In 2017, Provident metals announced its acquisition by a “private investment group” now known publicly as being Dillon Gage. On Friday, October 18th, 2019 news leaked as JM Bullion acquired Provident Metals from Dillon Gage, a wholesale bullion dealer specializing in investment-grade gold, silver, and platinum bullion. JM Bullion is a North American precious metals e-commerce bullion dealer based in Dallas, Texas that sells gold, and silver bullion coins and bars to the public. Dillon Gage is a wholesale bullion supplier and refiner for online bullion dealers like Provident Metals and JM Bullion that mostly supplies small to mid-sized coin and bullion dealers all across the nation.

UPDATE: A-Mark Owns JM Bullion And Provident Metals Now Forming A Monopoly

On February 9th, 2021 A-Mark acquired JM Bullion and is the proud owner of 8 huge precious metals institutions forming a near-monopoly in the bullion industry. A-Mark now owns the following web properties leaving many investors in the bullion industry worried about a future monopoly that could make bullion premiums to the moon.

1. JM Bullion
2. Provident Metals
3. Silver Towne
4. Silver.com
5. Goldline
6. GoldPrice.org
7. SilverPrice.org
8. A-Mark
9. JM Bullion eBay Store

Stackers Flocking To Small Bullion Dealers To Fight The A-Mark Monopoly

Controlled panic is starting to set in with the bullion community. We’ve been approached by many small to medium-sized bullion stackers asking what they can do to fight against the potential monopoly. We’ve been suggesting to our readers to look at buying from small bullion companies like Hero Bullion that have a trusted name in the precious metals industry that have no ties to Monopolies like A-Mark and APMEX. Their prices are low and they seem to be the NEW bullion dealer for the people, by the people, and of the people. They are the Greenbay Packers of the Gold and Silver Bullion Industry.

Provident Metals Acquisition: Who Came Out On Top?

Dillon Gage and A-Mark have authorized bullion suppliers for major sovereign mints such as the US Mint, the Royal Mint, the Royal Canadian Mint, the Perth Mint, the Austrian Mint, the Mexican Mint, the New Zealand Mint, the Royal Australian Mint, and many more. Provident Metals was getting its sovereign mint bullion as well as its private mint bullion from Dillon Gage. Presumably, Provident Metals will now be sourcing all of its gold and silver bullion exclusively through JM Bullion’s Channels. JM Bullion sources the majority of its sovereign mint gold, silver, and platinum bullion through A-Mark, so this deal not only bodes well for JM Bullion, but it also helps A-Mark gain considerable ground on one of their primary competitors in Dillon Gage.

What Did A-Mark Gain From The Provident Metals Acquisition?

By our estimation, A-Mark gained the most from the Provident Metals acquisition. It doesn’t look like they had to put up a dime for the fledgling bullion dealer, however, they gained a major customer in Provident Metals while taking one away from one of its main competitors in Dillon Gage. With that said, we don’t know the full details of the Provident Metals Acquisition, but if it is true that they didn’t have to chip in for the purchase of Provident Metals, A-Mark came out on top, and seem to have “made out like bandits”.

Downsides As JM Bullion Acquires Provident Metals

1. Provident Metals Kept Prices Low
   Provident Metals was known as the “People’s Bullion Dealer” for a reason. Provident Metals kept other bullion dealers like JM Bullion and APMEX on their toes with their low prices and small margins on gold and silver bullion products. Now that JM Bullion owns Provident Metals that gives them the opportunity to raise prices since APMEX was never really great at keeping prices low for the public. Be sure to shop around to other online precious metals dealers like Hero Bullion, BGASC, SD Bullion, and Silver Gold Bull to keep prices competitive for the consumer.
2. Provident Metals Creativity
   Provident Metals came out with some interesting products that actually brought some life to an aging bullion industry with private mint bullion products such as the Zombucks series, the Egyptians Gods series, and the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse series. These fun silver bullion series were the brainchild of Josh Merrick and Jacob Haugen who no longer work for Provident Metals. Other bullion dealers have tried and failed to replicate the success of the Zombucks bullion series as well as the Four Horsemen and Egyptian Gods series. Now that JM Bullion acquired Provident Metals we fully expect Provident to become a soulless online bullion dealer like previous JM Bullion acquisitions such as Silver.com and GoldSilver.com which we affectionately refer to as JM2 and JM3. Now JM Bullion has a JM4 in Provident Metals which may actually hurt prices for consumers like you and me and also leaves the bullion industry with a pretty big void of creativity. If you’re anything like me and are looking for silver that is actually creative, check out Instagram and eBay for guys like Wills Attic, Arthur Bain Custom Silver, and Rev Tye’s Stache.

