precious metal
| Dictionary: precious metal |
n.
Any of several metals, including gold and platinum, that have high economic value.
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| Investment Dictionary: Precious Metals |
A classification of metals that are considered to be rare and/or have a high economic value. The higher relative values of these metals are driven by various factors including their rarity, uses in industrial processes and use as an investment commodity.
Precious metals include, but are not limted to: gold, silver, platinum, iridium, rhodium and palladium.
Investopedia Says:
Investing in precious metals can be done either by purchasing the physical asset, or by purchasing futures contracts for the particular metal. Another way to gain investment exposure to precious metals is to purchase shares in publicly traded companies that deal in the exploration or production of precious metals, such as a gold mining company.
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| Financial & Investment Dictionary: Precious Metals |
Gold, silver, platinum, and palladium. These metals are valued for their intrinsic value, backing world currencies, as well as their industrial applications. Fundamental issues of supply and demand are important factors in their prices, along with political and economic considerations, especially when producing countries are involved. Inflation fears will stimulate gold accumulation and higher prices, as will war and natural disaster, especially in major producing or consuming countries or regions. Precious metals are held by central banks and are considered a storehouse of value. While gold is often singled out, cultural factors assign different levels of significance to the metals. In the Far East, especially Japan, platinum traditionally is held in higher regard than gold, both in terms of physical metal and investment holdings, and for personal accumulation (e.g., jewelry and coins). Gold is favored in the West. In India and the Middle East, silver is highly prized, and the dowries of Indian women are replete with silver jewelry and coins. Investors can buy physical metal in bars, Bullion and Numismatic Coins and jewelry. There are numerous investment vehicles that do not involve physical delivery: futures and options contracts, mining company stocks, bonds, mutual funds, commodity indices, and commodity funds. The values of these investment vehicles are influenced by metal price volatility, with commodity funds and indices, and futures and options, more sensitive to daily price swings. Many metals analysts and advisors recommend that 5% to 15% of investor portfolios be held in some form of precious metals as a long-term hedge against inflation and political turmoil.
| Science Q&A: What are the precious metals? |
This is a general term for expensive metals that are used for making coins, jewelry, and ornaments. The name is limited to gold, silver, and platinum. Expense or rarity does not make a metal precious, but rather it is a value set by law that states that the object made of these metals has a certain intrinsic value. The term is not synonymous with "noble metals," although a metal (such as platinum) may be both noble and precious.
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| Wikipedia: Precious metal |
"Bullion" redirects here. For other uses, see Bullion (disambiguation).
For uses of the word bouillon, see bouillon (disambiguation).
For the CSI episode of the same name, see Precious Metal (CSI episode).
A precious metal is a rare naturally occurring metallic chemical element of high economic value, which is not radioactive (excluding natural polonium, radium, actinium and protactinium). 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 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]
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. In January 2009, gold was about $840.00/troy ounce and silver was about $11.00/troy ounce, compared to copper at $0.11/troy ounce and nickel at $0.36/troy ounce.
In the early part of the 21st century, precious metal prices rose significantly and recycling precious metals became more and more attractive. Some companies have been doing recycling for many years, such as Sabin Metal Corporation (since 1945).
Contents |
Bullion
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 $930 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 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", 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, 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. 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.
Aluminium
An example of a precious metal that is now common is that of aluminium. Although aluminium is one of the most commonly occurring elements on Earth, 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.[3] 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[3]. Additionally, the pyramidal top to the Washington Monument is made of pure aluminium. At the time of the monument's construction, aluminium was as expensive as silver[4]. 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].
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.
Rough world market prices
| metal | mass abundance | price 2009-04-10 | price 2009-07-22 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Platinum | 5×10−9 | 42681 $/kg | 37650 $/kg |
| Rhodium | 1×10−9 | 39680 $/kg | 46200 $/kg |
| Gold | 4×10−9 | 31100 $/kg | 30590 $/kg |
| Iridium | 1×10−9 | 14100 $/kg | 12960 $/kg |
| Osmium | 1.5×10−9 | 13400 $/kg | 12200 $/kg |
| Palladium | 1.5×10−8 | 8430 $/kg | 8140 $/kg |
| Rhenium | 0.7×10−9 | 7400 $/kg | 7000 $/kg |
| Ruthenium | 1×10−9 | 2290 $/kg | 2730 $/kg |
| Germanium | 1.5×10−6 | 1050 $/kg | |
| Beryllium | 2.8×10−6 | ≈ 850 $/kg | |
| Silver | 7.5×10−8 | 437 $/kg | 439 $/kg |
| Gallium | 1.9×10−5 | 425 $/kg | |
| Indium | 2.5×10−7 | 325 $/kg | |
| Mercury | 8.5×10−8 | 18.9 $/kg | |
| Bismuth | 8.5×10−9 | 15.4 $/kg | |
| Tellurium | 1×10−9 |
The abundance of the element, a measure for its rarity, is given in mass fraction as kg/kg in the earth's crust (CRC Handbook).[5] All given prices from 10th April 2009 are taken mostly from London Metal Exchange. Data from 22nd of July 2009 are from the the bulliondesk com taken, except Germanium, Gallium and Indium. The metal prices of the last three metals are taken from minor metal com as examples of modern precious metals used for investment / speculation.
See also
References
 |
This article includes a list of references or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations where appropriate. (November 2008) |
- ^ Platinum Guild: Applications Beyond Expectation
- ^ Gold bullion facts from freegoldtips.com
- ^ a b Aluminum: Common Metal, Uncommon Past, Chemical Heritage NewsMagazine, Winter 2007/8, Vol.27, No.4
- ^ George J. Binczewski (1995). "The Point of a Monument: A History of the Aluminum Cap of the Washington Monument". JOM 47 (11): 20–25. http://www.tms.org/pubs/journals/JOM/9511/Binczewski-9511.html.
- ^ David R. Lide (ed.), CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, 85th Edition. CRC Press. Boca Raton, Florida (2005). Section 14, Geophysics, Astronomy, and Acoustics; Abundance of Elements in the Earth's Crust and in the Sea
External links
Sources of current metal prices
- Online realtime prices of precious metals from thebulliondesk.com
- One year price charts for minor metals
- Kitco Current Metal Prices
- Spyker International Bullion Services
- Measurements and Conversions of Precious metals
Organisations
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