The Royal Mint has timed its first entry into the platinum bullion market to coincide with London Platinum Week, which opened today and runs until Friday, May 19.
The first of a range of platinum coins and bars was launched today via the Royal Mint’s bullion trading platform at royalmintbullion.com. It marks the first investment-grade platinum to be retailed by the 1,000 year-old organization.
“This is a new and exciting marketplace for us, and we look forward to working with the WPIC to expand the range of trusted Royal Mint Bullion products available to investors,” said Chris Howard, mint director of bullion. “The introduction of platinum to our portfolio is the next logical step for The Royal Mint and increases the choice available to our customers, supporting our ambition to be recognised as the home of the ‘complete bullion solution.'”
The mint’s partnership with The World Platinum Investment Council (WPIC) to deliver the physical platinum products was announced last December.
The reverse of the newly launched platinum bars.
500G, 1KG BARS LAUNCH TODAY
Today was the launch of the 500-gram and one-kilogram platinum bars on royalmintbullion.com. This will be followed in the coming weeks by a 100-gram and one-ounce platinum bar as well as a one-ounce “Queen’s Beasts Lion of England” coin, which will be the first platinum coin of the popular heraldic series.
“The Royal Mint is one of the world’s oldest and foremost authorities and issuers of bullion coins and bars, and we are honoured to be working with them,” said David Crawford, WPIC program manager. “The partnership is the latest in a series of strategic initiatives from the WPIC to stimulate further investor demand for physical platinum, and increase the number and type of platinum investment opportunities available worldwide.”
REFINERY REVIVAL
The Royal Mint has been producing precious metal coinage since the ninth century, and during this time it has continued to strike coins in gold and silver.
In 2014, with the launch of royalmintbullion.com, the Royal Mint became the first mint to offer bullion coins and bars direct to individuals on a 24/7 basis, dispatched to the customer or stored on their behalf in The Vault.
In January 2015, the mint announced the revival of The Royal Mint Refinery bullion brand. Gold and silver minted bars bearing the historic marque became available for the first time since 1968.
The Royal Mint’s one-ounce platinum bullion ‘Queen’s Beasts Lion of England’ coin (reverse shown) will be issued in the coming weeks.
In June 2015, it launched Signature Gold, a new addition to its bullion trading service, allowing customers to purchase and own a fractional amount of a 400-ounce gold bar.
Last May, the mint opened The Royal Mint Experience, a purpose-built visitor attraction, located at its headquarters in Llantrisant, South Wales.
In November 2016, the mint announced its partnership with derivatives marketplace Chicago Mercantile Exchange to develop and trade a new product, Royal Mint Gold (RMG), which will be launched this year. This new service will provide an “easier, cost-effective and cryptographically secure alternative to buying, holding and trading spot gold,” according to the mint’s representatives.
This month, the Royal Mint announced it had become the first mint worldwide to achieve compliance with the Shari’ah Standard on Gold for retail sales of its gold and silver bullion coins and bars, enabling it to serve an even wider audience of investors via royalmintbullion.com.