Platinum Physical Ask Price Divorces from Paper Spot

The precious metals markets have witnessed a de facto separation between the paper platinum spot price and the physical bullion price, as US retailers oft pay more than 3.3% for non-numismatic coins and bars. The spread on platinum products are, in most cases, twice the amount of their gold counterparts. This is a trend that each precious metals market will soon also experience.

Many people have spoken about this event in relation to the silver market. They argue that, as a result of coerced silver pressure to the downside, physical demand will one day force a divide between what the paper-silver and the physical silver costs.

Platinum is the rarest precious metals on planet earth, and primary platinum is only mined in South Africa, where there are just 12 mines.  In fact, all this platinum comes from a mere 200 miles of terrain. In Russia, to be sure, a small percentage of platinum is mined, if only as a by-product of their nickel mining.

When perusing the web, it’s quite clear that the availability of retail platinum to the public is dramatically limited. At Compare Platinum Prices.Com, one can spot-check the prices of the web’s most competitive platinum prices.  At this website, you can see that the most competitive asking price for the Perth Mint’s Platinum Platypus—one of the most actively traded retail platinum products—is about $100. This is the premium paid for gold numismatic coins. The Platinum Platypus, however, is one of the main bullion products offered to individuals at the retail level.

The American Platinum Eagle trades at a $200 premium, and graded versions of these coins are indeed considered contemporary numismatic coins by the rare-coin community.

The libertarian and mainstream communities speak unswervingly of silver and gold, with scant mention of either platinum or palladium. These two metals offer excellent protection for that very reason: they are not the focus of anyone’s attention. Governments will hone their efforts against the anti-monetarists in silver and gold then spend time going after the less-attitudinally defined platinum market. To be sure, as precious metals in an age of monetary collapse, platinum could track closely, if not outpace, the rise of gold and silver.

Platinum is 30 times more rare than gold. To put this in perspective silver is between 10 and 20 times more rare than gold. One reason for this could be that, while gold is preserved, platinum and silver are used. Moreover, in comparison with gold and silver, no meaningful above-ground platinum stockpiles have been discovered. Therefore, there is little-to-no opportunity to fill the gap against major supply disruptions.