Palladium Bullion

One of the platinum group metals, palladium is used extensively as an industrial catalyst and is a key component in the manufacturing of automotive catalytic converters. Palladium is also essential in the jewelry industry...and is one of the three most used metals (along with nickel and silver) which can be alloyed with gold to produce "white gold." It is also used in dentistry, watch making, and in the production of surgical instruments and electrical contacts.

In the autocatalyst industry, palladium is currently a lower-cost substitute for the more expensive alternative, platinum. As this is written, palladium sells for around one-quarter the price of platinum. But that has not always been the case. In late 2000 and early 2001, for example, due to supply disruptions and a resulting panic by auto manufacturers (most notably, Ford Motor Co.), the price of palladium reached an all-time high of nearly $1,100 an ounce, approximately the same price as platinum at the time.

Over half of the world's annual supply of palladium comes from Russia...and the amount and status of Russian palladium supplies are state secrets. In the past, Russia has routinely withheld supplies of palladium from world markets for its own political and/or economic gain, resulting in very large and very fast fluctuations in palladium prices.

It is this historical range of prices, and the price differential between palladium and platinum at any given time, that gives palladium its attractive investment potential. The price of palladium has been, and could again be, extremely volatile, providing investors with a significant opportunity for speculative profit.

Palladium bullion is available from Monex in 10-ounce bars of pure .999 fine palladium. Each bar is manufactured by one of the world's leading refiners, and is hallmarked to certify weight and purity.

Call a Monex Account Representative today to discuss whether a palladium bullion investment is right for you and how you could add palladium to your investment portfolio.

Monex Account Representatives are normally available between 5:30am and 4:30pm Pacific time each Monday through Friday (except national holidays)...and on many weekends.

Give us a call...give our service a try...and compare our prices. You'll see why Monex has been America's trusted name in coin and bullion trading...for over 40 years.

Platinum American Eagles

For those wishing to diversify an investment portfolio with the power of platinum, buying platinum American Eagles may be the ideal way. They are legal tender U.S. coins whose weight, purity and face value are all guaranteed by the U.S. government.

Each platinum American Eagle coin features the powerful and striking image of Lady Liberty on the obverse, symbolizing the American spirit and character. The obverse side of the coin also bears the inscription "Liberty" and contains the date of issue, and mottoes, "IN GOD WE TRUST," and "E PLURIBUS UNUM." The reverse side of the coin bears the image of a bald eagle soaring across a setting sun.

Platinum American Eagle coins are available from Monex in four different sizes and denominations, for personal delivery only. The one-ounce platinum American Eagle has a diameter of 32.7mm, a thickness of 2.39mm, and contains one troy ounce of pure .9995 fine platinum. The coin has a face value of $100, the highest face value of any American coin ever produced. One-ounce platinum American Eagles are sold in units of 10 one-ounce coins.

Each of the fractional platinum American Eagle coins are sold in units of 20 coins each. The half-ounce platinum American Eagle coin has a diameter of 27mm, a thickness of 1.75mm, contains a half-ounce of pure platinum, and has a face value of $50. The quarter-ounce platinum coin has a diameter of 22mm, a thickness of 1.32mm, contains a quarter-ounce of pure platinum, and has a face value of $25. The tenth-ounce platinum coin has a diameter of 16.5mm, a thickness of .95mm, contains a tenth-ounce of pure platinum and has a face value of $10.

Each coin is guaranteed to contain the exact quantity of platinum stamped on the coin, and to meet the rigid quality standards of the U.S. Mint.

American Eagle platinum coins provide investors with the means to diversify, balance and stabilize a well-rounded investment portfolio, all with the safety and backing of the United States government and the U.S. Dollar.

Call a Monex Account Representative today to discuss how a platinum American Eagle investment could become part of your investment portfolio.

Monex Account Representatives are normally available between 5:30am and 4:30pm Pacific time each Monday through Friday (except national holidays)...and on many weekends.

Give us a call...give our service a try...and compare our prices. You'll see why Monex has been America's trusted name in coin and bullion trading...for over 40 years.

Platinum Coins

Platinum

* Platinum American Eagles
* Platinum Canadian Maple Leafs

Platinum Coins

A platinum coin offers investors a divisible size and universally acceptable and recognizable form in which to own platinum. This makes the purchase of platinum coins and the selling of platinum coins easy and convenient.

Platinum Bullion

There was a time—just a few hundred years ago, in fact—when platinum was neither an industrial metal, nor a strategic metal, nor a precious metal used for high-end jewelry. In fact, during the 17th century in South America, the Spanish Conquistadors thought the metal was a nuisance because it interfered with their gold mining operations.

What a difference a century or two can make! In the early 1800s, platinum was found in the gold fields of the Ural Mountains in Russia...and the Russian government decided to take that rare element and turn it into a monetary metal by producing platinum roubles. Over the next 18 years, the Russians minted nearly half a million ounces of platinum roubles and transformed the metal from a mere commodity into a precious metal that was and is, like gold, a store of value.

