Platinum Rebounds

The Perth Mint introduced the pure platinum Australian Koala bullion coin series in 1988 when bars and coins represented 17% of world platinum demand. The withdrawal of the program in 2001 reflected declining interest in platinum coins and bars, which subsequently slumped to account for less than 2% of annual demand.

But investor interest in platinum is rebounding. Prices have risen strongly on the back of industrial, autocatalyst and jewellery applications. According to a chart published by Johnson Matthey, investors last year were responsible for 8% of annual demand.

   Chart courtesy of Johnson Matthey.

With The Perth Mint on the verge of re-entering the platinum bullion coin market, here’s our 30- second history guide to the rarest of all precious metals:

• pre-Columbian South American Indians used platinum for decorative purposes.

• the first European reference to platinum appeared in 1557 in the writings of the Italian scholar and physician Julius Caesar Scaliger as a description of a mysterious metal found in Central America.

• the name platinum is derived from the Spanish term "platina del Pinto", which literally translates into "little silver of the Pinto River”.

• because of its extremely high melting point, 18th century French glass workers used platinum to make crucibles.

• English chemist William Hyde Wollaston developed a way to process platinum ore into pure malleable form at the beginning of the 19th century.

• compared to gold and silver, platinum exists in very small amounts – about 0.005 parts-per-million in the Earth's crust.

• by far the largest producer of platinum is South Africa. The second largest producer is Russia.

• it requires 10 tonnes of ore to produce just 1oz of platinum.

• all the platinum ever mined would fit in the average living room.

Stephen Ward

The Perth Mint Blog