| THE GLOBAL LEADER IN PHYSICAL DELIVERY PURE RHODIUM INVESTMENT COINS AND BARS 1-800-430-1452 EMAIL: MAKINGHISTORY@RHODIUMCOIN.COM |
Q: What is the big deal about Rhodium, I've never even heard
of it.
A: If this describes you, don't feel silly. Its our number one question, and
we've gotten quite good at answering it!
Rhodium has typically been the most precious metal, its very valuable, its
very rare, and it has such an important place in human society that only
back in 2008 it was trading at over $10,000 an ounce.
It is one of six platinum group metals, or PGM's, which means that in
nature it is found together with platinum, and has some similar properties.
The metals are also grouped together on the periodic table. The Platinum
Group Metals are:
1. Platinum
2. Palladium
3. Rhodium **
4. Ruthenium
5. Iridium
6. Osmium
You've definitely heard of number one and two on this list, maybe the
fourth if you're in the jewelry business. Consider yourself financially savvy
if you've heard of Rhodium.
Rhodium plays a crucial role in modern industry as an irreplaceable
catalyst along with the other platinum group metals. What this means is
that your car's catalytic converter has rhodium in it, (you probably already
knew it had platinum), factories that produce emissions (don't they all?)
use the metal as a catalyst to clean the smoke before it exits the stack.
Coal plants, electric plants, manufacturing facilities, industrial parks,
countless companies depend on Rhodium to stay up to date with
environmental regulations. As those regulations get more strict the
demand for this valuable metal will only get heavier.
During the 2008 - 2009 economic recession, the price of Rhodium, along
with the price of stocks, crude oil and many other important commodities
fell, as slowing economic activity lessened demand. As a result this metal
is trading at prices not seen in many years. People are buying Rhodium
because they know that once economic activity picks up again, however
soon that may be, the price of stocks, of crude oil, and Rhodium will go up
again.
A great source of additional information about rhodium can be found here: RhodiumVault
Q: No one has ever made a Rhodium coin before? Is that
because no one would have wanted to buy one?
Why is your company the first to make Rhodium coins, why
hasn't it been done before?
A: There are several factors that have come together that have kept a
pure Rhodium coin off the market up till now.
The first is the time we live in. Although Rhodium has always been
valuable, only in the last decade has its price really broken records, and
the level it reached in 2008 astonished even the most jaded metals
traders. Its getting to be more and more important to society as time goes
on. As emissions standards become stricter, the need for this metal to
reduce dangerous gases will increase.
It is already incredibly rare, and as industrial demand increases,
speculation will tend to magnify value on the open commodities markets.
Only a few years ago did we see the appearance of Rhodium investment
pools, which are ways to buy paper shares in rhodium and bet on the
price moves. People are getting interested, those who are in the know.
So we see a trend forming where over time there is a gradual increase in
price, and a gradual interest in investors.
The problem is that to invest in the metal has up till now meant buying
paper shares in a pool, which was backed up by who knows what. The process was
very opaque and not many people understood it, including those who
plunked down thousands of dollars for paper certificates.
Rhodium is a strange, exotic metal, with properties unlike more common
precious and coin metals such as gold, silver, and copper.
With these more common metals, if you apply force to them they will give
and flow, a property called "ductility". They will bend, they will allow
themselves to be rolled into sheets, to be stamped with designs, they're
perfect coinage metals.
Not Rhodium. Rhodium is very hard, its brittle, and its a nightmare to work
with. Its not easily processed into a sheet. Its nearly impossible to punch
blank disks once you do manage to make the sheet because the metal
just wants to snap and flake. This is to say nothing of striking designs on
the blanks if you can get them to come out right. Its a hard, stiff material
closer to the consistency of really hard glass than any metal we're used to
holding in our hands.
To illustrate this point, we took one of our pure Rhodium coins and we put
it into our vice and proceeded to bend it. If we had a quarter, a penny or
any other coin, it would just bend and thats it. All common metals behave
that way. Here's what happened to the Rhodium coin:
It didn't bend, not even a little. It just snapped, like we knew it would. The
grips of the vice - didn't even cause dents where force was applied.
