Precious metal
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- Bullion redirects here. For the town in France, see Bullion, Yvelines. For uses of the word bouillon, see Bouillon (disambiguation)
Image:GoldNuggetUSGOV.jpg A precious metal is a rare metallic chemical element of high, durable economic value.
Chemically, the precious metals are less reactive than most elements, have high luster, 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 though are still internationally recognised as forms of currency under ISO 4217.
The best-known precious metals are gold and silver. While both have industrial uses, they are better known for their uses in art, jewelry, 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. Plutonium and uranium could also be considered 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. Palladium is, as of February 28 2006, valued ($284 USD per ounce) at a little over half the price of gold ($561 USD/ounce), and platinum ($1,050 USD/ounce) at about twice that of gold. Silver is substantially less expensive ($9.77 USD/ounce) than these metals, presently at 1/58 the price of gold, but is often traditionally considered a precious metal for its role in coinage and jewelry.
Bullion
Image:Johnson Matthey 500 grammes silver bullion.jpg 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. Image:Platinum eagle.jpg Many nations mint bullion coins, of which the most famous is probably the gold South African Krugerrand. Although nominally issued as legal tender, these coins' face value as currency is far below that of their value as bullion. For instance, the United States mints a gold bullion coin (the Gold Eagle) at a face value of $50 containing 1 troy ounce (31.1035 g) of gold — as of January 2006, this coin is worth about $550 as bullion. Bullion coins' minting by national governments gives them some numismatic value in addition to their bullion value, as well as certifying their purity. The level of purity varies from country to country, with some bullion coins of as pure as 99.99% available (the Canadian Gold Maple Leaf coin meets this standard). Note that a 100% pure bullion is not possible, as absolute purity in extracted and refined metals can only be asymptotically approached.
One of the largest bullion coins in the world is a 10,000 dollar coin minted in Australia which consists of a full kilogram of 99.9% pure gold; however China has produced coins in very limited quantities (less than 20 pieces minted) that exceed 260 troy ounces (8 kg) of gold.
Gold as an investment and silver as an investment are often seen as a hedge against both inflation and economic downturn. Silver bullion coins have become popular with coin 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.
Precious metal status
Image:Gold ingots.jpg A given metal is precious if it is rare. If mining or refining processes improve, or new supplies are discovered and exploited, the value of such a metal declines.
An interesting case of a precious metal going common is that of aluminium. Aluminium was, when it was first discovered, extremely difficult to separate from the ore it was part of and, since the whole of the Earth's aluminium was bound up in the form of compounds, the most difficult metal on earth to get, despite the fact that it is one of the planet's most common.
For a while, aluminium was more valuable than gold; bars of aluminium were exhibited alongside the French crown jewels at the Exposition Universelle (1855). Napoleon is said to have used aluminum plates for his most honored guests at dinner. However, the price dropped continually and collapsed altogether when an easy extraction method, the Hall-Héroult process, was discovered in 1886.
The rarity of various metals may again be in for a shift, however. According to USGS statistics, at current production rates all the gold in the earth's crust will theoretically be processed within several decades. Meanwhile, silver is in a structural supply deficit, with 300 million troy ounces (9,000,000 kg) more being consumed each year than is mined--it may currently be more rare than gold [1].