Johnson Matthey is a British company that produces various chemicals and precious metals. The company’s history can be traced back to when Percival Norton Johnson began his gold assaying business in 1817 in the city of London. He specialized in analyzing and refining precious metals, especially gold imported from Brazil. Johnson was able to improve the method used to extract the chemical Palladium from gold, which helped to improve the precious metal’s aesthetics.
George Matthey joined Johnson and became his business partner in 1851, changing the name of the company to Johnson & Matthey. Together they supplied raw materials such as flux and silver solder to jewelry, silverware and cutlery manufacturers located in Birmingham and Sheffield.
Since that time, the company has branched out to create new business opportunities including Johnson Matthey Bankers which provided high risk loans to area businesses. The company has also acquired several chemical businesses including Argillion and InterCAT. Today Johnson Matthey is a global leader in sustainable technology who focuses on finding new ways to provide us with clean energy and clean air resources as well as low carbon technologies.
When Did Johnson Matthey Start Producing Gold Bullion?
Gold bullion bar manufacturing and gold refining began at the Johnson Matthey headquarters located in Hatton Garden in 1852. Bullion production continued at that location for more than a century, up until a larger bullion refinery and manufacturing plant was built in 1957 in the city of Royston.
Johnson Matthey is known as a leading gold bullion refiner and assayer, as well as a founding member of the London Gold Fixing. Because of the fine quality of their gold bars, and long, storied history, their bullion is still in very high demand to this day. Many of their earliest types of gold bullion bars are considered to be collector’s items.
The company produced their gold bullion bars from 1852 to 1957 at their Hatton Garden location in London. From 1957 to 2004, the gold bullion was produced at the refinery in Royston. The Johnson Matthey Group has remained one of the largest manufacturers of gold bullion for the international market throughout the years. Currently they manufacture through Johnson Matthey Inc in the United States, Johnson Matthey Limited in Canada, and also operate through a joint-venture with AGR Matthey in Australia.
Types of Johnson Matthey Gold Bars
Traditionally, Johnson Matthey has produced gold bars in poured or loaf style bullion form. Each bar has the Johnson Matthey hallmark which is recognized by many familiar with the precious metals industry. Though most of their gold bars have not been produced since the 1900′s and in some cases as far back as the mid 1800′s, you can sometimes find them available on the market. They produce smaller bars for the average investor as well as large LBMA approved gold bricks which are deemed as good delivery. The most common sizes they have produced include the following:
- 1 ounce
- 5 ounce
- 10 ounce
- 100 ounce
- 400 ounce
- 1,000 ounce
- 1 kilo
From the year 1990 until 1997 Johnson Matthey manufactured several customized cast bars for external entities as well as nine cast gold bars at the Royston location. These nine bars produced at the refinery were made in the sizes listed below and are considered extremely collectible.
- 10 ounce
- 100 ounce
- 400 ounce
- 100 g
- 500 g
- 1000 g
- 5 tael
- 10 tael
- 10 tola
Why Is The Johnson Matthey Brand So Popular?
The reason why Johnson Matthey Gold Bars are so popular, and in high demand today is because, unlike some other producers, they have been around for a very long time. Their origins can be traced back over 150 years, and over that time they made a good reputation for themselves. No matter what industry a company is in, staying in business for that long and remaining under the same name is almost unheard of.
While a majority of the older gold bars made by Johnson Matthey feature a basic poured design, some of the company’s newest additions feature a newer, attractive design that gives the gold bars a shiny machine-pressed look. Johnson Matthey has been known over the years to produce many special edition gold bars for various occasions as well.
Buying Johnson Matthey Gold Bars Online
Johnson Matthey gold bars can be purchased online from various dealers. While it is easy to find some of there newer bars, older, vintage JM gold bars can be more difficult to find and will require some looking around. Because they are no longer produced, some of their more collectible bars tend to only be in private collections and so they may only come up for sale when a collector decided to sell. Below is a list of top companies you can purchase Johnson Matthey bars from online.
The average cost for a 1 oz gold bullion bar made by the company can range in cost drastically depending upon the specific style of bar you are looking at. A more scarce design such as the 5 oz Republic National Bank bar can be found anywhere from $100 to a few hundred dollars over the spot price of gold per ounce while a more readily available 1 oz pressed bar can be purchased for around $50-$80 over the current spot price.
Unique Facts About Johnson Matthey
- In 1946 Johnson Matthey was appointed by the UK government to be the sole producer of silver British coins. JM changed the design of the classic British coin which helped them to leave an impressionable mark for themselves in the UK.
- In the 1970s, Johnson Matthey made another big business change and become a mass producer of catalytic converters for automobiles. This change was due to the rise of the automobile industry and the company’s interest in reducing the amount of harmful toxins produced by vehicles.
Today Johnson Matthey is a world renowned English company that produces large scale gold and silver bullion, while also staying heavily involved in the automobile industry. Even though they have been around since the 1800s, JM is constantly trying to reinvent themselves by branching off into a vast number of fields which include remaining one of the top gold bullion bar distributors in the world.