Mostly this picture is up to satisfy the curiosity of our customers, as I know
some of you would have otherwise been tempted to do this experiment
yourselves, and thereby ruining a perfectly good coin.
So there we have our answer as to why this hasn't been done before we
did it: The price only in recent years has gone up very high, and all along
it was a horrible substance to try and make coins out of, discouraging
everyone from trying.
In terms of demand, its incredible. We have sold such a number of these
coins that as soon as they were offered they quickly shot up to be our
number one product. People who understand what Rhodium is want it, and
they want a lot of it.
As to how we managed to do it, when all others who tried failed? Well,
thats a little bit of a company secret.
Q: How long will it take me to receive my rhodium coins after
ordering it?
A: Normal delivery time is approximately 3 - 4 weeks. Once your order comes
in it is processed and placed in line for production. We actually
manufacture the coins you order specifically for you. Demand is extremely
high and as fast as we can mint them
they get sold out. Once your allocated coins are manufactured they are
packaged and shipped to you. You are welcome to call and check on the
status of your order, but please keep this time frame in mind.
Q: I read the quotation for the spot price of Rhodium on
Kitco's website and it appears to me that you are charging
somewhat more than the spot price. Why is that?
A: This is a common one. Yes, its true that Kitco publishes a daily
quotation for Rhodium, it is an approximate quotation, and what is printed
below near the bottom of the page is what many people miss.
"Fabrication costs for various precious metals products are not included"
Being incredibly difficult to work with (see above) and being that a wholly
new manufacturing process had to be created to make coins out of
Rhodium the fabrication charges are quite high. We try and price our
product as low as we can, and we do absorb as much of our own cost as
possible when you buy in bulk. It really is a pain in the tush to manufacture.
Q: Can I buy these in bulk and resell them?
A: Of course you can resell them. Once they are in your hands, they are
your property to do with as you wish. This is America, after all.
Q: What sizes / weights of Rhodium products do you offer?
A: Currently the offerings for this metal come in 1/4 gram, 1 gram and 1 Troy Ounce
Q: Is Rhodium radioactive?
A: This is a common misconception.
It is not radioactive, not even a little.
It would be insanity to make a coin out of a radioactive metal. You can
touch them with your bare hands, you can let your kids see them. Its just
as safe to be around as gold, silver or platinum. In other words, its
completely benign.
Its also not poisonous. Most sterling silver jewelry is coated with an atom
thick layer of rhodium to preserve its luster. Almost everyone reading this
website has probably already touched Rhodium at some point in their life
and not even known it.
Q: I've read that Rhodium is very fragile. Will this coin break if
I touch it?
A: This is another common question.
The short answer is no.
Although the word "brittle" is commonly used to describe Rhodium, that is meant in
comparison to other metals. It is still a piece of metal, and metal is strong and hard. You are
free to handle it the way you would any rare, valuable, and treasured coin: with care. If you
accidentally drop one on the floor, it probably wouldn't shatter but it may chip slightly, where
a gold coin dropped on the floor may have a dent or a bend. In either case there will be
some minimal damage. So the advice is: treat it with love.
Q:
1. Are these coins real Rhodium?
2. Are they Rhodium plated?
3. Do these coins / bars contain any other alloy in them besides Rhodium?
4. How can I independently test and find out whether these coins are real?
A: These questions usually all appear together, so I'll answer them together.
1. Yes, absolutely they are real rhodium.
2. No, we do not plate our coins and bars with Rhodium. Thats what they are already made
out of, there would be no point.
3. No. There is no other metal or alloy present in our coins. This question often comes from
people who are aware that some gold coins on the market, such as Krugerrands contain a
copper alloying in addition to the gold. So they contain the ounce of gold, plus some copper,
and the total weight is over an ounce all together. Our Rhodium coins do not contain any
alloy in order to make them stronger, or easier to work with, or for any reason at all. They
are completely pure .999 fine rhodium and thats it.
4. Thats easy enough. There are hundreds of metallurgical laboratories located all across
the United States that could verify the purity of your Rhodium coins and bars for a very small
fee. There are several methods you can use. There is a type of X-Ray machine that can
scan the surface and determine the metal composition and this does not mark or destroy the
metal in any way. Then there is the more destructive methods that involve either cutting,
drilling or otherwise getting into the center of the piece to be assayed to determine its
internal composition. The bottom line is that we stand behind our product 100% and fully
guarantee the weight and purity of all our coins and bars for life.
of it.
