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Are platinum coins a buy here ??

1970s1970s Posts: 3,093 ✭✭✭✭✭

I've been looking to buy platinum coins for a long time now. I've had my eyes on them on and off for the past 10 years. I know nobody can predict the future, but I see that platinum spot is getting close to the lows it sustained during the 2008 bank "crisis", when the stock market crashed.

My question is what is wrong with platinum, or is it just the "perfect" time to buy ?

I can't think of any negative reason to pull the trigger right now, but I don't follow the ins and outs of the metals market at all.

Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you.

Comments

  • thefinnthefinn Posts: 2,657 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Buy when people are selling. Sell when people are buying. I like Pt right now too, but everyone (and I don't blame them) don't want to sell it for less than they paid. Oh well, then I guess they aren't selling it. Gold has almost no premium, and Platinum is >10%. Go figure.

    thefinn
  • KkathylKkathyl Posts: 3,762 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited July 16, 2018 12:06PM

    it is not a big market so it is not as liquid as Gold or silver. I don't know if collectors are willing to remove a platinum coin bought 2-5 years ago and sell it at today's spot but bars should be easy to find. it seems to go between 800-1000 several times in any year.

    Best place to buy !
    Bronze Associate member

  • SmudgeSmudge Posts: 9,834 ✭✭✭✭✭

    You may want to run this one by the folks in the precious metals forum. They know the bullion markets pretty well and Platinum is a bullion play for the most part. If you want Platinum it may be a good pick now, but all PM's are low. Gold and silver are much easier to sell if you need to.

  • batumibatumi Posts: 873 ✭✭✭✭

    @1970s said:
    I've been looking to buy platinum coins for a long time now. I've had my eyes on them on and off for the past 10 years. I know nobody can predict the future, but I see that platinum spot is getting close to the lows it sustained during the 2008 bank "crisis", when the stock market crashed.

    My question is what is wrong with platinum, or is it just the "perfect" time to buy ?

    I can't think of any negative reason to pull the trigger right now, but I don't follow the ins and outs of the metals market at all.

    Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you.

    I
    @1970s, It might not be the 'perfect' time, though I believe it is a great time, if one has the funds and inclination to pick up a few. Prices have come way down from a few years ago, and they are attractive coins with a lot of different reverses and a few years of fractionals. For a type coin, however, it just may be the 'perfect' time as some of the lower mintages are harder to find and can still be expensive where as the more common ones are fairly easy to find, and at good prices.
    It seems like all the PM coins are in the doldrums at the present time and may be a good time to stack a few away.

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  • Timbuk3Timbuk3 Posts: 11,658 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I like platinum !!! :)

    Timbuk3
  • 2manycoins2fewfunds2manycoins2fewfunds Posts: 3,039 ✭✭✭

    Buy the Burnished W fractionals...................2006-2008.

    Low mintages, bullion floor and short series with neat designs.

  • CoinPhysicistCoinPhysicist Posts: 603 ✭✭✭✭

    I personally don't buy precious metals for the long term. But if I did, platinum would be the last one I buy. Maybe it's falling for a reason compared to its golden and silver counterparts.

    Call me naive all you want. But why wouldn't I touch it? Because it's main use is catalytic converters in cars. Reuters here in a Q&A (https://www.reuters.com/article/us-platinum-demand-automotive/platinum-demand-faces-massive-impact-from-electric-car-growth-ipmi-idUSKBN19X21V) has it written that 40% of all platinum is used in catalytic converters. It's like apple and the iPhone. Anything happens to it and bad things will happen. A lot of people in a lot of places are trying to get rid of gas cars, not saying I agree with that, but that has to be a downward pressure on it. And that desire of many people doesn't seem to be changing, whether or not it will happen, who knows.

    That being said, if you try to time the market, good luck. The vast vast majority fail.

    Successful transactions with: wondercoin, Tetromibi, PerryHall, PlatinumDuck, JohnMaben/Pegasus Coin & Jewelry, CoinFlip, and coinlieutenant.

  • topstuftopstuf Posts: 14,803 ✭✭✭✭✭

    What would you plan to do with them?
    Retail "demand" is nil.
    I finally asked my wholesaler what he did with the ones I sold him.
    He said he sold them to USERS only.

