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 Replies: 21 / Views: 4,615 |
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Pillar of the Community
708 Posts |
Can anyone tell me what the world's most expensive precious metal is? I used to think europium was, because I once read that europium was $7,500 a kilogram, but I also believe I read that europium rapidly dissolves in oxygen, which would make the metal useless for jewelry.
Anyway, that was years ago, and as of late, I am not hearing that rhodium is the world's most expensive precious metal, and I even heard that iridium was even more rare, yet rhodium is still more valuable. So if anyone can help me out here, please do.
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Moderator
 Australia
16810 Posts |
Back in 2008, rhodium was indeed the "most precious", at over US$10,000/ounce. It has since fallen to below $2000. I believe rhenium is currently the top-priced metal, at $3,500/ounce.
Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
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Bedrock of the Community
13014 Posts |
My kitco app has Rhodium well below gold and platinum at 1300 an ounce.
The problem with the most expensive precious metal is its all relative. Theres a few things thats arent exactly abundant but you need the demand to drive up the price, when the price gets to high the industrial machine responds by finding a new metal and it starts over.
If you really wanted to play devils advocate it would be Uranium that would by far fetch the highest price on the black market.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1200 Posts |
I was thinking maybe weapons grade plutonium...
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Pillar of the Community
United States
6383 Posts |
I was interested in getting an iridium bar and found a company last month that quoted a price of $2,500 for a rough, unlabeled 1-ounce ingot. That's about double the official spot price. I can't justify that cost, especially when the product would have no indication of metal, weight, or purity. I have been unable to find any "official" bars of that metal.
The Kitco rhodium bar looks tempting, but I really wanted the iridium. As one of the two densest elements known an iridium ingot should have impressive "heft". If the spot price drops back to the recent historical average of less than $500/ounce perhaps the rough ingot price will become attractive.
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Moderator
United States
14463 Posts |
I have been putting together a collection of coins/bars of metal. (A few are 1 ounce, most are 1-5 grams, and the palladium & platinum bars are 5 grains).
So far I have: Aluminum, Brass, Columbium, Copper, Gold, Iron, Lead, Molybdenum, Nickel, Niobium, Palladium, Platinum, Silver, Tantalum, Tin, Titanium, Zinc, and Zirconium.
I know I am missing Iridium and Rhodium
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Moderator
Australia
16810 Posts |
These guys sell "coins" (little cent-sized medals) made of most metallic and some non-metallic elements. Some highly reactive metals such as europium are encased in glass. The only metals they don't do yet are ones like iridium, tungsten, rhenium and ruthenium that are too difficult to strike in the conventional coin sense, and the alkali metals (they explode on contact with water). Their most expensive "standard series" coin is rhodium, at $370 for a medal weighing 5.3 grams. Quote:
...Columbium, Copper, Gold, Iron, Lead, Molybdenum, Nickel, Niobium... I hate to break it to you, Fuzzy, but "columbium" and "niobium" are two different names for one and the same thing, element number 41. Scientists in America called it "columbium", while the Europeans called it "niobium". The debate over the name was finally resolved by the IUPAC in 1950, with "niobium" winning.
Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
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Moderator
United States
14463 Posts |
I will check that site out. I didn't know that about columbium/niobium.  High school chemistry was a long time ago. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1195 Posts |
Quote:
So far I have: Aluminum, Brass, Columbium, Copper, Gold, Iron, Lead, Molybdenum, Nickel, Niobium, Palladium, Platinum, Silver, Tantalum, Tin, Titanium, Zinc, and Zirconium. My inner chemistry geek is jealous of you Fuzzy! |
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Valued Member
United States
492 Posts |
If you're going by availability in nature, then technetium is probably the most precious metal. It has no known stable isotopes, so it is very rare in the wild. If you do ever get your hands on some, sell it quickly and don't put it in your pocket. All forms of it are radioactive, and most of its isotopes have half lives measured in hours.
For all these same reasons, prometium is a close second.
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Moderator
Australia
16810 Posts |
The question is not, "which is rarest?", the question is, "which is most expensive?". As we're all coin collectors here, we all know that rarity alone does not necessarily make something more valuable. There must also be high demand, to complement the low supply, to make something valuable.
There are a great many chemical elements that are scarce, but nearly worthless because nobody wants the stuff. Scandium, for example.
Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
4208 Posts |
Copernicium... newest synthetic metal. Costs a lot to run a collider you know - and that only makes a few atoms. So it would be trillions for an ounce of the stuff. Probably more because it has to all be made before you lose too much to radioactivity (27 second halflife...)
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Valued Member
United States
151 Posts |
It looks to me like the usual suspects (Gold and Platinum) are the most expensive .999 metals, with either of them being in the #1 spot depending on the time of day lately. I have been interested in buying iridum, rhendium, ruthenium, osmium in coin/blob form from elementsales for some time now (still waiting for them to offer more in coin form before pulling the trigger on an order) and they list:
Ruthenium 1 Toz blob - $240.00 - Purity 99.9%+
Rhendium 1 Toz blob - $410.00 - Purity 99.9%
Osmium 1 Toz blob - $810.00 - Purity 99.9%
Iridium 1 Toz blob - $1340.00 - Purity 99.9%
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Valued Member
United States
239 Posts |
Wow I had no idea rhodium fell like that.. I still thought that was it.
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Bedrock of the Community
13014 Posts |
Quote:
There are a great many chemical elements that are scarce, but nearly worthless because nobody wants the stuff. Scandium, for example. About 10 15 years ago there was a time when they were using that in some composite ice hockey shafts and baseball bats. I still have a decent amount of that in my garage lol. |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
10034 Posts |
Don't forget Vibranium - the Cap owns all of it  |
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Replies: 21 / Views: 4,615 |
Posted 03/01/2013 10:35 pm