A: If this describes you, don't feel silly. Its our number one question, and
we've gotten quite good at answering it!
Rhodium has typically been the most precious metal, its very valuable, its
very rare, and it has such an important place in human society that only
back in 2008 it was trading at over $10,000 an ounce.
It is one of six platinum group metals, or PGM's, which means that in
nature it is found together with platinum, and has some similar properties.
The metals are also grouped together on the periodic table. The Platinum
Group Metals are:
1. Platinum
2. Palladium
3. Rhodium **
4. Ruthenium
5. Iridium
6. Osmium
You've definitely heard of number one and two on this list, maybe the
fourth if you're in the jewelry business. Consider yourself financially savvy
if you've heard of Rhodium.
Rhodium plays a crucial role in modern industry as an irreplaceable
catalyst along with the other platinum group metals. What this means is
that your car's catalytic converter has rhodium in it, (you probably already
knew it had platinum), factories that produce emissions (don't they all?)
use the metal as a catalyst to clean the smoke before it exits the stack.
Coal plants, electric plants, manufacturing facilities, industrial parks,
countless companies depend on Rhodium to stay up to date with
environmental regulations. As those regulations get more strict the
demand for this valuable metal will only get heavier.
During the 2008 - 2009 economic recession, the price of Rhodium, along
with the price of stocks, crude oil and many other important commodities
fell, as slowing economic activity lessened demand. As a result this metal
is trading at prices not seen in many years. People are buying Rhodium
because they know that once economic activity picks up again, however
soon that may be, the price of stocks, of crude oil, and Rhodium will go up
again.
A great source of additional information about rhodium can be found here: RhodiumVault
Q: No one has ever made a Rhodium coin before? Is that
because no one would have wanted to buy one?
Why is your company the first to make Rhodium coins, why
hasn't it been done before?
A: There are several factors that have come together that have kept a
pure Rhodium coin off the market up till now.
The first is the time we live in. Although Rhodium has always been
valuable, only in the last decade has its price really broken records, and
the level it reached in 2008 astonished even the most jaded metals
traders. Its getting to be more and more important to society as time goes
on. As emissions standards become stricter, the need for this metal to
reduce dangerous gases will increase.
It is already incredibly rare, and as industrial demand increases,
speculation will tend to magnify value on the open commodities markets.
Only a few years ago did we see the appearance of Rhodium investment
pools, which are ways to buy paper shares in rhodium and bet on the
price moves. People are getting interested, those who are in the know.
So we see a trend forming where over time there is a gradual increase in
price, and a gradual interest in investors.
The problem is that to invest in the metal has up till now meant buying
paper shares in a pool, which was backed up by who knows what. The process was
very opaque and not many people understood it, including those who
plunked down thousands of dollars for paper certificates.
Rhodium is a strange, exotic metal, with properties unlike more common
precious and coin metals such as gold, silver, and copper.
With these more common metals, if you apply force to them they will give
and flow, a property called "ductility". They will bend, they will allow
themselves to be rolled into sheets, to be stamped with designs, they're
perfect coinage metals.
Not Rhodium. Rhodium is very hard, its brittle, and its a nightmare to work
with. Its not easily processed into a sheet. Its nearly impossible to punch
blank disks once you do manage to make the sheet because the metal
just wants to snap and flake. This is to say nothing of striking designs on
the blanks if you can get them to come out right. Its a hard, stiff material
closer to the consistency of really hard glass than any metal we're used to
holding in our hands.
To illustrate this point, we took one of our pure Rhodium coins and we put
it into our vice and proceeded to bend it. If we had a quarter, a penny or
any other coin, it would just bend and thats it. All common metals behave
that way. Here's what happened to the Rhodium coin:
It didn't bend, not even a little. It just snapped, like we knew it would. The
grips of the vice - didn't even cause dents where force was applied.
Mostly this picture is up to satisfy the curiosity of our customers, as I know
some of you would have otherwise been tempted to do this experiment
yourselves, and thereby ruining a perfectly good coin.
