Do you like to buy silver, gold, platinum and rhodium bullion bars and coins?

If you do, you are making a prudent investment choice for these reasons . . .

• You know exactly what you are buying, because they are precisely measured, and issued by governments and reliable companies that are generally trustworthy.

• You can gauge whether your bars and coins are fairly priced, because you can compare their weight to current trading prices. (Note, however, that in most cases bullion bars and coins are sold at prices that are slightly higher than current trading prices.)

• They are convenient investments – easy to buy. Plus, they are packaged in sealed plastic containers that protect them, and which can be easily stored in safety deposit boxes, safes and other secure locations.

• You are all but assured that the precious metals they contain are pure.

• You can enjoy volume discounts, because many dealers will reduce the price per unit if you buy 10, 20, 50 or more at one time.

Okay, those are good reasons. But do they mean that you are making the most profitable investment possible in precious metals if you buy bars and coins? We’ll return to that question in a minute. But first, let’s consider a different question.

If you are a regular reader of our blog, you have noticed that we have written many posts about thermocouples in the past. Hopefully, you’ve been gleaning information about what thermocouples are and how you can profit from the platinum, rhodium, silver and other precious metals they contain.

In the classic movie The Graduate, a man takes a recent college graduate aside and says to him, “I have one word to say to you . . . PLASTICS!”

That is a famous scene, and we have some similar advice for you. If you want to profit richly from investing in precious metals, “We have just one word to say to you . . . PLATINUM!”

There are many reasons to avoid buying stolen items of jewelry. One practical reason is that if you do buy items that were stolen, they could be confiscated by law enforcement agencies. Another, more important reason is that even if you buy “hot” items without knowing they were stolen, you are supporting a number of criminal gangs that engaged in violent crimes. Even if you buy those items from pawn shops or legitimate jewelers and have no idea that you are trading in stolen goods, you are contributing to a form of crime that is big and getting bigger.

We have written on this blog in the past about stoves, furnaces, space heaters and other “hot” places you can find platinum thermocouple wire that we can recycle for you in our precious metal refinery.

But what about cold places? Don’t air conditioners contain thermocouple wire that we can process for you? Yes, they do. But before we delve into that subject, let’s consider the fundamental difference between devices that generate heat and devices that cool things off . . .

Do you invest in precious metals? Are you concerned about harming the environment?

If you answered yes to those questions, let’s start today’s post with a general observation . . .

Let’s start today’s post with a riddle for you to answer . . .

What looks like spaghetti but is made of platinum, tungsten, gold and other precious metals?

We are willing to bet we didn’t fool you with that one. The answer to the riddle is thermocouple wire.

Do you know any couples who have gotten engaged recently? If you do, chances are good that their engagement rings were made of platinum, not gold. Perhaps even more than the size of the diamond, the beauty of the platinum that was used to make the ring is what is attracting attention today.

“How to Eliminate the Middleman and Make More Money from Your Used Catalytic Converters” is one of the most popular posts we published on this blog. Although we published it back in 2014, the advice it contains is still relevant today, and we urge you to read it.

If you have ever donated a car to a charity, you know the routine. You call to schedule a time when your car will be picked up. A flatbed truck arrives, the driver writes out a receipt, and your old car gets hauled away. A little while later, you get a receipt from the charity that took your car. That receipt should provide a value for the car you donated, which should be what the charity sold the car for.

Why Precious Metal Scrap Makes a Great Holiday Gift

Are you looking for a great present to give to someone special this holiday season? If so, we have a suggestion to make . . .

Let’s say that you want to give your favorite person a really special present for the holidays – something that stands out. Let’s also assume that you want to give a present that is made of platinum, because platinum is especially beautiful and memorable.

As a precious metal investor, you are already on the lookout for platinum scrap. You are also on the lookout for sterling silver, even though it is worth much less per ounce than platinum is.

But what about sterling platinum? What is it, and what do you need to know about making money from investing in it?

Are you interested in making money in platinum scrap? There are plenty of reasons you should be. The biggest could be that the new tariffs on items imported from China seem poised to raise the cost of platinum-containing items.

Many people like to invest in bullion and coins that are made of gold, platinum or silver. The predictability appeals to them. They buy a pure piece of platinum, gold or silver that comes in a hard plastic case that they can either open or put in a safe.

Platinum has many wonderful properties. It is bright, shiny and resistant to oxidation.

But did you also know that platinum combines with a number of other elements to form chemical mixtures that are useful as catalysts in chemical processes, and also in plating and other industrial processes? And did you also know that in many cases, the platinum that those compounds contain can be extracted by a precious metal refinery like Specialty Metals Smelters and Refiners?

If you go shopping for platinum jewelry, you are going to find an awful lot of it. You’ll find it listed in online local ads and on online auction sites. You might even find platinum engagement rings listed in ads in local newspapers. And if you peruse the display cases at an antique store or mall, you might see that is labeled as platinum.

The trading price of platinum is not about to go down. One reason? With every new year, platinum is finding new applications in healthcare and medicine.

Let’s take a closer look.

Maybe It’s Time to Protect Yourself

Have you ever seen the silent movie “The Great Train Robbery” that was produced by Thomas A. Edison back in 1903? Even today, it is an exciting film to watch, showing thieves stopping a train and making off with bags of money and jewelry that they take from passengers.

After you send your platinum scrap to Specialty Metals Smelters and Refiners and we extract the pure platinum it contains, where will that platinum be used?