I do understand that there needs to be caution when using historic ratios. Even with the long history of using gold and silver as money, you will find a wide divergence of views regarding the proper ratio between gold and silver. So we also do NOT have a SOLID ratio for gold/plat, silver/plat, etc. True the Au/Pt ratio may get larger before it swings back toward historic levels. But I think that gold is being driven as much by fear and speculation as anything else. People (who have never owned gold before) are being urged to "invest". As I mentioned in the previous post, bullion is more of a hedge against loss than it is an investment for "profit". I do not hear nearly as much hype encouraging "investors" to buy Pt Pd Rh or even oil. But they also can be a hedge against inflation. (interesting to watch the gold to oil ratio, recent history at 10:1) So, ? Is the Pt price more realistic (to industrial demand) since it has less of a "fear factor" adding to the current spot? Pt spiked a few years back when the SA mines were having electrical power disruptions. World production was ramped up leading to an alleged current oversupply. Auto manufacurers may have also begun to hoard as a precaution. Demand may increase in the near future. BTW: Pt is used primarily for gasoline engines, while Pd is more applicable for diesels.
Of the 239 tonnes of platinum sold in 2006, 130 tonnes were used for vehicle emissions control devices, 49 tonnes for jewelry, 13.3 tonnes in electronics, and 11.2 tonnes in the chemical industry as a catalyst. The remaining 35.5 tonnes went to various other minor applications, such as electrodes, anticancer drugs, oxygen sensors, spark plugs and turbine engines
This Platinum Platypus video is errrr ..... different [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdGULWIr5OY[/youtube]
Perso, I think the Perth Mint Platypus 1oz Platinum is the best value of any coin in the world today !
You would say that. But the platinumypus is best. Eagles should be gold. Kookaburras should be silver. It's the natural order of things.
Each coin is struck Four "4" times Australia's Pure Platinum Platypus Coin - 99.95 Pure [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3MtqBSd3w0[/youtube]
I don't think they need to go that far and do a whole range of sizes, just one platinum product that is less than an ounce in size. But being the Perth Mint, they'll talk themselves into a chicken-and-egg situation, exactly like they were in with the idea of a platinum product a few years ago. For those that don't remember (or weren't around back then) some of us on the forum asked why the Perth Mint didn't have any platinum products. The conversation went something like this: SS: Why doesn't the Perth Mint have any platinum products? PM: There is no demand for platinum. SS: How do you know there isn't any demand for platinum if you aren't in the platinum market? PM: We stopped making Platinum Koalas because they weren't selling. SS: You guys stopped making Platinum Koalas, like, 10 years ago, back when gold was $400/oz and silver was $10. Hasn't the precious metals market changed a bit since then? PM: Yes, the demand for precious metals has increased significantly. SS: So why wouldn't it be reasonable to assume that demand for platinum has also increased? PM: But nobody orders any platinum from us. SS: Well, of course they don't because you don't sell any. PM: Oh, we can get 400oz bars shipped in from London if people want platinum. SS: Wait, where's my wallet...Oh. No. Sorry. Thought I had a spare six hundred thousand bucks on me. Looks like I won't be buying any platinum from the Perth Mint. Anyway, they did eventually come around to the idea of trying out a platinum bullion coin which I understand has been reasonably successful (although I may have misunderstood), but I still think having the barrier to entry set at upwards of $1500 for a 1oz coin means that there are a lot of people who are shut out of the market.
Good post^^^^ Re the - "there are a lot of people who are shut out of the market" That's very true but one thing Perth fail to do is place the Platinum Platypus on their Bullion web site along with gold and silver products; that's where the Plats should be listed. http://www.perthmintbullion.com/au/View-All-Bullion.aspx To find the Platinum coins on Perth's web site takes a fair bit of navigating and then a person needs to phone Perth to make an order. As we all know, making a phone call to Perth to buy bullion is challenging and very time consuming. Perth seem to be able to make new tabs for privy coins on their bullion site but plat doesn't get a mention. The 2011 sold out, the 2012 is probably sold out, but if Perth gave platinum more exposure the coins would sell much quicker and like you say, if Perth sold fractionals, they'd sell a lot more metal. Side Note I've also wondered why Perth don't sell the 1/10oz silver bullion coin on their bullion site! They sell a carded 1/10 which is just a bullion coin on a card so......................
Exactly: if you make it hard for people to buy certain things from you, you tend not to sell many of them. They've actually got a "spare" privy platinum platypus already authorised for production, so they've at least anticipated the possibility of selling more than 30,000 coins a year (and that's with no real marketing push either).
The design is fixed year to year as the concept of a new 1oz coin was originally proposed for the US market (where the vast majority of these end up), and feedback from the main US distributor was that a consistent design year after year (ie like how an ASE stays the same) would have better market acceptance. Fractionals would be nice.
Yes, noticed the privy - cheers. On the Perth Blog they say they won't be issuing it. Looks like we might have to wait until next year for the 2013 Platypus.