Top 5 Trustworthy Online Bullion Dealers

I’m putting a small list together below for displaced Provident Metals customers looking for a new inexpensive, yet trustworthy online bullion dealer. My number one suggestion is Hero Bullion for 3 main reasons. The first is the knowledge they offer, free of charge in their bullion academy and the Hero Bullion social media profiles. Secondly the many years of experience they have in the industry selling bullion online and at coin shows. Last but not least, (actually most importantly) the value they offer their customers with the most competitive pricing in the industry.

1. Hero Bullion
2. BGASC
3. Silver Gold Bull
4. Bullion Exchanges
5. Will’s Attic

2017 Provident Metals Acquisition By Dillon Gage

The company was bought by a private investment group Dillon Gage in 2017. This wholesale gold and silver bullion dealer is also located in Dallas, Texas. Their services extend to banks, financial institutions, precious metals bullion dealers, and brokerage houses around the globe.

Apart from offering bullion coins and numismatics, digital trading platforms are also laid on to assist retailers and dealers with displaying precious metal prices. Their precious metals refinery technology provides the best customer experience with quick settlements for lots of precious metals.

Provident Metals, having contracted with Dillon Gage Metals, continued to operate under the name ‘Provident Metals’, and this management agreement is set to extend to 2022.

Provident Metals Acquisitions To remain Competitive

Businesses are always competing with each other to stay on top and one of the ways to do this is with business acquisitions. It’s a time of restructuring – a process to remain competitive.

There are a number of reasons why a business like Dillon Gage and JM Bullion would acquire another bullion dealer like Provident Metals such as looking at more growth in its market share. The acquisition can increase the supply-chain pricing power and the risk of concentration in a certain market benefits with the acquisition of another company in a related market. One big downside in this acquisition is competition in the marketplace for consumers.

Buying Gold And Silver Bullion

Precious metals like gold, silver platinum, and palladium have a limited supply and are more difficult to get your hands on than other kinds of metals. There is only so much gold and silver bullion in the world and more can not be made or grown. The earth only holds so much gold and silver. It is this rarity that gives them a high economic value, allowing them to command higher prices than base metals.

Buying precious metals can protect your wealth against inflation, making them ideal for investment as a hard asset. We suggest diversifying your portfolio with at least 10% in gold and silver bullion as a hedge against inflation. Hard assets like precious metals usually do the opposite of what paper investments like stocks and bonds do. When your stocks rise in value, hard assets like gold and silver bullion usually go down in value. Conversely when your paper investments crash gold and silver bullion investments usually lighten that blow because their value generally skyrockets when the stock market takes a tumble.

But where does one buy precious metals? If you’re a person that likes to buy gold and silver with cash, there are usually a couple of pawnshops and local coin stores in every city. One drawback to buying silver and gold from a pawn shop or your local coins store is usually the prices are a little higher than you would find at a major online bullion dealer. You can usually find the best deals on gold and silver bullion on the internet from dealers like JM Bullion or APMEX. Now that JM Bullion acquired Provident Metals they are one of the leading online retailers of gold and silver bullion, as well as other investment-grade metals like platinum and palladium. JM Bullion has an excellent reputation for being trusted by many gold & silver buyers looking to acquire precious metals from a reputable source that sells gold and silver bullion online.

JM Bullion bought Provident Metals, situated in Dallas, Texas. JM Bullion provides quality products from sovereign and private mints and they have excellent customer service. It’s their reliable service that has ensured their position as a premier destination to purchase gold and silver bullion for domestic and international bullion coins and bars.

Provident Metals – From Dillon Gage To JM Bullion

As of Friday, October 18th, 2019, Dillon Gage sold Provident Metals to JM Bullion, a company founded in 2011 also based in Dallas. As a precious metal retailer online, they offer investors the chance to buy precious metals and they offer precious metals IRAs too because of their partnership with New Direction. Its focus is on actual metals without any paper investments.

