Platinum bars and coins

Platinum bullion is an umbrella term that refers to two types of investment product – bars and coins – that share common characteristics, with guaranteed purity of 99.95 per cent being the key criterion.

Both bars and coins provide a straightforward and widely available way of adding physical platinum investment to a portfolio. Sometimes referred to under the umbrella term ‘platinum bullion’ bars and coins are investment products that share common characteristics, with guaranteed purity of 99.95 per cent being the key criterion.

Investment in platinum bullion also gives investors reassurance in terms of provenance and quality – especially when those bars and coins purchased are from Sovereign mints such as the US Mint or The Royal Mint in the UK.

Platinum bullion coins, made from 99.95 per cent fine platinum bullion include, amongst others, the globally-recognised American Eagle and Canadian Maple Leaf. However, mintages of platinum bullion coins are less frequent than their counterparts cast in gold. In fact, prior to 2016, none of the world’s mints had issued a new platinum coin for more than ten years.

Since then, increased awareness of, and appreciation for, platinum has led to the launch of new platinum bullion coins in a series of ‘firsts’ from mints around the globe. For example, The Royal Mint and the Austrian Mint now produce platinum bullion coins: the former as part of its Britannia and Queen’s Beasts collections and the latter through its platinum Vienna Philharmonic series.