http://www.rhodiumcoin.com/index.html Are there any opinions about bullion from the rare earth spectrum? Not just Palladium or Platium. I was looking at Rhodium and Tantalum. When I did a search on CT, it came up empty. Personal opinions and hunches welcomed! Thanks, Tess
I have always been interested in Rhodium as well... For a while it was almost impossible to find in bullion form but now there are a few mints that make coins and bars... I think Kitco even offers a ""rhodium sponge" which I believe is about as close to spot as you will find it unless you score an ebay auction. The Cohen Mint has been making 1 gram coins for a while which can also be found floating around on ebay. Personally I have always wanted to buy some just for the fact that it was once worth $10,000 an ounce so at $1400~ it seems pretty cheap. Will it ever hit $10K again, I doubt it. Will I buy an oz or 2? Yes one day... Just haven't brought myself to do it yet...
My opinion and hunch is that so few collectors are interested that the bid/ask spread when you go to sell someday will be very large, and sometimes there might not be a bid at all if market conditions are bad.
Keep it coming. These responses are helpful. The art side of the obverse on the Cohen 1oz Rhodium is an attraction to me. I sort of collect coins/rounds with beautiful figures on them. Thanks.
One nit: rhodium and tantalum aren't "rare earths". There's much talk about rare-earth investment as well, but they're very different substances. Rhodium is a platinum-group metal, and tantalum is just another refractory transition metal.
Cohen mint went bankrupt and they don't respond to emails (website above). I also heard they were very unreliable. However one of their coins is a "nice to have". I've seen a 1g Rhodium coin go for $170 on a European auction site a half a year ago. Thats roughly 4 times it's melt value. Kitco and other dealers are selling 1 oz Baird & Co. Rhodium bars. I'm quite sure I will buy some of their bars once the price dropped even more. World production of Rhodium is 24t only!
Wow regarding 24 T, and the idea that the company may not be anwsering their phone. That was quick if accurate. There could be a lot of reasons for a phone going unanswered. I had a few emails with them in July-the owner was very helpful and prompt with corrospondance. There was no indication of business closing. I too wanted to get the coins. I thought their whole collection was interesting and very attractive. I had attempted an order with Cohen/Rhodium Mint, but could not comply with their wire requirment for payment. Running off to the bank at the time, just was not covenient enough. As a result, my order went with a company I had previous experience with (Golden Eagle Coin). My bars are not due to ship out until Aug. 17 & 18.
I read online that they were bankrupt. I guess it is wrong. I really like their coins, so I hope they are still in business. I'll try contacting Cohen Mint again.
If you do a search you will find a couple of companies that produce kits for collectors where they can make a periodic table with a sample of the real element in them. I believe you can acquire a cylinder of rhodium this way.