A precious metals IRA can hold investments allowed by the Internal Revenue Code. At first, only gold and silver coins could be held inside of a precious metals IRA. Since 1997 other precious metals are permitted such as platinum American Eagle coins, platinum or palladium bullion, and coins issued under the laws of any state. 

For precious metals to be a permissible gold or silver IRA investment, they need to follow minimum requirements. For instance, gold must be 99.5% pure while silver will have to be 99.9% pure. Palladium and platinum must be 99.95% pure.

Metals are shipped to the customer with the cost of insurance being included in the total price of the metal purchased. JM Bullion is accredited at state and federal levels and they can be reached by phone or 24-hour Live Chat. 

They don’t have service charges and the total cost paid is the one in the listed price along with shipping charges. There aren’t any commission service charges added to the amount of the precious metals bought.

Provident Metals Missteps Leading To Their Demise

Dillon Gage was hoping to use Provident Metals’ technology infrastructure to continue offering the same exceptional services that wholesale customers around the world were used to, and offer that same level of service to retail gold and silver bullion customers. In 2017 Provident announced that they were going to expand their Prospector line and Egyptian Gods series, however since they parted ways with their long-time creative director, the new prospector series was a miserable failure. Furthermore, the only Egyptian Gods round they released (Khnum) after his departure completely flopped due to its unappealing subject matter and design. The previous coins in the Egyptian Gods series (Cleopatra, Anubis, and Sobek) were designed by Heidi Wastweet with the art direction of Joshua Merrick.

Under the leadership of Joe Merrick, Provident Metals was not able to secure key contributors, Brice Northup (Director of Marketing), Jacob Haugen (Chief Operating Officer), Joshua Merrick (Creative Director), Shaun Ek (Chief Technology Officer), and Jeff Munschke, one of their lead developers. We were told by our anonymous source that the gutting of these key contributors as well as the loss of leadership in the technology, marketing, and creative departments lead to the downfall and eventual sale of Provident Metals. Many see this massive fall from grace after being one of the largest bullion dealers in the nation, the responsibility of Provident Metals’ former CEO Joe Merrick. We hear “there is a lot more the public doesn’t know” about these missteps from the now-disgraced Provident Metals’ former CEO and will report them as we find out.

Provident Metals Purchase Price

JM Bullion acquired Provident Metals, with the purchase price estimated to be well into the millions of dollars, possibly even in the tens of millions. With that said this is just an estimate from our anonymous source, and we can’t completely be sure as Dillon Gage sold Provident Metals to JM Bullion for an undisclosed amount. It remains to be seen if Provident’s customer service will remain high and their prices low after JM Bullion acquired Provident Metals. Time will tell.

History Of 3 Precious Metal Bullion Dealers

You will always find gold and silver in any diversified portfolio, and in fact, most financial advisers will tell you that you should have at least 10% of your net worth as an investor in this particular asset class.

Because gold and silver have reached some pretty high prices, you need to know which companies will offer the best gold bullion or coin buying experience as they each will be offering their own services according to their customer’s needs. 

Choose Your Precious Metals Company Carefully

Before you look at which company to deal with, there are some things to consider first. Gold dealers provide bars and coins for instance and some precious metal companies are thought to be more stable and of better quality than the others. Earlier in this article, we outlined 5 smaller bullion dealers you should consider buying from as an alternative to the Monopoly of A-Mark and APMEX. 

Try out smaller bullion dealers like Hero Bullion, Silver Gold Bull, Bullion Exchanges, Money Metals, and Golden Eagle Coins.

Apart from the basic cost of precious metals, there are also additional fees such as shipping fees as these fees can make the cost of buying physical bullion very expensive. You need to look at all the fees of these companies.

Also, there are some states that impose customers’ taxes on bullion purchases. This can be a bit of a blow because purchasing bullion and being charged taxes lessen your potential return, raising your acquisition cost.

After the first purchase of precious metals, there are some companies that impose an ongoing management charge. This charge is related to the security and storage of the bullion. Companies that don’t offer quick bids and ask prices can mean delays. Gold prices fluctuate a lot, which means a delay in selling which can bring about different prices than you expected for a sale or a purchase.

