For quite a while, I’ve felt awkward for people wearing a ring or watch made of platinum. My feelings are based on platinum bearing such a remarkable resemblance to silver. They look alike. Of course, platinum sells for a huge premium over silver.
The folks at American Express have also long considered platinum the world’s premier metal – as have other cards, clubs and social strata. For Amex, it’s the name they put on a top-tier credit card. Their “Platinum Card” has an annual fee of $695. (The only card higher is the American Express “Centurion Black Card.” To have that you must be privately invited and pay an annual fee of $5,000. You must also charge at least $250,000 per year to keep it. Oh, and just to get the ball rolling, there’s a $10,000 initiation fee.) There’s surely no need to ask me, “What’s in your wallet?”....
In the past 10 years, there’s been a curious metallic switch. The luster has diminished for platinum and risen for gold. As of now, platinum is $995 an ounce while gold trades for $1,792. It used to be the opposite. There is no credit card for it (yet) but palladium has soared to $2,326 an ounce. If that sounds high, don’t bother looking at rhodium. That metal – used sparingly in white gold and also looks like silver – currently sells for a staggering $16,300 an ounce. Rhodium was as high as almost $30,000 an ounce this past March. Hello Bitcoin?
All of this has created something of a conundrum for Mints around the world. While silver (now near $23 per ounce) is still the beta for most commemorative coins, gold remains, well…the gold-standard for collectors. There’s still something magical about that enchanting soft, yellowish metal. It’s been that way for thousands of years.
For collectors and investors, since its introduction in 1986, the American Eagle gold bullion coin the world standard. The US Mint has even occasionally modified the image of the bald eagle on the reverse to spice it up. This year, there is a dramatic new US gold coin known as the American Liberty. The one-ounce coin struck from pure .999 gold has a face value of $100. The kicker is that it is limited to a release of just 12,500 coins.
Featured on the new American Liberty coin is a Mustang horse bucking off a saddle in front of a rising sun. The image is symbolic of a “wild America” throwing off any restraint from British rule in the late-1700s. For a more dramatic feel the image was created in high relief. The impressiveness of the coin is reflected in its recent, immediate sellout from the Mint. It’s doubtful more will be minted. The coin sold online from the Mint for just over $2,700 – almost $1,000 more than the value of its gold content. Clearly, collectors loved it and were willing to pay dearly.
For those with a fascination for the new palladium metal and with even deeper pockets, another American Eagle bullion coin has been struck. This one contains one-ounce of pure .9995 palladium.
The 2021 one-ounce palladium coin is limited to a total mintage of 12,000 and will sell for a price a bit north of $3,000 when it is issued next week. It too is expected to be a sellout.
Not that it is in any of our wheelhouses, but there is just one version of a one-ounce coin struck from the hyper-rare metal rhodium. It comes from the sovereign United Kingdom state of Tuvalu in the West-Central Pacific. That unique coin issue, with an issuance of merely 100 pieces, has a selling price of $22,725. Just don’t rush out to buy one. They too sold out shortly after they were issued. And, no, one is not in my wallet.
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