We write a lot on this blog about platinum scrap. But what is platinum scrap, and why is it your best way to invest in platinum?

In today’s post, we’ll explain. Platinum scrap falls into several categories.

We all know that platinum is rare in nature. But does that mean that you can’t find it anywhere? Not at all. In fact, there are a lot of sources of platinum that people let slip through their fingers – sometimes literally so.

We don’t want you to do that. So in today’s post, let’s explore some places where you can probably find recyclable platinum scrap today. Ready? Here we go.

As year 2020 begins, a lot of people have been asking whether platinum, gold, silver or some other metal will turn out to be the best precious metal investment in the months ahead.

The most common answer to that question is almost always something like this . . .

In most parts of the country today, “We Buy Gold” stores have become common sights. But chances are you haven’t seen any stores that post prominent offers to buy platinum, rhodium, or even silver.

So what are you supposed to do if you have platinum scrap that you would like to sell or recycle?

Platinum comes in many forms. There are nice bars of platinum bullion that sell at high prices. (After all, platinum is trading for $872.00 on the London Fix . . . why shouldn’t bullion bars be selling for a lot of money?) Platinum can also be found in catalytic converters, in some aircraft components, and in used laboratory testing equipment. 

We have often written on this blog about places where you can acquire precious metal scrap for pennies on the dollar. Today we would like to offer advice on a higher level, by telling you about some places where you can get precious metal scrap for free.

With platinum trading on the London Fix for $831 per ounce, it’s no wonder that precious metal investors look to platinum as a top investment today. Its trading price falls about halfway between the current Fix price of only $17.25 for an ounce of silver, and $1510.80 for an ounce of gold. Plus, traders realize that although platinum is rarer than gold and certainly a lot rarer than silver, many kinds of platinum scrap are not too difficult to find. They know that if they can buy platinum scrap at pennies on the dollar, which is often possible, they can send it to us for testing and recycling and profit handsomely on their investment.

“Why Thermocouples Could Be the Smartest Precious Metal Investments Today,” a post on this blog on July 19th, 2019, explained why investing in scrapped thermocouples is a very smart move for precious metal investors today.

In today’s post we would like to examine in more depth a question that we only touched on in that earlier post. Let’s explore it some more!

If you are a regular reader of our blog, you have noticed that we have written many posts about thermocouples in the past. Hopefully, you’ve been gleaning information about what thermocouples are and how you can profit from the platinum, rhodium, silver and other precious metals they contain.

We have written on this blog in the past about stoves, furnaces, space heaters and other “hot” places you can find platinum thermocouple wire that we can recycle for you in our precious metal refinery.

But what about cold places? Don’t air conditioners contain thermocouple wire that we can process for you? Yes, they do. But before we delve into that subject, let’s consider the fundamental difference between devices that generate heat and devices that cool things off . . .

Let’s start today’s post with a riddle for you to answer . . .

What looks like spaghetti but is made of platinum, tungsten, gold and other precious metals?

We are willing to bet we didn’t fool you with that one. The answer to the riddle is thermocouple wire.

“I’ve got a stack of old air conditioners,” a caller told us recently. “They contain precious metals that you can extract and recycle for me, right?”

If you’re buying and recycling scrapped precious metals, we have a piece of profitable advice for you today: Be on the lookout for silver cadmium scrap or unused components. There’s a lot of money to be made by recycling them, for several reasons. First, old industrial components made of silver cadmium are not difficult to find, because they have been used for years in many manufacturing processes. Second, with cadmium trading at about $12 per pound, a quantify of unused or recycled silver cadmium components can offer you a big return over what you paid for them.

Recycling precious metals often involves analyzing and refining big messy batches of mixed materials. People who own these mixed lots of material know that gold or silver or platinum is “in there” somewhere, but don’t know where it is, what it is, or how much of it is present. 

It’s overwhelming. How are you going to figure out what you have and what it is worth? How will you know when the right time comes to sell it? Should you wait until prices hit the right levels, and how will you know when that happens? And while you’re trying to answer those questions, you do nothing.

Although platinum doesn’t rust or oxidize, it can discolor after it is exposed to high heat in laboratories. That bluish patina can be deceiving. You look at a discolored piece of thermocouple wire or a testing crucible or a stand that was used in the lab and think, “this discolored stuff can’t possibly be platinum.” The discolorations that affect used platinum mesh or sponge can be even more deceiving. They can be reduced to a blackish powder that you’d be tempted to sweep up and toss away.

If you’re emptying an old factory that produced products that contained metals, chances are good that you will discover wire that contains precious metals.  You might find coils of it in storage areas. You might find little rolls of it hiding in drawers. Unless the previous owners labeled their supplies carefully or the wire is still in its original packaging, you have very little way of knowing what kind of wire you have.

In the larger restaurants where so many of us eat today – the chains that have the same restaurants that we see whether we are driving near Atlanta, Los Angeles or Boston – most of the food is prepared in an entirely new way.  Partially or completely prepared frozen entrees arrive from central production facilities that resemble factories, not kitchens.  And when those meals arrive, they are stored in freezers and then prepared quickly, using high-tech restaurant equipment.

Because platinum wasn’t used widely in jewelry or industry until about 100 years ago, it seems like a “new” precious metal. That’s not really true.  In about 700 B.C., Egyptian artisans were using it to make ornamental objects, like the famous and mysterious Casket of Thebes.  And at the same time, pre-Columbian artisans in South America were fashioning it into small trinkets. Those are only a few fascinating facts about this beautiful, tarnish-resistant, and durable precious metal. Here’s a quick timeline of its fascinating history.

How valuable are the precious metals in a single toaster? How about in a coffee maker or a toaster oven? In reality, you won’t find more than a few cents’ worth of precious metals in small appliances like those. But when the quantities of small appliances increase, things can get more interesting – and more profitable. Here are some interesting variables that can have a big impact on the potential value of quantities of smaller appliances . . .