Theft of precious metals is always a concern and you want to know if the company you deal with offers storage facilities.

As you can see there are a number of things that need to be understood before you select your precious metal company to do business with. Certainly, reputation is of the utmost importance. 

History Of Provident Metals

They are a precious metals dealer operating from Dallas, Texas. As a precious metal trading company, since 2008, they have been providing investors with precious metals and are accredited with BBB. Since receiving this accreditation, they have consistently maintained their good services and products. 

As a leading online retailer of currency, domestic- and international bullion, numismatic coins as well as other investment-grade metals, Provident Metals is known as the People’s Bullion Dealer, sought after by those wanting to buy gold and silver bullion with a company they could trust. IRAs are also offered. 

Also, a number of coins and bullions can be purchased, after which the items are shipped safely to their destination. The company makes sure that the shipment of items is safe and sound. All their packages are shipped via FedEx or UPS, with a signature upon delivery. 

Prices are competitive and customers benefit from good discounts when buying large amounts of bullion. Buyers don’t have to have any concerns as all the packages are protected by insurance. The company also accepts credit card payments. 

It is the sheer selection of precious metals which is notable with Provident Metals, and the website shows the many coins as well as other bullion items. This is very encouraging for seasoned as well as new investors.

All of the services offered by Provident Metals can be paid for by a variety of means. 

• Bank wires
• Money orders
• Personal checks
• Debit Cards
• Credit Cards
• Cashier checks 

While all of these are acceptable means of payment, some of them are subject to limitations based on the order sizes.

Also, there is a good deal of information to guide prospective clients to familiarize themselves with the precious metal sector. Price charts and graphs help investors make informed decisions about their acquisitions. All the information is designed to ensure a satisfying purchasing experience for customers.

Contracting With Dillon Gage

In 2017, Provident Metals contracted with Dillon Gage Metals, one of the biggest precious metals wholesale firms in the world. They are known for their expertise in fulfillment operations and inventory management and this management agreement is going to extend right up to the year 2022.

History Of Dillon Gage

Dillon Gage, who has offices in the United States, but also in Singapore and Europe, is not new to the metals trading industry as they were founded way back in 1976 already. 

They are one of the biggest metals trading firms in the world with clients being financial institutions, banks, precious metal dealers, and brokerage houses all around the world. 

They are also authorized to purchase directly from the Royal Canadian Mint, the United States Mint as well as other sovereign mints around the world. They also trade with private-wealth clients who adhere to certain financial criteria.

To serve all their clients, Dillon Gage manages inventory in more than 20 countries around the world. The company’s proprietary online trading platform, FizTrade, allows customers the means to stream market pricing, manage shipments, and also conduct online trading.

FizTrade provides access to metals trading on heaps of products and all at the click of a mouse, allowing clients to bid and also lock in transactions every day and night of the week, and from anywhere in the world. Other business benefits include customer IRA tracking, shipping management, and target price alerts through SMS or email.

Dillon Gage also has its full-service precious metals refinery. The refinery processes a wide range of materials. With their equipment, technology, and expertise they provide quick settlements for large lots of gold, silver, and platinum. Customers can feel secure when their assets are tendered to the Dillon Gage Refinery.

Whether you’re doing business with professional traders, storing coins at one of their depositories, or making use of their refinery, you can know you are dealing with a company that is a leader in the precious metals industry. 

History Of JM Bullion

JM Bullion is another online precious metal retailer based in Dallas. JM Bullion was founded in 2011 and specializes in selling gold as well as other precious metals without any paper investments.

Product selection is important and JM Bullion has built up relationships with many mints and bullion suppliers with their focus being on maintaining a broad inventory. 

Investors can buy various gold coins – British, South African, Australian, Canadian, and American. Once you’ve placed an order, the metals are shipped to the customer with the cost of insurance and shipping being all-inclusive. Investors have to come up with their own storage. 

Investors can choose from a good selection of products – copper bars, gold, silver, and coins. One thing that investors take note of is that there are no service charges placed on the product’s total price. There are no commission service charges added to the number of metals bought.

