All About
Rarer than gold. Heavier than gold. The metal the world’s kilogram was made of.
Pictured: a best seller from our platinum shop.
Platinum works where you never see it.
Under your car, behind the glass fiber of a wind-turbine blade, on a hospital ward and inside a hydrogen bus. A metal rarer than gold quietly keeps the modern world running, and makes some of its most beautiful coins.
Get the highlights.
It defined the kilogram.From 1889 until 2019 the world’s kilogram was a small cylinder of 90% platinum and 10% iridium, kept under three glass bells in a vault outside Paris.3
It cleans the air you breathe.Catalytic converters use platinum, with palladium and rhodium, to turn carbon monoxide, unburned fuel and nitrogen oxides into harmless gases. Vehicles took 37% of platinum demand in 2025.1
It runs on hydrogen.Platinum catalysts sit at the heart of fuel cells and of the electrolyzers that split water into clean hydrogen.
Seven in ten ounces come from one country.South Africa’s Bushveld Complex, a two-billion-year-old body of rock, supplied 71% of the platinum mined in 2025.1
It never fades.Platinum doesn’t tarnish or wear thin, which is why it holds the world’s most important diamonds, and why a platinum ring is still all there in fifty years.
It spins glass into fiber.Molten glass flows through platinum-alloy bushings to make the glass fiber in boat hulls, wind-turbine blades and circuit boards.
Platinum, measured.
A metal mined in a sliver of gold’s volume, from a handful of mines. That is why every shift in supply is felt in the price.
per troy ounce, updated with the market through the day. A coin or bar costs a little more than spot, for refining, minting and handling. Every product page shows the live spot price next to yours. All live prices
million ounces of platinum mined in 2025.1
For every 21 ounces of gold mined last year, about one ounce of platinum came out of the ground.1,2
of mined platinum came from South Africa in 2025.1
shortfall in 2025, the third deficit year in a row. A fourth is expected in 2026.1
more platinum bought as bullion in 2025 (bars, coins and funds), the fastest-growing use of the year.1
density: the heaviest of the four precious metals, heavier even than gold.
melting point: 700 degrees hotter than gold, which is why it took chemists until the 1780s to make it workable.
The story of platinum.
Europe called it a nuisance before it called it precious. It took science to see what platinum could do.
The first platinum smiths.
Long before Europe knew it existed, goldsmiths of the La Tolita culture on the Pacific coast of Ecuador and Colombia were working grains of platinum into tiny ornaments. It was a feat of metalwork that wouldn’t be repeated for centuries.
“Little silver.”
Spanish miners in Colombia kept finding a heavy white metal mixed with their gold and called it platina, or “little silver.” The naval officer Antonio de Ulloa described it for European science, and chemists spent the next few decades learning to work it.
The first platinum coins.
After platinum was found in the Ural Mountains, Russia struck 3-, 6- and 12-ruble coins from it. They were the first platinum money in history, issued until 1845.
The kilogram.
Scientists chose a platinum-iridium alloy for the International Prototype of the Kilogram because it barely reacts with anything. For 130 years every scale on earth traced back to it, until the kilogram was redefined in 2019.3
The Merensky Reef.
Geologist Hans Merensky traced a thin layer of platinum-bearing rock across South Africa’s Bushveld Complex, the richest platinum deposit ever found. It still supplies most of the world’s platinum.
The catalytic converter.
New clean-air rules put catalytic converters on American cars from the 1975 model year, and platinum became an industrial metal on a vast scale.
The American Platinum Eagle.
The US Mint struck its first platinum coin, with John Mercanti’s Statue of Liberty on the front. It is still minted in far smaller numbers than the gold and silver Eagles.4
Tough, stable, irreplaceable.
Platinum survives heat, acid and time, and it speeds up chemical reactions without being used up. That makes it the catalyst of modern industry.
Catalytic converters
Vehicles took 3,035 thousand ounces of platinum in 2025, or 37% of all demand. With palladium and rhodium, it turns the most harmful exhaust gases into carbon dioxide, nitrogen and water.1
Hydrogen
Platinum coats the membranes of fuel cells in hydrogen trucks and buses, and of the electrolyzers that make hydrogen from water.
Industry
Glass fiber and screen glass, catalysts for oil refining and fertilizer, lab crucibles, hard disks and spark plugs took 1,915 thousand ounces in 2025.1
Medicine
The cancer drug cisplatin traces back to 1965, when a researcher noticed that platinum from electrodes stopped bacteria dividing. Platinum also carries the signals in pacemaker leads.
Jewelry
Platinum jewelry is usually 95% pure, so it never needs plating and rarely causes allergies. China and North America are its biggest markets, followed by Japan.1
For the collector who wants something rarer.
Most collections start with silver and gold. Platinum is often the metal people add next.
Genuinely rare.
About one ounce of platinum is mined for every 21 of gold. It is one of the scarcest metals you can collect.
