Platinum Bars

Invest in Platinum Bars with Provident Metals

Platinum has long been an overlooked precious metal in the 21^st century. Although platinum bars have been in production for investors to purchase since the 1970s, with the likes of Engelhard leading the way in early platinum refining, the modern marketplace has platinum bars available from many of the biggest mints in the world. Provident Metals is happy to offer platinum bars as an option for investors looking to diversify beyond traditional gold and silver holdings.

Platinum’s History

Platinum’s name is derived from the Spanish term “platino,” which translates as “little silver” and points to its visual similarity to silver precious metals. Platinum is dense, malleable, ductile, and highly unreactive, making it a popular metal in a wide range of industrial applications. Historically, the indigenous people of South America are believed to have been the first to work with platinum in the pre-Columbian era. Evidence in artwork and jewelry of these cultures suggests that platinum was knowingly or unknowingly worked with in jewelry making and artistic sculpting as a result of its prominence in the alluvial sands of riverbeds throughout the continent.

In the modern era, platinum has played a big role in automobile manufacturing. Engelhard is credited with having developed the first catalytic converter, a part of internal combustion engines that helps clean pollutants from the exhaust of the engine. Beginning in the 1970s, platinum bullion pieces began to emerge. Bars have long been the prominent feature of the market, with coins emerging in the late 1980s and 1990s that have seen varying levels of demand and interest in the decades since. Traditionally, during times of economic uncertainty, the price of platinum plummets as industrial demand cools, while booming economic times often push platinum prices higher as demand across industries stretches the relatively thin global supply of platinum.

Types of Platinum Bars

The most common form for platinum bars is the minted ingot. All platinum bars start out in a cast form, with minted ingots created by feeding long cast bars into stamping presses that cut out the shape and then use computer-controlled presses to stamp in designs and, in some cases, produce laser-etched serial numbers or security features. Cast platinum bars are rarely issued.

Common Weights

Like gold and silver, there are common weights you can expect to find when buying platinum bars. In this area, platinum is a lot like gold in that producers will manufacture platinum bars in a dizzying array of weights that run the gamut from 1 Gram, 5 Gram, and 10 Gram bars to products as large as 50 Gram, 100 Gram, and 10 oz bars.

Producers of Platinum

Many of the world’s leading private mints refine platinum bars for investors to purchase from authorized dealers such as Provident Metals. When you browse our catalog of platinum bars, you can expect to find platinum bars regularly issued from the likes of:

• Valcambi Suisse
• PAMP Suisse
• Credit Suisse
• Argor-Heraeus

Additionally, there are surviving specimens still in circulation for customers to purchase that come from brands that are no longer operational and/or no longer focus on platinum bar production. This includes once-major names like Engelhard. A former Fortune 500 company based in the United States, Engelhard formed a platinum smelting and refining business in 1905 and is credited with the development of the catalytic converter. It began refining platinum bars as early as the 1970s.

Platinum Listings with Provident Metals

Most of the platinum bars you will find online at Provident Metals are available to you in brand-new condition. Provident Metals has secured these items directly from the producing mint or another official supplier of the products. The bars typically come in secure packaging from the mint, with most individually housed in assay capsules that feature an assay card for authentication of the piece.

Provident Metals also has platinum bars available through varied-condition and Secondary Market listings. In both cases, Provident Metals has secured the bars through an indirect source that was not the original issuing mint or official supplier. These bars come in varied conditions in both cases, but also have the benefit of coming with lower premiums due to the condition. The quality of the .9995 pure platinum within the bar remains the same regardless.

Trust Provident Metals with Your Platinum Purchases

If you have any questions about platinum bars from Provident Metals, please feel free to ask. Our customer service team can assist you at 800-313-3315, online using our live chat, and through our email address. Please feel free to visit our Payment Policies page for detailed information on acceptable forms of payment, applicable minimums and maximums with purchase, and any available discounts.