The US Government holds almost 9 Tonnes of Gold on reserve. The largest stockpile of any nation in the World.

You bring up an entire interesting topic Major D. The whole idea around comparative abundance and rarity of precious metals is involved. Is one comparing known above-ground stock piles, is it the comparison of annual mine production, is it comparing known mineable reserves, or comparing crustal abundance of the elements? Disclaimer: I’m no pro and don’t subscribe to the reports that have distilled those numbers. Sources don’t even agree on the numbers and it really doesn’t make any difference because the traders, who drive the market, are looking at things like mining production surplus/ deficit to demand, or stock to flow ratios. Abundance is only an aspect of the Supply/Demand equation. You are totally right about PGMs prices being disconnected to the abundance of the elements, which was a point I tried to make about PGMs not behaving like gold. It doesn’t make analytic sense to compare the price of PGMs to gold to make a price projection. Should I compare apples and cows, they are both edible. I don’t recognize your abundance ratio, it doesn’t match any of mine. The gold / silver comparison is a lot easier: I have silver mine production (troy ounces) at 8X gold production, known reserves at 10X gold, and above-ground .999 silver at 2X gold, but don’t quote me on those. Clearly no causal link between the ratio and the price, buyers and sellers control the price.
What does it all mean? I like the advice of Douglas Casey, gold bug and pundent, who said something along the line, “Learn how to dance fast and don’t get attached.” [to an investment]

You realize Kaiser that the “gold” bars you’ve pictured are available from Amazon for 3 for $22

lol

No contradiction noted. If I were on a tighter budget, though I like the design, any palladium coin would be a hard pass for me.

Interestingly, I only collect proof coins. From a moneymaking/investment standpoint, uncirculated would likely make more sense. But, I prefer proof coins. Such are the vagaries of the coin collector ….

Sorry to hear Kaiser, and hopefully that experience & memory, at least in part is now, as someone once said “done and dusted”!

Kaiser,

It’s simple…ROI.

Craig,

eBay

Kaiser,
For me, it has always been about a return on a tangible, in hand investment.
Yes, the dollar is puffy, but not enough to offset the gains…
Even an in-house Brand Silver Round is very desirable today, just as it was for me back in 2015 or so..
2015-20 Round Roll = $300 +/-…
2024-The same 20 Round Roll sold for $600 +/-….