The costs of metals are also based on a fair market price value. Unlike Dillon Gage and Provident Metals, J.M.Bullion isn’t a listed dealer of the US Mint. It was fairly recently – in May 2018 in fact – that JM Bullion reached more than 500,000 total customers. As an online precious metals dealer, they have been recognized as a leading e-retailer and were ranked 73 among the top 500 e-retailers in North America. This was for 2017. 

Provident Metals Business Model

What is Provident Metals’ plan for having success with profits? You could say it’s a number of important features –

• Their commitment is to provide investors with the broadest range of remarkable products. 
• Their business models consist of excellent customer services too, making them the premier online destination for bullion from around the world.
• They provide high-quality precious metals at low, affordable prices.
• Their traders look for the best deals to provide customers with the latest selection of products.
• They work with sovereign and private mints from around the globe.
• Automated ordering system which keeps prices low.
• They offer supplies to help customers store and collect bullion in prime condition.
• They make prudent decisions.
• They’ve got a good website 
• They’re contactable – a toll-free telephone number 
• They’re an association member firm on the certified coin exchange.
• They carry a BBB rating of A+.
• They offer safe, discreet shipping services. All orders are shipped fully insured.
• High-grade encryption software, an SSL certificate to ensure safe purchasing.
• You can store your investment with the company.

JM Bullion Business Model

• They sell precious metals such as gold and silver online to retail customers.
• Customers like that they price products in line with live market prices.
• JM Bullion orders are shipped free to customers. Orders are backed with private insurance 
• They believe in top quality customer services through phone, email, and live chat
• They offer a variety of precious metals. Customers can place orders online night and day.
• They offer lower prices as well as discounts for most products.
• They use SSL encryption to ensure financial- and personal details are secure.
• They offer clients precious metal IRAs. Clients can get all tax benefits of IRA investing. They offer lots of payment methods to customers.

Dillon Gage Business Model

• As the biggest precious metals wholesale firm, they have a successful refinery operation.
• They offer their customers decades of experience.
• Customers love that they are authorized to deal directly with the world’s major mints. This is a distinction held by very few other companies.
• They charge reasonable fees disclosed to the customer upfront.
• They have prestigious industry associations with the likes of the London Bullion Market Association, International Precious Metals Institute, and others.
• They provide precious metals refining settlements for gold and silver within 24 hours.
• No middlemen are used so customers always know where their assets are. 
• They can be contacted easily by phone and social media.

Differences Between These Precious Metals Companies

Provident Metals, Dillon Gage, and JM Bullion all strive to offer their customers excellent services. They offer their precious metals to banks and refineries etc.

The one notable difference between these 3 companies, however, is that Dillon Gage, also situated in Dallas, has been serving its customers for longer than the other two companies. They are authorized to purchase gold, silver, platinum, and others directly from the world’s major mints and they have their full-service gold and silver refinery which processes precious metals material. 

JM Bullion doesn’t offer storage on its website as the other companies do and they want their customers to get hold of a separate storage company.

They all have a deep passion for the precious metal industry and now a change of ownership has recently occurred when JM Bullion acquired Provident Metals. As the 2nd biggest eCommerce dealer in the country, JM Bullion is going to be able to bring some improvements to the Provident Metals customer and the combined company will be able to now ship more transactions each year. 

Wrapping Up – Who Did The Best In The Provident Metals Acquisition?

UPDATE: Now A-Mark definitely did the best because they own EVERYONE in the bullion industry. 

The 3 companies have excellent products and services to offer and Provident Metals, while it will retain the quality customers have come to expect, the most recent acquisition is going to bring about a number of positive changes such as the New Fulfillment Center. This will process and ship orders more smoothly and quickly as well as offer stored payment methods and the return of Paypal as well. 

Precious metals are always coveted and with these 3 precious metal companies, you can discover how to invest with them. They have intrinsic value but they come with their own set of risks. Prices can drop. There is also the problem with supply. When demand goes up it is possible that the supply may be depleted. A shortage can put pressure on prices.

You can see that the trick to achieving success with precious metals is to choose a world-leading company with experience in the financial markets. All of them source gold and silver bullion for the consumer at competitive prices.

The ultimate goal for customers is to see the value of their precious metals increasing over time so that they can make a net profit from their investment. When buying any investment, there are risks, but a good dealer will always be upfront about the potential risks of investing in precious metals, and these 3 companies have all that, allowing you to take a chance on them with confidence.