The Curious Case of Platinum: Reasons Why you Need to Invest in this Surging Precious Metal

The gold, silver and other precious metals investment market are something that most people still have not tapped into, and the people who know how to invest in it leans towards silver and gold. After all, there are a lot of ways to invest in precious metals like gold and silver; both are considered to have high value, no matter what the circumstances are.

Although silver and gold are one of the most common precious metals to invest in, a lot of people are starting to pay attention to valuable metal like platinum and sees it as a viable investment. If you are new to this line of business, investing in precious and valuable metals or just looking to expand your reach, here are some reasons why you need to consider it as a good and viable investment.

Know more about Platinum

It is a valuable and precious metal that has grayish white color and sometimes mistaken for silver. You can naturally find this metal Africa, western United States, Columbia as well as the Ural Mountains. It is located in the presence of other rare and valuable minerals like ruthenium, iridium, osmium, rhodium and palladium. It is also sometimes found near silver, gold, copper or nickel. Want to know more about this precious metal? Click here.

The history of platinum

Although platinum’s modern history can be traced back in the eighteenth century, this precious metal has been discovered in objects dating back to ancient civilizations, 700 B.C to be exact. For example, platinum was found in a famous Egyptian sarcophagus called The Casket of Thebes.

In 1557, a renowned Italian physician and scholar, Julius Caesar Scaliger or Giulio Cesare della Scala mentioned the precious metal in his written documents. At the time, Scaliger described an unknown precious metal which can’t be liquefied by fire. It is one of the reasons why the metal had almost no value for the longest time.

Not only that, people from Central America considered this metal to be an annoyance because it always got in the way when they are mining for gold. They also thought that this metal was a variety of “green” gold. For years, they believed that it has no value and just a way to counterfeit gold.

It was a Spanish Navy officer named Antonio de Ulloa that was first credited with the discovery of platinum. Antonio de Ulloa and his colleague, Don Jorge y Santacilia, traveled to Peru and Columbia in 1734. During these trips, the two of them found the metal in the mines; they checked and brought it back to Spain.

By 1774, was considered as a new element. In today’s world, it is regarded as one of the rarest precious metals. The annual global production is close to 9 million ounces or more or less 10% of the world’s yearly gold production.

The reasons why people need to invest in platinum

While a lot of investors sometimes overlook this precious metal, there are reasons why you need people to need to invest in platinum coins or bars. It includes:

Source of supply is very limited – Even though a lot of platinum is found all over the world; it is much rarer than silver or gold. While 90% of the world’s supply comes from Russia and South Africa, there are also other places that have a platinum deposit. The problem is, there are uncertainties around the future of platinum supply. In addition to platinum’s limited amount, it needs a lot of energy as well as money to harvest one ounce of pure platinum.

The increasing demand – There is an expanding demand for this precious metal in both investment and industrial spheres. Platinum is an essential industrial material and is used all over the world to manufacture around 20% of all customer goods.

Platinum has been used for new applications, whether it is for the industrial or the medical industry because of its high resistance to corrosion, extremely high melting point, high durability and electrical conductivity. Not only that, the demand for this precious metal investment has been steadily increasing. For the past decade, there has been a growth in the buying of platinum by investment firms, private investors, pension funds and mutual funds.

Price performance – Precious and valuable metals used to perform well in less favorable economic conditions; platinum is not exempted to this rule. In recent years, this precious metal has been on the top performing asset pecking order. Although it is not as popular as silver or gold, it is still a good investment metal. Because of its rarity, its collectability, as well as its market value, make it an excellent addition to any investor’s collection or portfolio.