How to Buy Palladium

Many precious metal investors don’t have palladium on their radar. This is a shame, considering that palladium is one of the most in-demand precious metals on the planet. For industries all around the world, palladium is hot. We’re excited to offer a wide range of palladium coins and bars for sale at Hero Bullion. 

In today’s Bullion Academy blog, we’re taking a closer look at how to buy palladium. To buy palladium, you’ll need to find your favorite product, research palladium price trends, and compare prices to find the best deal on quality palladium bullion. 

Shop our full inventory of palladium products on the Hero Bullion website. Still on the fence about whether or not palladium is right for your precious metals stack? Keep reading! 

How Do You Invest in Palladium?

Investing in palladium is just as easy as investing in any other precious metal. You’ll need to choose the right product and compare prices across dealers to make sure you’re getting the best deal possible. To understand how to buy palladium, you’ll need to take a look at the two main types of palladium that are sold by bullion dealers. 

Palladium is sold in two main forms: coins and bars. Because the process for refining and making coins out of palladium is so difficult, private mints rarely mess with the material. This means that we don’t see many rounds made out of palladium, since rounds are produced exclusively by private refineries. 

In a few sections, we’ll explain how to buy palladium bars and coins. More importantly, this guide should give you a basic understanding of how to choose between these two popular palladium product types. 

What is Palladium Bullion?

Palladium is a precious metal classified as part of the platinum family. In many ways, it looks similar to platinum bullion. If you’re around precious metals as much as Hero Bullion, you’ll start to spot the subtle visual differences between these two bullion types. 

Palladium is actually quite a bit newer than most other precious metals. Well, sort of. Palladium has been around for millions of years, but scientists didn’t discover and classify it until around 1803. Since then, palladium has become one of the world’s most useful precious metals. 

What is Palladium Used For? 

If you take a walk around your neighborhood, you’ll come across a number of technologies that use palladium. Palladium bullion is used in watches, medical instruments, dental equipment, and more. Before you can really learn how to buy palladium, you should understand the metal’s rich history of high industrial demand. 

Industrial Use-Cases

Perhaps palladium’s most important industrial application comes from the automotive sector. Palladium is used to make catalytic converters. Because palladium might be more efficient than platinum at filtering out unnecessary byproducts, it’s become a staple of the automotive industry. That’s right – your own car might use palladium!

Is Palladium Bullion a Good Investment? 

Palladium’s various use cases make a persuasive argument for its place as one of the world’s most popular new precious metals. We’re going to give you the inside scoop on how to buy palladium, but it might be helpful to spend a few moments talking about the metals major pros and cons. 

Is palladium a good investment? Palladium is a great investment for fans of precious metals because it combines intrinsic value with an extreme level of industrial demand. 

Pros and Cons of Buying Palladium 

Like gold, silver, and platinum, buying palladium comes with both pros and cons. If you’re planning on stacking palladium coins and bars, you should consider some of the metal’s advantages – and downsides. Before we get into how to buy palladium, let’s explore 

Pros of Investing in Palladium 

We like to start with the positives. Palladium offers 3 main benefits to precious metal investors: high industrial demand, beauty, and IRA eligibility. Whether you’re stacking palladium because of its intrinsic value, its use-cases in industry, or its function in retirement plans, the metal comes with several advantages you should be aware of. 

Industrial Applications 

A high degree of industrial demand is one pro of buying palladium that makes the metal such a unique investment. Most precious metals have some sort of industrial application, but bullion products like gold, silver, and platinum coins are mainly traded for their intrinsic value. 

Palladium is a different story entirely. Palladium is used in hundreds of essential industries, and demand for the precious metal has skyrocketed in the past decade. 

Palladium is also extremely rare. Like all precious metals, palladium’s price is determined by a combination of demand and scarcity. Palladium is around 15 times rarer than the next rarest precious metal, platinum. Because the metal is both very rare and extraordinarily useful to industry, its price tends to climb when key industries experience booms. When we get into the weeds on how to buy palladium, it’s important that investors remember the extreme industrial demand that characterizes this precious metal. 

Beautiful Coins and Bars

Palladium is also exceptionally beautiful. This shouldn’t come as a surprise if you’ve seen some of the popular palladium coins and bars on our website. Several of the world’s most renowned mints have worked to create brilliant, intricately detailed palladium coins and bars. Wondering how to buy palladium bars and coins from the best refineries in the world? Navigate to our palladium category at the top of this page to take a look at our current inventory of palladium for sale. 

This isn’t unique to palladium, of course. We tend to think that all precious metals are beautiful. However, palladium’s unique texture and appearance make it a great addition to any precious metals portfolio. We always recommend diversifying your collection, and palladium is a fantastic choice for investors who want to add something new to their stack. 

Palladium might look similar to platinum, but it offers one significant advantage over the classic whitish precious metal: durability. Palladium is significantly harder to scratch or damage compared to platinum. This is one reason why palladium has grown in popularity for the manufacture of engagement rings. 

