maple Leaf, Canada

Palladium Panda Coin, China
Ballerina Palladium, Russia

If a US bill passes though the senate, we'll have a US St. Gaudens palladium coin! See related article: Palladium St. Gaudens coin.

St. Gaudens Palladium, USA

Those are what we have in palladium coins from our governments. Invest in palladium is possible though Pamp Swiss or Stillwater. They both make palladium bullion in the form of palladium bars. The bars palladium are usually 1 oz, but Pamp makes 10 oz bars too. Stillwater Palladium makes palladium bullions coins as well. Let's look at all of these.

Pamp Suisse 1 oz bar, Switzerland

Stillwater Palladium Coin, USA
Stillwater Bar Palladium, USA

Where Can I Buy Palladium Online?

These are the sites I've used. I'll simply post the links. Keep in mind that some have a $1000 minimum, so for right now you'd have to buy 4-5 ounces of palladium to meet that requirement. Some have a 10 oz minimum. All mark up the spot price 10-20%.

Austin Coin Collecting Society. Very polite on the phone. Even returned my phone call as I left a message! http://acoins.com/palladium.html

BASF Industrial Sales. I haven't dealt with them. http://www.catalysts.basf.com/apps/eibprices/mp/

Monex. Very popular, and I think it's the $1000 minimum. Decently polite, but very busy and they will rush you if they are too busy. Often they are sold out when metals are likely to rise. Many think they are hoarding it until it goes up, so they can sell for more money. http://www.monex.com/index.html

Northwest Territorial Mint. They have a nice palladium selection, though they might be sold out. http://bullion.nwtmint.com/palladium.php

Kitco. www.kitco.com

Ebay. Ebay has 100s of people selling anywhere from single 1 oz palladium coins to a dozen 10 oz palladium bars at a time. Markup over spot will like be 50-100% over spot. Paying 50% should be expected, actually, and a 1 oz palladium coin worth $220 spot would be a deal on Ebay at $300. www.ebay.com

Where to Buy Palladium Locally?

Here's a little trick. We all have pawn shops around town and throughout our state. I know you have the Internet, so you have the phone numbers of all those places. Call them up! See what they have. They may have just got some palladium bars in today!

Account of Palladium Price and Gold Rush of 1980

Here's an account of "John," who in 1980 wishes he would have bought cheap palladium and other metals during the PGM price surge of 1980.

"I can remember it well. On the news every night the reporters would talk about how the palladium price and other metals increased in price. Cheap palladium was found everywhere a year before, now you couldn't even find cheap platinum or cheap silver. Most people wanted the gold, but there was a killing to be made in other metals, even moreso than gold.

News reporters would stand outside of coin shops interviewing investors lined up to buy palladium bars, buy palladium coins, and buy all kinds of gold and silver. if you were to invest palladium a few years ago you'd have made a fortune. On the other hand you had the non-investors--the people who just wanted money--runing to cash in their palladium jewelry, platinum jewely, gold coins, and even sterling silverware! It was actually worth something now! Silver was $50/oz. FIFTY! Even if you factor IN inflation it has never been that high before.

Jump ahead to 2009. Cheap palladium price of $200, cheap gold at $950, and platinum cheap like gold. After inflation has torn away the value of the dollar, these prices don't even show up the newspaper anymore. No one cares. Gold double, palladium double, silver triple...wouldn't matter. None of these scenario's would stack up to the craze of 1980!'

Inflation Adjusted Charts: Palladium History - Palladium Bottom is Now!

Price of Palladium 1992-2009

Here are a couple palladium price charts. The first one suggests that palladium is near its historical bottom. Palladium was once over $1000/oz palladium as you see, and now it's down around $200, which, if you factor in inflation, is similar to the beginning of the chart, which we'll call "bottom."


Palladium Price 1910-2006

And below is a palladium price chart dating back to 1910. The actual price of palladium, when our grandparents were growing up, was right around $100 for an ounce. However, if you factor in inflation you'll see how palladium (inflation) was well above $1500. Through the 40s, 50s, and 60s, you can see the price was cheap. Remember, until 1971 America was on the gold standard and gold was set at $32/oz, and palladium was pretty much based on the price of gold. However, look at the jumps after 1971 when Nixon took the US off the gold standard! Palladium had its jumps, any which of today would have taken palladium near the $1000 mark! These jumps were--if you adjust for inflation--higher than the spike to $600 palladium in 2008.

(Click to enlarge)

(Pd Image courtesy of Orsa Maggior)

Gold Adjust for Inflation

Palladium and even gold adjusted for inflation isn't a popular topic. But, let's look at it for a second. If we look at gold historically, in 2009 dollars, and adjust for inflation, we get this chart:

(Click to enlarge)

Do you see how with gold adjusted for inflation the jump in 1980 would be like gold being worth $5000 an oz in 2009 dollars? Do you see how the lines narrow as we return closer to the present? This is because we can't factor in as much inflation, so, obviously, the price of gold today is the spot price quoted on any website. So, throughout the 80s and 90s, EVEN when adjusted for inflation, gold was cheap. Since the 2008 surge CANNOT be adjusted for inflation, because it is basically the same time as now, gold was and still is cheap, because it only reached $1000/oz.

