How much is a 1 oz platinum coins worth?

The world platinum coins market is a little complicated, especially for people who are trying to purchase platinum coins. A lot of times you will find yourself asking questions like, “How much is a 1 oz platinum coin worth?” If you are looking into buying silver bullion or any kind of precious metal then it usually pays off to do your research ahead of time.

The simple answer to the question “how much is a 1 oz platinum coin worth,” is that the price depends on the weight, purity and mint origin of each individual coin. Of course you can also expect a huge mark up for numismatic pieces which have a certain historical value or are otherwise famous. While value might be something it is difficult to measure, especially when it comes to platinum coins; something can still be said about the different types of platinum coins on the market currently.

Platinum Coins History

Long ago, before 1933 in fact, most countries had their own national banks. These national banks would print out paper money called bills and make them exchangeable for a certain amount of gold or silver bullion; this was done by weight. It did not matter who you were or where you lived; paper money was always equal to what it said on the bills themselves. However, once World War I broke out nations started printing more money than they actually had in reserve trying to finance military actions so there was a continuous devaluation in currency value which eventually led up to one of the largest economic collapses in history.

Following World War I, Germany was suffering from a lot of inflation which meant their paper money had very little actual value. A loaf of bread might cost 200 marks one day and 190 the next so people needed to carry around large piles of bills just to buy something simple like food or clothes. This ultimately led up to what is known as “The Weimar Republic Hyperinflation” period where the German Mark became worth nothing; this caused people’s entire life savings to be wiped out overnight.

People were desperate for anything that would retain value and they found it in precious metals like silver and platinum coins . These metals did not fluctuate in price nearly as much as other commodities did because there were very few platinum mines which mined the metal; most platinum had to be extracted from other metals like nickel, cobalt and even coal. These platinum coins gave people a certain level of financial security during economically unstable times.

When the United States abandoned the Gold Standard in 1933 there was no longer an exchange rate between paper money and precious metals so these national banks would have to come up with their own rates. The U.S bank said that one troy ounce of .9995 fine platinum is worth $20 while Canada pegged silver at par value with gold meaning Canadian banknotes were backed by both gold and silver reserves whereas American notes were backed by only gold reserves resulting in significant differences in currency valuation between America’s dollar bills compared to those issued by Canadian national banks.