Do you know what osmium is?

Coin collectors’ warm and fuzzy feelings about gold and silver become decidedly cooler when it comes to platinum.

Platinum also is a precious metal.

One-ounce coins made from it have a high value. But the metal is not exactly familiar.

How will collectors react to rounds made of osmium and iridium?

These are platinum group metals.

They are also scarce and high valued.

But if familiarity means collector interest, these pieces have a high hurdle to overcome.

Such pieces are apparently coming in June, according to an email I received.

Mintage will be limited to 15,000.

These will be offered by Cutting Edge Opportunities doing business as Osmiridium Coin.

Dr. Eric Thorsgard, the CEO, says that because of their extreme density and high melting point they cannot be counterfeited.

Density is 22g/cc and the melting point of osmium in particular has a melting point of 5.500°F.

“Following the introduction of the 15,000 limited edition osmium coins, the osmiridium coins will be made of either osmium or iridium and marketed as bullion coins.”

The properties of osmiridium cannot be counterfeited or contaminated without changing its size or weight, according to Thorsgard.

He believes that that the first possible consequence of producing extreme density osmium coins will be to push the current price of osmium up to the price of iridium, from $400 per ounce to over $900.

He said the second possible consequence will be that the price of both osmium and iridium will continue to climb.

Iridium has increased from $520 per ounce to $945 in the last nine months, he said.

Does this information make you curious?

It did me.

But I am as at sea as the average collector when it comes to having any knowledge of osmium and iridium.

I certainly do not have any warm and fuzzy feelings about them.

If coins or rounds made of these metals cannot be counterfeited, perhaps they will figure in the plot of the next James Bond movie when an underworld payment needs to be made.

There is a website.

Take a look at it as I did.

What do you think?

Buzz blogger Dave Harper has twice won the Numismatic Literary Guild Award for Best Blog and is editor of the weekly newspaper "Numismatic News."

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