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With the recent spike in gold and silver prices, precious metal products have increased in popularity as investors and collectors look to protect their wealth by investing in precious metal bars and coins. Among the lesser known metals used in coins and bars today is palladium. It is a metal that resembles platinum, with a soft silver-white appearance. JM Bullion is now proud to offer a variety of palladium bars to investors and collectors shopping our website today.
Most investors and collectors are aware of the many high-profile gold and silver bars available on the market today. Palladium does not enjoy the profile that gold and silver do, but is equally valuable and increasingly sought after by fans of precious metal products. In recent years, the popularity of palladium bars has increased because of the tripling value of the metal itself. Despite that rise, the value of palladium compared to gold and silver remains low, making it easier for investors and collectors to purchase palladium bars for less than other precious metals.
Palladium is a rare precious metal that was first discovered in 1803 by William Hyde Wollaston. The metal was named after the asteroid Pallas, which itself was named after the Greek goddess of Athena. Palladium is in the platinum group of precious metals, but is the least dense of those metals and has the lowest melting point of any platinum group metal.
This precious metal is found in just a few places around the globe. The vast majority of the world’s palladium comes from South Africa, with additional deposits found in Montana, US; Ontario, Canada; and Russia. More recently, palladium has been sourced from recycling operations that consist largely of automotive catalytic converters.
More than half the world’s supply of palladium is used in the production of catalytic converters in automobiles, which are used to convert harmful gases from auto exhaust into less-harmful substances. It is also popular in electronics, dental equipment, and fuel cells. The increasing value of palladium has driven an increase in demand for palladium bars.
The most popular palladium bars available today on the precious metals market come from Credit Suisse and PAMP Suisse. However, these two major refineries are not the only companies producing palladium bars. Johnson Matthey, Engelhard, and Valcambi Suisse also produce popular palladium products.
PAMP Suisse is one of the world’s foremost producers of precious metal bars, and its palladium bar collection includes the famous Fortuna design. Modeled on images of the Roman goddess of fortune and personification of luck, the Fortuna design features the goddess with a blindfold over her eyes and a cornucopia on her head. At the bottom of the bar, her clutched hands capture the bounty of coins flowing from the cornucopia.
Credit Suisse and Valcambi Suisse produce palladium bars with standard designs that feature the corporate logo on one side, and the bar’s identifying features on the opposite face. Each company produces a range of sizes that include the popular 1 oz and 10 oz weights.
Johnson Matthey is another common producer of palladium bars, with its Lewis & Clark design the most popular on its palladium products. The image features Meriwether Lewis and William Clark as they survey the vast American landscape in front of them on their journey across America’s western wilderness.
If you have any questions for JM Bullion customer service about our selection of palladium bars, purchasing palladium, or shipping costs for your products, please feel free to reach out to us. You can contact JM Bullion customer service on the phone at 800-276-6508, chat with us live online, or simply send us an email with your inquiries.
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