Today, platinum is a widely-used although extremely rare metal, critically important to the auto industry, the jewelry trade, and the chemical, electrical and glass manufacturing industries. Far rarer than gold, it is estimated that all of the platinum ever mined throughout history would fit into a cube less than 25 feet on each side. The vast majority of platinum mined today comes from just two parts of the world: The Bushveld Complex north of Pretoria, South Africa and the Noril'sk-Talnakh region of Siberia in Russia, which produce, respectively, about two-thirds and one-quarter of the world's platinum supply each year.

Platinum's supply/demand fundamentals are tight. In fact, according to some estimates, if platinum mining were to cease today, there would be only about a year's supply available to industry. In contrast, above-ground supplies of gold would last nearly a quarter of a century.

More than 50% of annual platinum production is used in the automotive industry. Platinum is a primary element in autocatalysts that control vehicle exhaust emissions of hydro-carbons, carbon monoxide, oxides of nitrogen and particulates. Autocatalysts convert most of these emissions into less-harmful carbon dioxide, nitrogen and water vapor. As developing countries such as China and India introduce new environmental legislation to combat air pollution, the demand for autocatalysts—and extremely limited supplies of platinum—is sure to increase.

Platinum's relative scarcity in the face of ever-increasing demand gives platinum incredible investment potential. Its historical price performance—at one time selling at a steep discount to gold, but today, selling at a significant premium to gold—makes platinum a provocative and attractive investment vehicle.

Platinum bullion is available from Monex in 10-ounce bars of pure .9995 fine platinum for trading, storage or personal delivery. Each bar is produced by a leading refiner, such as Johnson-Matthey, and hallmarked to certify weight and purity.

Call a Monex Account Representative today to discuss how an investment in platinum bullion could and possibly should become part of your investment portfolio.

Monex Account Representatives are normally available between 5:30am and 4:30pm Pacific time each Monday through Friday (except national holidays)...and on many weekends.

Give us a call...give our service a try...and compare our prices. You'll see why Monex has been America's trusted name in coin and bullion trading...for over 40 years.

Silver Uses

Although silver is relatively scarce, it is the most plentiful and least expensive of the precious metals. The largest silver producing countries are Mexico, Peru, the United States, Australia and Chile. Sources of silver include; silver mined directly, silver mined as a by-product of gold, copper, lead and zinc mining, and silver extracted from recycled materials, primarily used photographic materials. Today, silver bullion stocks make up a significant component of silver supply.

The demand for silver comes primarily from three areas; industrial uses, jewelry and silverware, and photography. These industries represent 95 percent of annual silver consumption. Silver’s superior properties make it a highly desirable industrial component in manufactured products. Silver’s artistic beauty and status make it one of the most romantic and sought after precious metals.

Diversity is silver’s primary asset. Its unique properties include beauty, strength, sensitivity to light, malleability and ductility, electrical and thermal conductivity, reflectivity and the ability to endure extreme temperature changes. These properties allow groundbreaking research to be conducted by scientists and engineers that effect the way we live.

Silver more than other precious metals, has significant demand rooted in sectors as diverse as imaging, electronics, jewelry, coinage, superconductivity and water purification. For this reason, silver is no longer known as just a precious metal, a store of value, a work of art or an industrial metal. It is all of these. Today silver is indispensable, working all around us to improve the quality of our lives.

SILVER AND MANKIND

Silver is known by the mankind since Pre-History, and its discovery is estimated happened to shortly after that of copper and gold. The oldest reference to the element appears in the book of Genesis. The Egyptians considered gold to be a perfect metal, and gave it the symbol of a circle. Since silver was the closest to gold in perfection, it was given the symbol of a semi-circle. Later this semi-circle led to a growing moon symbol, probably due to the likeness between the shining metal and the moon glow. The Romans called silver argentum, keeping this as the international name of the element, from where its chemical symbol derives.

Just as gold, silver was considered by the Ancients an almost sacred metal and consequently, of extremely restricted use. Its malleability and ductility make it ideal for ornamental purposes. It was also used for paying debts, in personal and religious places decoration and in utensils of the wealthiest houses.

Some mineral scums in old mines of the Near-East and in some islands of the Aegean sea seem to reveal that by 5000 b.C. a method was already known to separate silver from lead. The gold and the silver were extracted from its ores and bonded to lead. After oxidation of this mixture, it was possible to obtain the precious metals.

SILVER

What You Should Know

Silver has attracted man’s fascination for many thousands of years. Ancient civilizations found silver deposits plentiful on or near the earth’s surface. Relics of these civilizations, include jewelry, religious artifacts, and food vessels formed from the durable, malleable metal. This metal took on near mystical qualities in marking important historical milestones throughout the ages, and served as a medium of exchange. The Mesopotamian merchants were doing just that as early as 700 BC.