Palladium

Palladium is a key, if often forgotten, member of the precious metals club. It is often mislabeled or left out completely when discussing precious metals. This is a mistake though, because of its wide-ranging industrial uses. Palladium is a crucial component in the automotive, electrical, technology, dentistry, and jewelry industries.
 
Its lower melting temperature (2,831°F compared to 3,215°F for platinum) and softness make it ideal for many applications. But its beauty and rarity also make it a great option for any bullion collector or investor. Palladium’s price is more business-cycle sensitive than gold’s, due to its industrial uses. In addition, the size of the palladium market is significantly smaller than either the gold or silver market. For these reasons, palladium’s price behaves more like a general commodity than a precious metal.  

Why buy palladium?

Palladium’s properties make it critical for many industries. It is one of the six platinum group metals (PGMs). All six PGMs are bunched together in the periodic table and are all very rare. Palladium’s specific properties include:

• Significant hardness when cold-worked, and highly malleable and soft when annealed 
• Lowest melting point of all PGMs
• Lowest density of all PGMs
• Doesn’t react with oxygen

These characteristics make palladium ideal for various uses in your everyday life. The most common use of palladium, consuming about half of industrial consumption, is in the catalytic converters of fossil-fuel-powered automobiles. The palladium in the catalytic converters converts dangerous gases like carbon monoxide into far less harmful ones like carbon dioxide and water vapor. If you’re wondering why people steal catalytic converters, now you know – they’re doing it for the palladium! 

These industrial purposes keep palladium in steady demand. And with ever-increasing emissions standards for cars and trucks, the need for catalytic converters isn’t going anywhere.
 
Palladium is also used in dentistry because of its resistance to corrosion, electronics due to its conductivity, and jewelry because of its natural coloring and density. Along with platinum, it is often used as an alternative to “white gold” or silver – often found in wedding rings and other higher-priced jewelry.
 
Of course, this makes it a perfect metal for investors and collectors alike. It is 15 times rarer than platinum and 30 times rarer than gold, making it a true treasure. The best way you can add palladium to your collection is by buying palladium coins and bars.

Palladium Bars

Palladium bars are produced by a wide range of mints around the world. While not as widely made as gold bars or silver bullion, palladium bars are a great way to round out any collection.

Because of their rarity and high value, palladium bars are only made in a few different sizes. Typically, you can find:

• 1 gram bars
• 50-gram bars
• 1/10 oz bars
• 1 oz bars
• 10 oz bars

These bars are often minted alongside platinum by the major mints of the world, including:

• Valcambi Suisse
• PAMP Suisse
• Engelhard
• Baird Mint

Valcambi’s 50-gram CombiBars are among the most popular palladium bars in production today. These credit card-sized bars can be broken into 50 separate 1 gram bars, making them ideal for barter.

Palladium coins

Fortunately for coin collectors, palladium coins are even more popular and accessible. Many are produced by government mints like the Royal Canadian Mint (RCM) and the U.S. Mint. Palladium coins are most commonly produced in 0.9995 fineness. 

Popular examples of palladium coins include:

• American Eagle Palladium Coin — Authorized by Congress in 2010, but not produced until 2017, palladium American eagles are the newest metal for U.S. Mint bullion products. They carry a face value of $25 and a purity of 0.9995. Each coin contains one troy ounce of palladium.
• Canadian Maple Leaf Palladium Coin —The palladium maple leaf coins have not been produced annually,  like gold and silver maple leaf coins. The RCM first issued palladium maple leaf coins in 2005, but production stopped in 2008 as prices retreated. Following the financial crisis, demand for palladium bullion skyrocketed, spurring the RCM to produce these coins again. Crafted using 0.9995 fine palladium, these 1 oz maple leaf coins are great options for investors.
• Russian Ballerina Palladium Coin — Russia is the world’s largest producer of palladium and became one of the first countries to produce bullion products like the Ballerina, launched in 1989. Palladium ballerina coins come in ¼ oz, ½ oz, and 1 oz of 0.999 fine palladium and feature a ballerina representing the Bolshoi Ballet. This coin remained so popular it was continuously produced for years after the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union. The last ballerina coins were minted in 1995.
• Chinese Panda Palladium Coin — Also among the early producers of palladium coins, the China Mint first issued the palladium version of its panda coins in 1989. They’re minted in both ½ oz and 1 oz 0.999 fine palladium versions and feature a different panda each year. These remain a popular choice, despite (or possibly because of?) their extremely low mintage numbers.

With palladium’s many industrial uses and its extreme rarity, it is likely to remain in demand for years to come. Its rarity – vastly less common than either platinum or gold – along with its crucial industrial uses and its inherent beauty make it a perfect precious metal investment option. It offers easy storage with its high price-to-weight ratio. And while not as common as gold or silver, palladium provides an excellent way to further diversify your precious metals collection.