So there we have our answer as to why this hasn't been done before we
did it: The price only in recent years has gone up very high, and all along
it was a horrible substance to try and make coins out of, discouraging
everyone from trying.
In terms of demand, its incredible. We have sold such a number of these
coins that as soon as they were offered they quickly shot up to be our
number one product. People who understand what Rhodium is want it, and
they want a lot of it.
As to how we managed to do it, when all others who tried failed? Well,
thats a little bit of a company secret.
Q: How long will it take me to receive my rhodium coins after
ordering it?
A: Normal delivery time is approximately 3 - 4 weeks. Once your order comes
in it is processed and placed in line for production. We actually
manufacture the coins you order specifically for you. Demand is extremely
high and as fast as we can mint them
they get sold out. Once your allocated coins are manufactured they are
packaged and shipped to you. You are welcome to call and check on the
status of your order, but please keep this time frame in mind.
Q: I read the quotation for the spot price of Rhodium on
Kitco's website and it appears to me that you are charging
somewhat more than the spot price. Why is that?
A: This is a common one. Yes, its true that Kitco publishes a daily
quotation for Rhodium, it is an approximate quotation, and what is printed
below near the bottom of the page is what many people miss.
"Fabrication costs for various precious metals products are not included"
Being incredibly difficult to work with (see above) and being that a wholly
new manufacturing process had to be created to make coins out of
Rhodium the fabrication charges are quite high. We try and price our
product as low as we can, and we do absorb as much of our own cost as
possible when you buy in bulk. It really is a pain in the tush to manufacture.
Q: Can I buy these in bulk and resell them?
A: Of course you can resell them. Once they are in your hands, they are
your property to do with as you wish. This is America, after all.
Q: What sizes / weights of Rhodium products do you offer?
A: Currently the offerings for this metal come in 1/4 gram, 1 gram and 1 Troy Ounce
Q: Is Rhodium radioactive?
A: This is a common misconception.
It is not radioactive, not even a little.
It would be insanity to make a coin out of a radioactive metal. You can
touch them with your bare hands, you can let your kids see them. Its just
as safe to be around as gold, silver or platinum. In other words, its
completely benign.
Its also not poisonous. Most sterling silver jewelry is coated with an atom
thick layer of rhodium to preserve its luster. Almost everyone reading this
website has probably already touched Rhodium at some point in their life
and not even known it.
Q: I've read that Rhodium is very fragile. Will this coin break if
I touch it?
A: This is another common question.
The short answer is no.
Although the word "brittle" is commonly used to describe Rhodium, that is meant in
comparison to other metals. It is still a piece of metal, and metal is strong and hard. You are
free to handle it the way you would any rare, valuable, and treasured coin: with care. If you
accidentally drop one on the floor, it probably wouldn't shatter but it may chip slightly, where
a gold coin dropped on the floor may have a dent or a bend. In either case there will be
some minimal damage. So the advice is: treat it with love.
Q:
1. Are these coins real Rhodium?
2. Are they Rhodium plated?
3. Do these coins / bars contain any other alloy in them besides Rhodium?
4. How can I independently test and find out whether these coins are real?
A: These questions usually all appear together, so I'll answer them together.
1. Yes, absolutely they are real rhodium.
2. No, we do not plate our coins and bars with Rhodium. Thats what they are already made
out of, there would be no point.
3. No. There is no other metal or alloy present in our coins. This question often comes from
people who are aware that some gold coins on the market, such as Krugerrands contain a
copper alloying in addition to the gold. So they contain the ounce of gold, plus some copper,
and the total weight is over an ounce all together. Our Rhodium coins do not contain any
alloy in order to make them stronger, or easier to work with, or for any reason at all. They
are completely pure .999 fine rhodium and thats it.
4. Thats easy enough. There are hundreds of metallurgical laboratories located all across
the United States that could verify the purity of your Rhodium coins and bars for a very small
fee. There are several methods you can use. There is a type of X-Ray machine that can
scan the surface and determine the metal composition and this does not mark or destroy the
metal in any way. Then there is the more destructive methods that involve either cutting,
drilling or otherwise getting into the center of the piece to be assayed to determine its
internal composition. The bottom line is that we stand behind our product 100% and fully
guarantee the weight and purity of all our coins and bars for life.
