Palladium was unknown till about 1800. Both platinum & palladium are catalysts & every vehicle made with a catalytic converter has some in it. Until this year palladium has almost always been priced below platinum. Both are very rare for sure, but only a few countries have ever made palladium coins. The high price for palladium was around $1075 in 2001, while platinum reached a high of about $1920 because it is used in more coins. Investors have manipulated the palladium market this year causing the price to rise & will probably fall just as fast, but still retain a good value as the Mint makes more of these new coins next year in both bullion version & Proof version. Provident Metals got 500 of the 15,000 mintage from a U.S. Mint bullion coin Authorized Purchaser, so of course they are playing up the relative rarity of palladium to sell the coins. Just remember, more palladium is mined every day somewhere 24/7/365 just like all precious metals. Of course, any mine strikes in Russia & South Africa have always caused the platinum group metals to increase for a short period till contracts are renegotiated among the poor miners!

-NumisdudeTX

-NumisdudeTX