What is the difference between precious metals to metals?

Answer 1

Gold and Silver were some of the early "precious metals" to be isolated. They are relatively rare. Gold is relatively nonreactive and thus maintains a wonderful luster. It also has tremendous workability. Silver is somewhat similar, not as rare as gold, but has a nice luster, and good workability.

Other metals such as Platinum and Palladium also are relative rare and non reactive.

This would compare to copper which was probably initially isolated in the form of bronze, but later purified. Somewhat more common than the precious metals, and corrodes quickly. Iron and other metals were refined later in our history. It has great strength, but oxidizes quickly.

The "Ancients" discovered the beauty and workability of gold and silver, and started using them for currency and jewelery.

In recent times, gold and silver have been used in electronics due to their high workability and low resistance, and resistance to corrosion. Yet much of the value still is attributed to the value given by the ancients as "precious".

Answer 2

Precious metals are rare and valuable metals with high economic value, such as gold, silver, and platinum. Metals, on the other hand, refer to a broader category of elements that have metallic properties, including both precious metals and common metals like iron, copper, and aluminum.