Weight you can feel.
Platinum is denser than gold. A one-ounce coin feels startlingly heavy for its size. It’s the first thing people notice.
Small mintages.
Platinum coins are struck in far smaller numbers than gold or silver. Proof Platinum Eagles change design every year, which makes complete runs a real achievement.
A different engine.
Platinum’s price answers to car makers, hydrogen and South African mines, not to the forces that move gold. For many collectors that’s exactly the appeal; it also means bigger swings.
Bright for life.
Platinum doesn’t tarnish, so a platinum coin stays brilliant without any care beyond a capsule.
It used to cost more than gold.
For most of the last century platinum cost more than gold; since 2015 it has mostly cost less. Some collectors watch that gap, though no one knows whether it will close.
The coins worth knowing.
Platinum bullion coins are struck .9995 fine and guaranteed by the governments that issue them.
United States · since 1997American Platinum Eagle
The first US platinum coin, with John Mercanti’s Statue of Liberty and an eagle soaring over the sunrise.
- Purity
- .9995
- Size
- 1 oz
Canada · since 1988Platinum Maple Leaf
The Royal Canadian Mint’s maple leaf in platinum, first struck in 1988. It is one of the earliest platinum bullion coins.
- Purity
- .9995
- Size
- 1 oz
Austria · since 2016Platinum Philharmonic
The Vienna Philharmonic’s instruments in platinum, the newest metal in Europe’s favorite bullion family.
- Purity
- .9995
- Size
- 1 oz
United Kingdom · since 2018Platinum Britannia
The Royal Mint’s Britannia, struck in platinum since 2018.
- Purity
- .9995
- Size
- 1 oz
Australia · Perth MintKoala, Kangaroo and Platypus
The Perth Mint’s Australian wildlife in platinum. The Koala, first struck in 1988, changes its design every year.
- Purity
- .9995
- Size
- 1 oz
Small, and heavier than it looks.
Platinum is the densest of the four metals, so its bars are the smallest for their weight. Pick a size.
- Weight
- 311.0 g
- Volume
- 14.50 cm³
- Metal value now
- $15,378.00
Less than 15 cm³ of metal for 311 grams.
Bars drawn to scale against a credit card (85.6 × 54 mm), in typical proportions; makers vary. Metal value = live spot × weight; a bar costs that plus a premium for refining and minting.
Assay-card bars
1 oz and 10 oz bars from Valcambi, PAMP, Argor-Heraeus and other refiners on the London Platinum and Palladium Market’s Good Delivery list, sealed in cards that certify weight, purity and serial number.
Premiums and resale
Platinum is struck in far smaller quantities than gold or silver, so premiums run higher and buy-back spreads can be wider. Recognized one-ounce coins and bars from major refiners are the easiest to sell.
Tell it from silver
The two look alike, but platinum is twice as dense: an ounce of it takes up about half the space of an ounce of silver, so a one-ounce platinum coin is smaller and thinner (shown to scale). Platinum never tarnishes; silver does.
Our best-selling platinum, priced live.
Every price follows the spot market and is locked the moment you place your order. Every order ships insured and tracked.
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Why is platinum cheaper than gold if it is rarer?
Price follows demand as much as scarcity. Platinum’s biggest use is catalytic converters. Its price slipped below gold’s in early 2015 and, as diesel cars lost ground after that year’s emissions scandal, it has mostly stayed there, even as mine supply tightened and the market ran three deficit years in a row.
Is platinum the same as white gold?
No. White gold is gold alloyed with white metals such as palladium and usually plated with rhodium, which wears off over time. Platinum jewelry is typically 95% platinum and is naturally white all the way through.
Which platinum coins are easiest to sell?
The American Platinum Eagle and the Canadian Platinum Maple Leaf, both one ounce and .9995 fine, followed by bars in assay cards from Good Delivery refiners such as Valcambi, PAMP and Argor-Heraeus.
Why are platinum premiums higher than gold premiums?
Platinum is refined and struck in much smaller quantities, so the cost of making and distributing each ounce is higher, and dealer buy-back spreads can be wider. Compare the total price, and ask about the buy price before you buy.
Does platinum tarnish?
No. Platinum doesn’t oxidize in air at normal temperatures, so coins and bars stay bright. Keep them in their capsules or cards to avoid scratches.
Do I pay sales tax on platinum?
It depends on the state the order ships to and on the product. Many states exempt bullion, some only above a threshold, and some tax it. Our state-by-state guides explain the rules, and checkout applies them automatically.
Can I sell my platinum back to you?
Yes. Coins Online is the online shop of American Rare Coin & Collectibles in Bloomington, Minnesota, a dealer since 1985. We buy at our posted prices on the day you sell, in the store or by mail. How selling works.
Add something rarer.
One ounce of platinum is enough to begin. We’ll ship it insured, in plain packaging.