Want to know what the most expensive precious metals you can buy are worth?
Precious metals come in different shapes and sizes; Gold and silver being the most common.
However, there are many precious metals that are even more precious and highly sorted.
So before you go buy all the gold and silver on the planet, read this list of precious metals and see if you can grab a good deal!
Here is a list of the 10 most expensive precious metals in the world.
The 10 most expensive precious metals in the world
The list of expensive precious metals and figures mentioned below has been compiled from various sources on the web, such as 911Metallurgist & Gold Investments.
These are the 10 most expensive precious metals in the world:
10. Indium
Indium is a mild silvery-white chemical element that can be identified by its symbol, In, and its atomic number 49.
Apart from alkali, indium is the softest metal on the planet and is a post-transition metal which represents around 0.21 parts per million of the earth's crust.
Indium can be melted in liquid form at a higher melting point than sodium and gallium, but just a little under lithium and tin.
It was first discovered in 1863 by Ferdinand Reich and Hieronymous Theodor Ritcher using spectroscopic methods. They called it Indium because of the indigo blue line in its spectrum.
Indium is most commonly used in the semiconductor industry for products such as alloys, solders and high vacuum seals made of soft metal.
Indium costs about $ 1 - $ 5 per gram depending on the purity and quantity.
9. Scandium
The second most expensive precious metal in the world is scandium.
This chemical element can be identified by its symbol, Caroline from the south, or atomic number 21.A.
Scandium was first discovered in Scandinavia in 1879 by spectral analysis of minerals ilsenite and gadolinite. Merit was given to the Swedish scientist, Lars Nilsson, who named it appropriately after Scandinavia.
It is a silvery white metallic color and has been historically classified as a rare earth element.
It is found in most rare earth and uranium compound deposits, but it is only mined from certain minerals in a few mines around the world.
One gram of scandium acetate is valued at $ 44.
8. Money
Getting to number 8 on our list of precious metals is one of the most well-known and common metals on the planet, silver.
Its chemical element symbol is Ag, and its atomic number is 47.
Silver has the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity and reflectivity of all metals known to man.
It is found in the earth's crust in its purest elemental form as an alloy with gold and other precious metals, and in minerals such as chlorargyrite and argentite. However, most of the world's silver is produced as a by-product from the refining of gold, lead, copper and zinc.
Since silver has long been considered a precious metal, it has been used in various ways, such as in the production of bullion coins and other non-currency related media such as solar panels, filtration systems and jewelry.
The current approximate price per gram of silver is $ 0.48 per gram.
7. Rhenium
Rhenium is considered one of the rarest metals in the earth's crust and has the third highest melting point and the second highest boiling point of any stable element.
It can be identified by its chemical element symbol, Re, and the atomic number 75.
Rhenium was discovered in 1908 and named after the Rhine in Europe. It was also the penultimate stable element to find, just before the hafnium.
This precious metal is often used for nickel-based superalloys in combustion chambers, turbine blades and exhaust nozzles of jet engines.
Rhenium currently costs approximately $ 1,290 per troy ounce.
6. Osmium
Osmium is a hard bluish-white transition metal from the platinum group that can be found as a trace element in platinum alloys and ores.
It is the densest natural element and is commonly used to tip the tip of the fountain pen and make electrical contacts.
It is also one of the rarest elements on the planet, which is why it requires such a high price.
Per troy ounce, you plan to pay around $ 400, which has been fairly constant since the 1990s, but can fluctuate a bit depending on the market.
Iridium is a hard, silvery-white transition metal that is considered to be the second densest metal on earth.
It is the most corrosion-resistant metal and is found in abundance in meteorites and the earth's crust.
Iridium was discovered in 1803 by Smithson Tennant, who named the precious metal after the Greek goddess Iris because its striking salts resembled all the colors of the rainbow.
South Africa produces the largest quantities of this metal, which it exports to countries around the world for use in various products such as watches and compasses, and all of the various parts of the automotive industry.
The current price of Iridium is around $ 520 per ounce.
Ruthenium is number four on our list of the most expensive precious metals.
Ruthenium is a chemical element which can be identified by the symbol Ru and atomic number 44.
Belonging to the Platinum group; Ruthenium is a rare transition metal that was discovered by a scientist of Russian origin, Karl Ernst Claus, in 1844 at Kazan State University.
He named the element Ruthenium in honor of Russia, because Ruthenia is Latin for Rus'.
Ruthenium is most commonly found in ores with other platinum group metals in the mountains of North and South America. It is widely used in many electronic devices and equipment.
To date, ruthenium costs about $ 260 an ounce.
3. Gold
The third most expensive precious metal in the world is gold.
This precious metal does not need to be presented because it is undoubtedly the most known metal in the world.
In its purest form, the gold box is a bright, dense, soft, malleable and ductile yellow metal and is one of the least reactive chemical elements on earth.
Gold is often found in its native free elementary form, nuggets or grains in rocks, veins and alluvial deposits.
It is still considered relatively rare, hence the price, and has often been used throughout history for currency, jewelry and the arts.
China still produces the largest amount of gold, at around 440 tonnes per year.
The price of gold per gram, as it stands, is around $ 53.95.
2. Palladium
The second most expensive precious metal in the world is palladium.
Palladium is a chemical element identified by the symbol Pd and its atomic number 46.
Discovered in 1803 by the English chemist William Hyde Wollaston, palladium was named after the asteroid Pallas.
It is part of the Platinum group along with platinum, rhodium, ruthenium, iridium and osmium, all of which have similar chemical properties; however, palladium has the lowest melting point and is the least dense of all.
The most common use of palladium is in catalytic converters, which are used to convert up to 90% of all harmful gases from car exhausts to less harmful substances.
It is also used to make some of the most expensive jewelry in the world, as well as for electronics, groundwater treatment, hydrogen purification, dentistry and medicine.
You better have deep pockets if you want to pour some money on this precious metal, because a single gram of Palladium will cost you $ 72.13!
1. Rhodium
The title of the most expensive precious metal in the world goes to Rhodium.
This precious metal is extremely rare and can be described as an inert silver-white, hard, corrosion-resistant transition metal.
Rhodium is a member of the platinum group and a noble metal. It was first discovered by William Hyde Wollaston in 1803 and correctly named because of the pink color of one of its chlorine compounds.
It can be found in platinum or nickel ores alongside other precious metals of the platinum group.
Like the second most expensive precious metal in the world, palladium, about 80% of the world's rhodium is used as one of the catalysts in a three-way catalyst converter in automobiles.
As of 2020, the current price per gram of rhodium is $ 260.42, which makes it the most expensive precious metal in the world!
Summary
We hope you enjoyed our list of the 10 most expensive precious metals in the world.
Shocking, right? We hadn't even heard of any of them before making this list.
However, we were quickly surprised at how many of these precious metals are used in many everyday products.
Still, $ 260.42 for a single gram is a bit excessive, so we're going to stick with good old gold and silver for now.
If you enjoyed this article, check out more of our "dearest" lists:
Here is a brief summary of the 10 most expensive precious metals in the world:
