What is Rhodium Sponge, and why would you buy it?
The term 'Rhodium Sponge' is another way of saying Rhodium powder. Its a technical term, and for the most
part, only technical people in certain industries would be interested in buying it. This is the primary form
available from refineries, and it is the form in which auto manufacturers buy it to use in catalytic converters
(same goes for the platinum and palladium they use too). As a primary refined material, Rhodium is not
available in any other form. This is the form The Cohen Mint receives its Rhodium before we melt it down and
turn it into coins and bars.
Would You Buy Gold or Silver in Powder Form?
Rhodium sponge is a very fine dull grey powder, similar in consistency to fine makeup powders. It does not
sparkle, shine, or look like metal in any way. The average person looking at it for the first time would not know
it was a metal unless they were told it is.
Rhodium is notoriously difficult to manufacture with, which is the reason why The Cohen Mint is still the only
company manufacturing precious metal coins and bars from it. Rhodium has a very high melting point, is
extremely hard, and tends to shatter and snap under industrial manufacturing conditions.
The Cohen Mint is able to take Rhodium Powder, melt it, and produce beautiful, shiny investment coins and
bars with our Maker's Mark stamped onto it, the weight stamped onto it, and the fineness of the precious
metal stamped onto it. That's the way precious metals are supposed to look. If you were buying gold, or
wanted to invest in silver, would you buy a jar of powder? Have you ever even heard of such a thing? I know I
havn't.
Everyone is Jumping on The Bandwagon
There are some large precious metals dealers who realise what a big deal Rhodium is. Its the world's most
valuable precious metal. Its seen market prices that are astronomical - in 2008 it was worth over $10,000.00
an ounce. Naturally, they want to sell it to their customers.
Not that it would be a bad idea to do so, but let's take a close look at what they're offering.
Precious Metals on the market today come in standard forms, which people are used to seeing:
A. It's either a coin or a bar, made of solid precious metal
B. It has a clearly identifiable mark denoting who manufactured it stamped directly onto the metal
C. It clearly states the precious metal it is made of, along with the fineness stamped directly onto the metal
D. It clearly states the weight of precious metal contained stamped directly onto the metal
This is an easy to follow system which makes the manufacturing and trading of precious metals liquid, easy to
verify, and trustworthy. This is the way The Cohen Mint offers its Rhodium to its customers. Thats not true
everywhere you go. There is a large precious metals dealer that is desperate to make money selling Rhodium
to its customers, but lacks the technical experience needed to turn this dull grey powder into glistening coins
and bars that their customers are used to buying. So they go to the same original source where Rhodium
Sponge comes from, but instead of making coins out of it, they just repackage it and hand it to customers.
Some people might say, "Well, isnt it still Rhodium no matter what form it comes in?" Yes, it is, but there's
more you need to know....
Hidden Costs of Rhodium Sponge Ownership - Paying Month After Month
Suppose you're ready to buy some gold for investment. You contact a precious metals dealer and he hands
you a jar of yellow powder. It looks like dry pigment, you think, as he writes your invoice for thousands of
dollars. The jar has his store name on it, and he assures you it contains the right amount of gold, but you just
stand there shrugging your shoulders.
Of course no one does that. When you buy gold, you expect it to come in the form of a coin or a bar, from a
recognised manufacturer.
For those customers who've taken the bait and bought bottles of Rhodium Sponge from this other dealer,
they have to jump through hoops and keep paying month after month for what they call 'secure storage' with
'trusted partners'
Basically, it works like this: Kitco knows that a bottle of grey powder could be anything. They want you to trust
them that the bottle contains the correct amount of precious metal, but it'll be a cold day in hell before they
trust their customers when it comes to selling it back to them.
Say you go to buy a bottle of Rhodium Sponge. First, you have to open an account with one of their 'trusted
partners', which is basically a company they're friendly with that sells storage space in a safety deposit box.
This will run you some money, it will be a bill you have to pay each month, and there's a lengthy application.
Then you pay kitco for the Rhodium, and you pay for it to be shipped to this 'trusted partner', where the bottle
has to stay. Better not forget to pay the monthly storage fee or you might lose your investment completely!
It gets better:
- You can't open the bottle
- You can't have the contents analysed or assayed by a third party
- You can't take the bottle home or to your own bank or safe
- You can't have the bottle shipped to you, or any place except one of the 'trusted partners'
If you do any of the above, kitco considers the secure chain of custody to have been broken and will not buy
the powder back from you unless you first pay them to have the powder they sold you assayed.
Oh, and the best part they leave for last, buried in tons of fine print: Kitco may at any time, at their discretion,
choose to suspend the buy-back program for any reason.
So imagine this: You buy some Rhodium Sponge from Kitco now, its cheap and you believe its a wise
investment. You've placed a large amount of your hard earned dollars into it, and you sit back and wait. Time
goes by, and Rhodium is trading at the all time high of ten thousand an ounce or more, and you decide you
want to sell. Kitco is on the other side, and they think the price is going to go down now that its reached an all
time high. They dont want to be left holding all of their customers rhodium bottles as their customers cash out
and lock in profits, so they suspend their buy back program temporarily. What are you going to do with your
bottle of grey powder that you havnt even seen since you bought it? Good luck.
Do What Makes Sense
Precious metals are supposed to come in coin or bar form. You're not supposed to be talked into buying it in
any other form. No powders, bb's, grains, shots, or other stuff. Thats for the professionals, the manufacturers,
the scientists, people who will be taking the material in this form and creating something different. The raw
form was not intended for consumers.
Just because this large precious metals dealer doesn't have the capability to turn rhodium powder into
rhodium coins doesn't mean you have to buy into it.
We at The Cohen Mint have spent years perfecting a unique and totally customised manufacturing process
and have the unrivaled ability to turn this shapeless, lifeless industrial powder into gleaming, shining, beautiful
coins and bars in standard weights and sizes that the community of precious metal buyers and traders are
used to seeing.
We have no minimum order size, we offer Rhodium in several weights and sizes, and best of all, you get to
touch it!
The term 'Rhodium Sponge' is another way of saying Rhodium powder. Its a technical term, and for the most
part, only technical people in certain industries would be interested in buying it. This is the primary form
available from refineries, and it is the form in which auto manufacturers buy it to use in catalytic converters
(same goes for the platinum and palladium they use too). As a primary refined material, Rhodium is not
available in any other form. This is the form The Cohen Mint receives its Rhodium before we melt it down and
turn it into coins and bars.
Would You Buy Gold or Silver in Powder Form?
Rhodium sponge is a very fine dull grey powder, similar in consistency to fine makeup powders. It does not
sparkle, shine, or look like metal in any way. The average person looking at it for the first time would not know
it was a metal unless they were told it is.
Rhodium is notoriously difficult to manufacture with, which is the reason why The Cohen Mint is still the only
company manufacturing precious metal coins and bars from it. Rhodium has a very high melting point, is
extremely hard, and tends to shatter and snap under industrial manufacturing conditions.
The Cohen Mint is able to take Rhodium Powder, melt it, and produce beautiful, shiny investment coins and
bars with our Maker's Mark stamped onto it, the weight stamped onto it, and the fineness of the precious
metal stamped onto it. That's the way precious metals are supposed to look. If you were buying gold, or
wanted to invest in silver, would you buy a jar of powder? Have you ever even heard of such a thing? I know I
havn't.
Everyone is Jumping on The Bandwagon
There are some large precious metals dealers who realise what a big deal Rhodium is. Its the world's most
valuable precious metal. Its seen market prices that are astronomical - in 2008 it was worth over $10,000.00
an ounce. Naturally, they want to sell it to their customers.
Not that it would be a bad idea to do so, but let's take a close look at what they're offering.
Precious Metals on the market today come in standard forms, which people are used to seeing:
A. It's either a coin or a bar, made of solid precious metal
B. It has a clearly identifiable mark denoting who manufactured it stamped directly onto the metal
C. It clearly states the precious metal it is made of, along with the fineness stamped directly onto the metal
D. It clearly states the weight of precious metal contained stamped directly onto the metal
This is an easy to follow system which makes the manufacturing and trading of precious metals liquid, easy to
verify, and trustworthy. This is the way The Cohen Mint offers its Rhodium to its customers. Thats not true
everywhere you go. There is a large precious metals dealer that is desperate to make money selling Rhodium
to its customers, but lacks the technical experience needed to turn this dull grey powder into glistening coins
and bars that their customers are used to buying. So they go to the same original source where Rhodium
Sponge comes from, but instead of making coins out of it, they just repackage it and hand it to customers.
Some people might say, "Well, isnt it still Rhodium no matter what form it comes in?" Yes, it is, but there's
more you need to know....
Hidden Costs of Rhodium Sponge Ownership - Paying Month After Month
Suppose you're ready to buy some gold for investment. You contact a precious metals dealer and he hands
you a jar of yellow powder. It looks like dry pigment, you think, as he writes your invoice for thousands of
dollars. The jar has his store name on it, and he assures you it contains the right amount of gold, but you just
stand there shrugging your shoulders.
Of course no one does that. When you buy gold, you expect it to come in the form of a coin or a bar, from a
recognised manufacturer.
For those customers who've taken the bait and bought bottles of Rhodium Sponge from this other dealer,
they have to jump through hoops and keep paying month after month for what they call 'secure storage' with
'trusted partners'
Basically, it works like this: Kitco knows that a bottle of grey powder could be anything. They want you to trust
them that the bottle contains the correct amount of precious metal, but it'll be a cold day in hell before they
trust their customers when it comes to selling it back to them.
Say you go to buy a bottle of Rhodium Sponge. First, you have to open an account with one of their 'trusted
partners', which is basically a company they're friendly with that sells storage space in a safety deposit box.
This will run you some money, it will be a bill you have to pay each month, and there's a lengthy application.
Then you pay kitco for the Rhodium, and you pay for it to be shipped to this 'trusted partner', where the bottle
has to stay. Better not forget to pay the monthly storage fee or you might lose your investment completely!
It gets better:
- You can't open the bottle
- You can't have the contents analysed or assayed by a third party
- You can't take the bottle home or to your own bank or safe
- You can't have the bottle shipped to you, or any place except one of the 'trusted partners'
If you do any of the above, kitco considers the secure chain of custody to have been broken and will not buy
the powder back from you unless you first pay them to have the powder they sold you assayed.
Oh, and the best part they leave for last, buried in tons of fine print: Kitco may at any time, at their discretion,
choose to suspend the buy-back program for any reason.
So imagine this: You buy some Rhodium Sponge from Kitco now, its cheap and you believe its a wise
investment. You've placed a large amount of your hard earned dollars into it, and you sit back and wait. Time
goes by, and Rhodium is trading at the all time high of ten thousand an ounce or more, and you decide you
want to sell. Kitco is on the other side, and they think the price is going to go down now that its reached an all
time high. They dont want to be left holding all of their customers rhodium bottles as their customers cash out
and lock in profits, so they suspend their buy back program temporarily. What are you going to do with your
bottle of grey powder that you havnt even seen since you bought it? Good luck.
Do What Makes Sense
Precious metals are supposed to come in coin or bar form. You're not supposed to be talked into buying it in
any other form. No powders, bb's, grains, shots, or other stuff. Thats for the professionals, the manufacturers,
the scientists, people who will be taking the material in this form and creating something different. The raw
form was not intended for consumers.
Just because this large precious metals dealer doesn't have the capability to turn rhodium powder into
rhodium coins doesn't mean you have to buy into it.
We at The Cohen Mint have spent years perfecting a unique and totally customised manufacturing process
and have the unrivaled ability to turn this shapeless, lifeless industrial powder into gleaming, shining, beautiful
coins and bars in standard weights and sizes that the community of precious metal buyers and traders are
used to seeing.
We have no minimum order size, we offer Rhodium in several weights and sizes, and best of all, you get to
touch it!
Rhodium Sponge
