Gold for investment purposes has been popular as a safe economic haven throughout history. As an investment gold bullion or gold coins (bullion rounds) are a proven asset diversifier that can be used to reduce overall risk in an asset portfolio. In the long term gold can be a perfect hedge against inflation or economic uncertainty. Buying gold in bar or bullion form is the most cost effective method due to the low broker commissions. But many smaller investors choose to hold there gold assets in coins as they are easy to store and can be bought and sold more readily. Although the premium can be higher when purchasing gold-bullion coins initially (upto 10%) compared to bullion gold-bars.
Silver as a form of currency or exchange dates back 6000 years and the ancient greeks minted silver coins. Precious metals such as silver have always been prized for their beauty and relative rarity. Many investors hold silver rounds (silver coins) that are available most commonly in 1 ounce sizes of purity .999 fine silver.
The rarity of Platinum and the constantly increasing demand for this precious metal makes it an exciting investment for the fuuture. The majority of Platinum mined today is from only two parts of the world. These regions are to the north or the capital of South Africa and in the far north of Siberia in Russia. Platinum is available in bullion platinum bars and various countries mint platinum coinage, such as Isle of Man 1oz Noble, Australian Koala, Canadian Maple Leaf & Chinese Panda available in various platinum weights. This metal is now used extensively in the jewellery trade and has become the preffered jewellers choice for Diamond setting.
Palladium has various applications in the electronics industry, dental industry, jewelry sector as well as for investment. The automotive industry also used palladium in the manufacture of catalytic convertors. Palladium is available in bullion bar form from major refiners such as Pamp suisse & Credit suisse at .9995 fine palladium purity. Some palladium coins (bullion rounds) are also available, Portuguese 100 Escudos and 200 Escudos 1 ounce palladium coins. Tonga palladium rounds bullion coinage come in various weights and denominations of Tongalese currency Hau. Palladium use in jewellery is mostly in white gold alloys. Palladium 950 purity jewellery offers a more affordable alternative to platinum white metal and has been successful competing against white gold due to its higher purity usually 95 percent.