Sell Palladium
This is a good time to sell palladium.
Market forecasts for palladium predict that the spot price for palladium is going to hit a peak in 2016, and will go down from there. If you have any palladium in the form of bullion or jewelry, you may want to consider unloading them while the prices are still high. Of course, if cold fusion ever becomes a reality in energy production, the price of palladium can shoot back up. If you can hold off until then, that is great. However, if you need cash now, you can still get a good trade for palladium if you go to a reliable buyer that pays in cash.
Basics
In case you’re wondering, palladium looks very much like platinum and silver. It has a silvery-white luster which is why it makes good jewelry, and is part of the platinum group of metals which includes platinum, ruthenium, iridium, rhodium, and osmium. It is less dense and has a lower melting point than any other metal in the platinum group, but it can be hammered more thinly. It is a rare metal, and it was first discovered by English chemist William Hyde Wollaston in 1802. The metal was named after the recently discovered asteroid Pallas, which was named after the Greek goddess Pallas Athena.
Sources
Palladium is a rare metal, so large concentrations of deposits tend to be limited. The largest sources of the metal are in South Africa, Montana in the US, Canada, and Russia. Industries also recover palladium from used catalytic converters. Nuclear fission reactor wastes also contain recyclable amounts of palladium, but the process is not economically viable.
Applications
Palladium is used both as an investment metal and jewelry, but its main application is in catalytic converters for vehicles. These converters are used to treat toxic gases such as hydrocarbons and nitrogen dioxide produced by combustion engines into nitrogen, carbon dioxide, and water vapor. With the growing popularity of electric cars, it is likely that the demand for palladium for this application will fall in the next few years. This is one reason why it is good to sell palladium today.
Palladium is also used in dentistry, medicine, groundwater treatment, fuel cells, and electronics. These are all stable technologies that are likely to continue for many years, ensuring that they will still be a good if not great demand for palladium in the future. Fuel cells, in particular, which converts oxygen and hydrogen to generate electricity, is sure to be around for a long time.
Palladium as an investment
The problem with palladium as an investment is the volatility of the market. This is largely due to the political climate that hampers the smooth distribution and delivery of palladium supplies for industrial use. This causes wild price swings that makes it an unpredictable commodity. Of course, speculators can make a lot of money if they strike at just the right time, but for the conservative investor, it is much too exciting for comfort.
Palladium in jewelry
Palladium jewelry may also be considered investment pieces, and many have acquired vintage status. In most cases, it is used as an alloy for making white gold, and it is highly prized for not causing allergic reactions that come with white gold alloyed with nickel. Purely palladium jewelry, however, only became popular during World War II when platinum was government resource for its industrial uses. This is because palladium used to be even more expensive than platinum as well as difficult to cast, so it was not popular with jewelry makers. The price of palladium dropped after 2001, however, and new technology made it easier to cast. In 2005, gold and silver prices rose sharply, and China began producing a lot of palladium jewelry.
It was only in 2010 that hallmarks for palladium products were required in the UK, which specified the amount of palladium. The marks included a minimum of 500, 950, and 999 parts per thousand. This included jewelry as well as other products such as fountain pen nibs. Some companies used palladium to plate products that needed to have a silver appearance. Sheaffer, for instance, has used palladium plating for decades for their gold pens, either as an accent, or to cover it completely.
Selling palladium
The many uses of palladium means that selling it is a cinch. Precious metal buyers will be more than happy to take it off your hands, and for cash, too. The problem with selling palladium is you probably don’t even know you have it! Most people are not familiar with palladium as they are with gold, silver, or platinum. Palladium looks like silver, and looks and acts like platinum. You can easily mistake it for either.
Before you sell palladium, make sure you know what you have. If you bought your palladium jewelry after 2010, chances are you will see the hallmarks. Palladium is marked by the numbers 500, 950, or 999 encased in oval. You may also see the words, pall or pd, or a silhouette of Athena’s head. If you see these, then you probably have palladium jewelry.
If you see no hallmarks, you may still have palladium. Hallmarks were only required in 2010, so you may have something older than that, probably from China. You can go to your local jewelry store or pawnshop and have it appraised. You might also want to go to reliable precious metal buyers in your area, because they are more likely to have the equipment to test palladium for you. They should not charge you a fee for the appraisal. These appraisals would provide you with a good idea of what your palladium is worth in the open market, and you can check it against the spot price. If you get near to it or over, you should probably sell it.
Conclusion
Palladium is not as popular as gold, silver, or platinum, but it is still a precious metal that buyers would gladly pay for in cash. Check the spot price and shop around for the best deals before you make a decision.