If you want to get a better idea of how beautiful palladium is, take a look at some of Hero Bullion’s palladium coins and bars. Created by some of the most famous mints in the world, our palladium products showcase the unparalleled beauty of this underrated precious metal. 

IRA Eligible 

Investors wondering how to buy palladium for their Individual Retirement Accounts (IRA) have several good options to choose from. Palladium bars and coins minted with a fineness of more than .9995 are eligible for inclusion in your IRA. 

To take advantage of these precious metals for your retirement account, you’ll need to make sure you have a self-directed precious metals IRA. Normal IRAs cannot accept contributions in gold, silver, platinum, and palladium, so you should open a self-directed account with a custodian specializing in precious metals before buying palladium for your IRA. 

Cons of Buying Palladium Bars and Coins 

There are two main downsides to buying palladium bars and coins: limited variety and minimal popularity. While we still think palladium is a good investment, investors learning how to buy palladium should get a pretty good idea of the metal’s deficiencies before making their next purchase. 

Not Much Variety

As you learn how to buy palladium, it’s important to take product variety into account. Compared to other precious metals, palladium doesn’t offer much variety. We say this with one major caveat. Palladium is still relatively new, and palladium coins/bars have grown significantly in popularity over the past couple decades. 

Mints that have never offered palladium products are now starting to release coins and bars made using .9995 pure palladium bullion. We anticipate that this trend will continue. As more and more investors begin to see the opportunity offered by palladium, popular mints are likely to release more beautiful palladium products for investors. 

Wondering how to buy palladium coins and bars? You should know that a limited number of mints produce palladium products – though this is certainly starting to change. 

Less Popular Than Gold and Silver

Like the variety issue we discussed above, the popularity of palladium changes every year. In the past decade, the precious metal has gone from a lesser-known investment to one of the most popular choices for precious metal stackers. 

Part of this has to do with palladium’s ever-evolving use-cases in industry. As new technologies come out and increase demand for palladium, the metal becomes more attractive to investors. 

For now, however, palladium is a bit less popular than gold, silver, and platinum. While you research how to buy palladium for cheap, remember that the precious metal doesn’t have quite the same demand as the older, more established precious metals we sell. 

How to Buy Palladium 

Before we sign off, we wanted to offer investors a couple of big tips on how to buy palladium. When you search for investment-grade palladium, there are two things you need to consider. Make sure to choose between coins and bars and compare prices across multiple dealers before buying your next palladium investment. 

Choosing Between Coins and Bars

Coins and bars are the two main ways to invest in palladium. Each offers its own distinct advantages – and disadvantages. We recommend taking a closer look at specific palladium coins and bars to help you develop an understanding of how to buy palladium the right way. 

Which is Better: Palladium Coins or Bars? 

Are palladium coins better than bars? Not exactly. Palladium coins tend to come with high premiums compared to bars. This isn’t unique to palladium, of course. The cost of production is generally higher for bullion coins, so it makes sense that they’d cost more to invest in. 

But there’s a reason why palladium coins might be worth spending a bit more money. Coins tend to feature more beautiful, intricate designs than bullion bars. Palladium bars are also beautiful, and they often feature intricate, highly detailed obverse and reverse artwork. However, their art pales in comparison to what some palladium coins can offer. 

What’s more important to your investment portfolio: beautiful pieces of artwork or low premiums over spot price? Ultimately, this is something only you can decide. Whichever choice you make, Hero Bullion’s got your back with low premium palladium bars and coins. 

Comparing Prices

Comparing prices is an essential part of the investing process. This is true no matter what type of precious metal you choose to stack. Investors learning how to buy palladium should understand their budget and time horizon, as both of these factors can help you choose the right precious metal for your growing portfolio. 

But pricing for bullion products can be deceptive. Before you buy, make sure to keep premiums and shipping fees in mind. 

Consider Premiums and Shipping Fees

Premiums are a natural part of buying any precious metal – and this includes palladium. Whether you choose to stack palladium bars or pure palladium bullion coins, expect to pay some sort of a premium over your product’s palladium melt value. 

However, savvy stackers can use their research to cut down on the premiums they pay for palladium coins and bars. Part of learning how to buy palladium involves comparing the total cost of your favorite palladium products. Total cost includes the melt value of your precious metal, as well as any relevant premiums. 

But there’s another factor that can also inflate the total cost of your investment: shipping fees. Some bullion dealers charge high shipping fees in order to ship your items to your doorstep. Make sure to keep shipping costs in mind when choosing a dealer to do business with. 

Hero Bullion is happy to help investors learn how to buy palladium, and our low shipping costs can keep you stacking without breaking the bank. 

Final Thoughts: How to Buy Palladium the Right Way

Palladium is an up-and-coming precious metal known for its durability, beauty, and industrial use-cases. The metal has become a favorite for investors all around the world – and it isn’t hard to see why. 

Now that you know how to buy palladium, take a look at some of Hero Bullion’s best deals on palladium coins and bars.