- How much platinum is in an American Platinum Eagle?
- American Platinum Eagles are .9995 fine platinum and contain the stated weight in pure platinum. A 1-oz coin ($100 face value) contains exactly 1 troy ounce of pure platinum; the 1/2 oz contains 0.5 oz, the 1/4 oz contains 0.25 oz, and the 1/10 oz contains 0.1 oz. Fractional Platinum Eagles were only minted from 1997 to 2008; from 2009 onward, only the 1-oz coin has been issued.
- How does platinum compare to gold and silver as bullion?
- Platinum has historically traded at varying premiums and discounts to gold — sometimes substantially above gold spot (peaking near $2,300/oz in 2008), and other times below gold (the 2014–present range has often had platinum trading below gold). It is rarer in the earth's crust than gold but has narrower industrial demand outside autocatalysts. Most platinum bullion is keyed to .9995 fineness, slightly lower than American Gold Buffalos (.9999) but higher than American Gold Eagles (.9167).
- What is the Canadian Platinum Maple Leaf?
- The Royal Canadian Mint issued Platinum Maple Leafs from 1988–2002 in 1, 1/2, 1/4, 1/10, 1/15, and 1/20 oz sizes (face values $50, $20, $10, $5, $2, and $1 respectively), all at .9995 fineness. Production paused after 2002 and resumed in 2009 with the 1-oz coin. They share the same maple-leaf reverse design as the gold and silver versions.
- Are Isle of Man Platinum Nobles still produced?
- No. The Isle of Man Platinum Noble (1983–1989) was the world's first modern platinum bullion coin and is no longer in production. It trades today as semi-numismatic platinum bullion at melt plus a modest premium.
- How is melt value different from collector value?
- Melt value is just the platinum content × spot price. Collector value is what someone will pay above melt — driven by date, condition, design, and rarity. Most modern platinum bullion trades close to melt with a small dealer premium, similar to gold bullion. Older issues (Isle of Man Nobles, early-date Platinum Eagles, Platinum Eagles with rotating reverse designs) can carry meaningful numismatic premiums.
- Where do you get the platinum spot price?
- The live spot price comes from public metals market feeds, refreshed multiple times per business day. You can override the price in the calculator above to model "what if platinum doubles?" or any other scenario.
