Platinum was cheaper than gold

I don’t know how many of you were paying attention but yesterday for
the first time (at least in my lifetime) platinum was actually
cheaper than gold briefly. It ended up with a few dollars of gold.
Pretty amazing times we’re in here. On a side note how are you other
retailers finding the season is working out? Any comments?

Daniel R. Spirer, G.G.

Hello Daniel, At the end of 12-13 we are down 17%. How about you?

Tom Arnold

I don't know how many of you were paying attention but yesterday
for the first time (at least in my lifetime) platinum was actually
cheaper than gold briefly. 

If my memory serves me right, platinum was cheaper than gold up until
early 1980s. Raise in price was due to industrial demand in car
manufacturing (exhaust systems ). Looking towards the future, since
electric cars do not need one; and present, non existing demand for
new cars; decline in price is logical and expected, and probably
will continue.

Leonid Surpin

It did the same a couple of weeks ago as well. I read in New
Scientist that theres only about 10 years worth of platinum still to
be mined, so get it while you still can!

Chris

An article posted on The Bullion Desk dot com friday Dec. 12 stated
that the last time the gold pricing exceeded the platinum price was
in 1996. Not 2 weeks ago but within most of our lifetimes.

Cliff Durlacher

In north central Indiana, our store is running just about even with
last year, and in the last week we seem to be getting the rush that
usually doesnt happen until about the very last week. I hope this
early beginning continues. But I also notice that I dont have my
normal better clientel as much as I normally do at this stage of the
game. Also limited credit card use, noticably more cash sales, and
generally smaller sales too. Fortunately, I stocked up on watches
from 30-150$, ID bracelets 15-30, stainless jewelry 30-80, and have
kept plenty of signs up that we are buying gold. And have sold a
good number of used gold/diamond pieces that I purchased at scrap
prices, so really good deals for them and I am getting way more than
scrap for the items, but the items must be in really nice condition.

Some days I am buying as much scrap gold as I am selling
merchandise. Some gold purchases are from people that I priced
sometime back, but waited till now to sell cause they NEED the money
now for Christmas. Also a fair number of gold scrap trade-ins for
their Christmas shopping. We are located in a small strip with 3
consumer loan offices, 1 insurance agent, and ourselves, out of 5
units, one being a check cashing/loan kind of office. The check
cashing office is very busy, alot of very lowend type of loan
traffic- $500 for 6 weeks at 30% interest, whereas the other 2 loan
offices(21% apr interest type of places) both are telling me that
loan applications are way up, but approvals are way way down- like 5
approvals out of 30 apps. My community is about 50,000 people with
aprox 15-20,000 employed at Delphi Automotive Electronics, and
Chrysler Transmissions.

Also I notice an increased number of cars showing up in the parking
lot without liscence plates- these are cars that have been
repossessed, or returned during the middle of the night, according to
the loan office managers. Also I notice in the newspaper, that all 3
loan offices have a dramatically larger number of collection lawsuits
than their norm.

All-in-all, doing okay, just nothing to write home to Mom about. Sure
hope it improves.

Ed

platinum was cheaper than gold up until early 1980s. 

Well, not really… Leonid’s statement aroused my interest, because I
didn’t actually know. Going to www.kitco.com (always near, on our
computer) and the historical charts, in the 60’s gold was in the
$35’s and platinum was in the $85’s - it’s not important enough to me
to go beyond the yearly averages, btw. The only (average) time I see
that platinum dipped below gold was in the mid-80’s, probably because
of CATs, as Leonid said. In 1985 platinum was $291, and gold was
$317—yearly average, again… And then they diverge again, up until
lately.

An article posted on The Bullion Desk dot com friday Dec. 12
stated that the last time the gold pricing exceeded the platinum
price was in 1996. Not 2 weeks ago but within most of our
lifetimes. 

While this is factually correct, it is also misleading. Average
price for platinum in 1978 was about $260. In 1979 price jumped to
$445. Obviously fundamental change in demand. 1995 price was $420 and
1996 price was $395. The variation within technical fluctuation range
due to market condition.

Leonid Surpin

Well, not really.. Leonid's statement aroused my interest, because
I didn't actually know. Going to www.kitco.com (always near, on our
computer) and the historical charts, in the 60's gold was in the
$35's and platinum was in the $85's 

But wasn’t that during the time when the price of gold was fixed in
the US?

I was in Korea in the 60’s, and remember stories about people
illegally sending gold from the US to GIs in Korea, where they sold
it at a large profit.

Al Balmer
Sun City, AZ

Depends on which of the 7 platinum metals you want. Re is only
$10,000/kg in 2008 compared to $1-2,000/kg 5 years ago but it could
go up 10x more depending on demand. The fact that it sort of extends
the Mohs Scale to 11 hardness might create a use in jewelry work.
Does anyone know of Re being used to cut diamonds?

In the 1820’s Russia had so much platinum tht they minted low value
coins from it until they realised that the rest of the world didnt
have any. Aluminium was more expensive than gold then though.

Nick

Depends on which of the 7 platinum metals you want. Re is only
$10,000/kg in 2008 compared to $1-2,000/kg 5 years ago but it
could go up 10x more depending on demand. The fact that it sort of
extends the Mohs Scale to 11 hardness might create a use in jewelry
work. Does anyone know of Re being used to cut diamonds? 

I think I’m about to learn something. What is Re, and when did the
six member platinum group acquire another member? The best the
original six can do is Mohs 7.0 for Os, and that’s a long way from
diamond.

Al Balmer
Sun City, AZ

In the 1820's Russia had so much platinum tht they minted low
value coins from it until they realised that the rest of the world
didnt have any. Aluminium was more expensive than gold then though. 

What would Cleopatra have paid for a large sodium chloride crystal
mounted in an aluminum band?

In the 1820's Russia had so much platinum tht they minted low
value coins from it until they realised that the rest of the world
didnt have any. 

I used to buy metals from a bullion dealer in London called J
Blundell and Sons, which is still going by the way. I was told that
they got started by buyng platinum coins from Russia in the 19th
century. So this would make sense, I never was really sure if what I
was told was true or not.

regards Tim Blades.

I was told that they got started by buyng platinum coins from
Russia in the 19th century. So this would make sense, I never was
really sure if what I was told was true or not. 

I melted quite a few of those myself. Platinum was a standard
ingredient in making silver alloys in Russia. I know it is patented
right now, but the practice of adding platinum into silver alloys
preceding the patent by at least 200 years. Russia had, and probably
still does, more platinum that it knows what to do with.

Leonid Surpin

I used to buy metals from a bullion dealer in London called J
Blundell and Sons, which is still going by the way.

Not any longer, I’m afraid - they had their closing down sale a
couple of weeks ago. I bought casting grain from them over the
previous 15 years.

Paul Jelley
London