So, while the 1980 surge only reached $1000 as well, it was actually like gold being worth at least 4 times that much, due to inflation. In 1980, a regular car cost you $5000, more or less. Today it's $20,000, etc.

For the record 1 oz gold is $940 Feb 14, 2009. And if the surge were anywhere near what it were in 1980, according to gold expert James Turk, gold would be over $6000 per ounce. If you can't grasp this inflation adjusted palladium and gold price, remember, that in 1980, 5 ounce of gold would buy you a basic four-door car. In 2009, for 5 ounces of gold to buy you that same car--which is now $20,000--only if it were at $5-6000/oz. Understand? In other words, gold and palladium is worth peanuts compared to the early 1980s!

Next, let's look at it in reverse.

Gold and Therefore Palladium Prices in 1983 Dollars

This section may be difficult to grasp. The previous section was talking about prices in the 80s and 90s being adjusted for 2009 dollars. Now, let's look at 2009 palladium prices adjusted back to 1983 dollars.

(Image concept of 1983 dollars inflation adjusted palladium courtesy of Christopher Laird. He said 1983 dollars were chosen because that was after gold prices finally settled down.)

Here, the image is a normal Kitco chart in actual prices, and the black line is what gold prices would have been if the dollar had remained as strong as it were in 1983. Since you would only need $5000 1983 dollars to buy a car, you'd have to multiply today's dollar price by 4 to reach that same strength. In other words, you'd divide precious metals' prices by 4. Gold would be around $200/oz and palladium would be $50/oz.

Soooo, when gold hits $1000, and palladium hits $250, is it really skyrocketing? No, we have a long way to go for that. It's very, very cheap right now. If we were to time jump from 1981 to today, we'd see palladium as being worth about $50/oz

A Crazy Thought: Silver & Palladium Skyrocketing

Did you know that silver actually reached $50/oz before? That was in 1980 as well. All precious metals rose Then. Silver bars, palladium coins, platinum, everything. Palladium demand and demand for platinum and other metals was up.

Remember, we have to multiply by 4 to adjust for inflation when going back and forth between today and 1983, right? $50/oz x 4 = $200/oz. Only if silver were to reach $200/oz would we have a precious metals craze like which occured in the early 80s. For this to happen, we'd see the following prices. Gold is less volatile, silver is the most, so I've adjusted for that. If something were to happen to make prices jump as much as they were to jump in 1980, here are what the palladium and other metals prices would be. What's scary--or something to look forward to, depending on how much metal you own, is that there are so many more factors today leading to such a palladium price surge today compared to 1980!

Gold - $6000/oz, as stated by many.
Silver - $200/oz, if you multiply by 4 to reach 1983 dollar strengh
Platinum - At least the $6000/oz of gold, but could be double gold, so perhaps over $10,000/oz!
Palladium - $1000/oz. If a surge were to occur like in 2000, when it hit $1000/oz where demand for palladium demand was high, coupled with a precious metals rush, if platinum--a palladium substitute were already over $6000, palladium would be at $2-3000/oz!

September 2009 Updated Article Here!

Palladium Moves Up With Other Metals

Okay, we've been seeing a bit of activity in the prices of precious metals over the past week or so. Palladium is at $220. It's been at $180, so that's a 10% jump. Platinum rise to $1070 or so. That also is nearly 10%. You can expect gold to jump as much, but it's up around $940, just a few percent over a few weeks ago. Silver, though, is up 15%.

Auto-Bailout to Make Platinum & Palladium Rise?

I got an email from a friend a couple weeks ago and I thought I'd still my short reply up here. He asked me if the auto-bailout was going through, and here was my reply:

I actually don't even know. I was out of the country for a month. I'll ask someone who was here listening to the news (pretty much anyone but me would know). It's like Tim Ferris said in The 4-Hour Workweek, "Don't waste time reading the news. Someone else will tell you about it." I'll see my friend this week who follows that all very closely, so I'll as him and get back to you

Whether there is or isn't a bailout palladium and platinum MUST rise, but according to some sites it might not be for years. Silver, on the other hand, should be $40/oz because there is none left! I read that Rich Dad's Gold & Silver investing book and it's Robert Kiyosaki and the guy really knew his stuff. I don't have it, though, I read it in the bookstore! They have a little cafe in there. He sees silver as the best investment right now.

I don't have much spare cash left, but I think I should just sell an couple ounces of gold, get $the money, and spend half of it on more silver or palladium!