    Dunno if that's still the case, but I can count on two fingers the ...customers....who expressed any interest.

    GOLD RULES !!
    Always

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  • jmski52jmski52 Posts: 23,291 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I've been buying platinum from time to time since 1996. You can do alright with platinum, and you can also lose - just like you can with the other metals.

    It's very true that platinum is less liquid, but there's always a buying and a selling price. Always. Platinum doesn't catch fire very often, but when it does, it's easy to sell and harder to buy. About 85% of the time, platinum isn't on fire so the reverse is usually true - like right now.

    The gold/platinum ratio is at historic levels, so eventually things will regress to the mean. Platinum is 10X scarcer than gold, and it does get consumed. It's harder and harder to mine these days. What makes platinum's price today somewhat more interesting is that palladium has also surged way ahead of platinum in spite of platinum's slightly better physical properties for industrial usage. Maybe it's because palladium is more available, I don't really know.

    Whatever your attitude towards electric cars, they are not yet economically comparable to the internal combustion engine. Electric vehicles and the infrastructure needed for them - have their own set of constraints that factor into the overall market.

    Platinum is definitely a bargain now, but there's no guarantee that it won't also be a bargain when you get ready to sell it. I like platinum, and if I had to bet on it - my bet would be that platinum has a better chance of being higher in price 10 years from now than not.

    My advice would be to pick a platinum series and a denomination, then proceed to collect it. This will provide some interest along the way, but before you do that - make sure to research the current pricing of each coin in the series so that you don't get frustrated by pricing at the end of the trail. It's a good idea to know in advance what you might be getting yourself into.

    Q: Are You Printing Money? Bernanke: Not Literally

    I knew it would happen.
  • 2manycoins2fewfunds2manycoins2fewfunds Posts: 3,039 ✭✭✭

    I'll point out some of the platinum populations are less than reported because in 2008 when platinum hit $2,000+ a lot of 2007 and earlier coins got sent to smelters. I sent 50K-100K especially the $100s and $50s mostly 2005-2007s.

    As I recall there was a power shortage in South Africa that caught everyone off guard with no inventory. Yes they got smelted.

    Prices doubled in 6 months peaking around late June-early July 2008 then plunging back below $1,000 by November 2008 in midst of financial crisis.

    When Proof Platinums came out in April 2008 a 4 coin set was over $4,000 explaining why there are so few First Strike proof coins.

    It was worse for the Burnished. They came out in early July when prices were just starting to break. When first issued I had a number of 4 coin Burnished sets and singles. By end of 30 day return period platinum prices had dropped so much that I had to decide on whether to hold and submit for FS labels or return to side-step the price drop. I opened all boxes and cherry picked the best while sending the rest back to the mint back saving around $30K+ in bullion prices as I recall.

    This high initial price limited early sales while dramatic price drop just after release resulted in very few FS submissions.

  • 2manycoins2fewfunds2manycoins2fewfunds Posts: 3,039 ✭✭✭

  • jmski52jmski52 Posts: 23,291 ✭✭✭✭✭

    When the price dropped precipitously In 2008, the Mint stopped selling the Proof Plats for about 4 to 5 months. For awhile there, it looked like mintages had the potential to finish in the hundreds for each denomination.

    Knowing the Mint can't ever be trusted, I kept my overly-expensive coins and hoped that they wouldn't put any more of them up for sale. When the price dropped in half and the Mint put them back up for sale, I "had to" buy more at half price.

    2008 was a good year, but not cost-wise, at least not the first half of it.

    Q: Are You Printing Money? Bernanke: Not Literally

    I knew it would happen.
  • jmlanzafjmlanzaf Posts: 36,997 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Run it back to 2000 and then ask where the bottom is in the PM market

    All comments reflect the opinion of the author, even when irrefutably accurate.

  • FullStrikeFullStrike Posts: 4,353 ✭✭✭

    I used to be a Platinum nutt. Now I'm a real Jets Pizza nutt. Cant really get into Platinum anymore, the 2018 Design sure doesn't help.

  • rickoricko Posts: 98,724 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I will stick with gold and silver.... Though I will say, the platinum coin designs are very nice. Cheers, RickO

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