Precious metal

This article is about the type of metal. For the CSI episode, see CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (season 3).
"Bullion" redirects here. For other uses, see Bullion (disambiguation).
"Bullion" redirects here. It is not to be confused with Bouillon.
A gold nugget
A precious metal is a rare, naturally occurring metallic chemical element of high economic value; this normally excludes natural polonium, radium, actinium and protactinium, which are radioactive and require special handling.[citation needed] Chemically, the precious metals are less reactive than most elements, have high lustre, are softer or more ductile, and have higher melting points than other metals. Historically, precious metals were important as currency, but are now regarded mainly as investment and industrial commodities. Gold, silver, platinum, and palladium each have an ISO 4217 currency code.
The best-known precious metals are the coinage metals gold and silver. While both have industrial uses, they are better known for their uses in art, jewellery and coinage. Other precious metals include the platinum group metals: ruthenium, rhodium, palladium, osmium, iridium, and platinum, of which platinum is the most widely traded.[1]
Assortment of precious metals
The demand for precious metals is driven not only by their practical use, but also by their role as investments and a store of value. Historically, precious metals have commanded much higher prices than common industrial metals.

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[edit] Bullion

A 500 gram silver bullion bar produced by Johnson Matthey
American Platinum Eagle bullion coin
A metal is deemed to be precious if it is rare. The discovery of new sources of ore or improvements in mining or refining processes may cause the value of a precious metal to diminish. The status of a "precious" metal can also be determined by high demand or market value. Precious metals in bulk form are known as bullion, and are traded on commodity markets. Bullion metals may be cast into ingots, or minted into coins. The defining attribute of bullion is that it is valued by its mass and purity rather than by a face value as money.[2]
Many nations mint bullion coins. Although nominally issued as legal tender, these coins' face value as currency is far below that of their value as bullion. For instance, Canada mints a gold bullion coin (the Gold Maple Leaf) at a face value of $50 containing one troy ounce (31.1035 g) of gold—as of July 2009, this coin is worth about $1,075 CAD as bullion.[3] Bullion coins' minting by national governments gives them some numismatic value in addition to their bullion value, as well as certifying their purity.
Silver 1000oz bar
The level of purity varies from issue to issue. 99.9% purity is common. The purest mass-produced bullion coins are in the Canadian Gold Maple Leaf series, which go up to 99.999% purity. Note that a 100% pure bullion is not possible, as absolute purity in extracted and refined metals can only be asymptotically approached. Many bullion coins contain a stated quantity (such as one troy ounce) of the marginally-impure alloy. In contrast, the Krugerrand is one of many historic and modern bullion coins of 22 Kt Crown gold, with a stated content (usually one troy ounce) of "fine gold"[clarification needed (define)], with the other component(s) of the alloy making the coin heavier than one ounce in total. Still more bullion coins (for example: British Sovereign) state neither the purity nor the fine-gold weight on the coin, but are recognized and consistent in their composition,[citation needed] and many historically stated a denomination in currency (example: American Double Eagle).
One of the largest bullion coins in the world is the 10,000 dollar Australian Gold Nugget coin minted in Australia which consists of a full kilogram of 99.9% pure gold. There have been a small number of larger bullion coins, but they are impractical to handle and not produced in mass quantities. China has produced coins in very limited quantities (less than 20 pieces minted) that exceed 260 troy ounces (8 kg) of gold.[citation needed] Austria has minted a coin containing 31 kg of gold (the Vienna Philharmonic Coin minted in 2004 with a face value of 100,000 euro). As a stunt to publicise the 99.999% pure one-ounce Canadian Gold Maple Leaf series, in 2007 the Royal Canadian Mint made a 100 kg 99.999% gold coin, with a face value of $1 million, and now manufactures them to order, but at a substantial premium over the market value of the gold.
Gold and silver are often seen as hedges against both inflation and economic downturn. Silver coins have become popular with collectors due to their relative affordability, and unlike most gold and platinum issues which are valued based upon the markets, silver issues are more often valued as collectables, far higher than their actual bullion value.

[edit] Aluminium

A precious metal that became common is aluminium. Although aluminium is one of the most commonly occurring elements in the Earth's crust, it was at one time found to be exceedingly difficult to extract from its various ores. This made the little available pure aluminium, which had been refined at great expense, more valuable than gold.[4] Bars of aluminium were exhibited alongside the French crown jewels at the Exposition Universelle of 1855,[citation needed] and Napoleon III's most important guests were given aluminium cutlery, while those less worthy dined with mere silver.[4] Additionally, the pyramidal top to the Washington Monument is made of 100 ounces of pure aluminium. At the time of the monument's construction, aluminium was as expensive as silver.[5] Over time, however, the price of the metal has dropped; the invention of the Hall-Héroult process in 1886 caused the high price of aluminium to permanently collapse.[citation needed]

[edit] Bismuth and tellurium

Bismuth and tellurium are the only two metals which have abundances less than 10-8 by mass part (g/g) in the Earth's crust, but which are currently not of high economic value.[citation needed]

[edit] Rough world market Price ($/kg)s

Valuable metal Price ($/kg)s containing all precious metals names in bold
metal↓ mass abundance[6]↓ Price ($/kg) 2009-04-10[7]↓ Price ($/kg) 2009-07-22[8]↓ Price ($/kg) 2010-01-07[citation needed]↓

0 0 0 0
Platinum 5 ppb 42681 37650 49995
Rhodium 1 ppb 39680 46200 88415
Gold 4 ppb 31100 30590 36370
Iridium 1 ppb 14100 12960 13117
Osmium 1.5 ppb 13400 12200 12217
Palladium 15 ppb 8430 8140 13632
Rhenium 0.7 ppb 7400 7000 6250
Ruthenium 1 ppb 2290 2730 5562
Germanium 1500 ppb
1050[9] 1038
Beryllium 2800 ppb
850[citation needed]
Silver 75 ppb 437 439 588
Gallium 19000 ppb
425[9] 413
Indium 250 ppb
325[9] 520
Tellurium 1 ppb

158.70
Mercury 85 ppb
18.90 15.95
Bismuth 8.5 ppb
15.40 18.19
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