Precious metals in order of Rhodium value. The most valuable of all precious metals is rhodium. Platinum is next on the list of precious metals and is known to be non-corrosive and dense. A long-time favorite of precious metals investors, gold has been used as a store of value for thousands of years and is a popular choice for those looking for a Gold IRA expert to help them invest in gold. Gold is known as an investment that tends to maintain its value well during economic downturns and that can overcome major recessions quite well.
Gold is also an excellent hedge during periods of high inflation compared to cash investments. While gold is a big investment, the cost of buying significant amounts of gold can be a bit prohibitive for some newer investors. Precious metals are rare metals that have a high economic value. They are valuable because they are scarce, useful for industrial processes, or have investment properties that make them a good store of value.
Notable precious metals include gold, silver, platinum, and palladium. If you look at the material value of precious metals, platinum comes first. Shiny white metal is considered a strong symbol of value and quality. The supply of platinum is much lower than that of gold.
It's also much harder to extract than the yellow metal. As an investment, platinum doesn't have as long a history as gold, which has facilitated trade since ancient civilizations. Industrial use, scarcity and the cost of acquisition drive global demand for metals and, therefore, the price of metals in the open market. Therefore, the value of many precious metals fluctuates depending on the needs of industrial sectors at any given time.
One of the most prominent examples is the use of rhodium in catalytic converters for the automotive industry. Rhodium is the most valuable metal and exists within the platinum group of metals. It is used in jewelry for a final finish on white gold jewelry. It is found in the same mineral in which gold and silver exist, only in smaller quantities.
Unlike other precious metals, rhodium is essential in the design of catalytic converters, which are essential for automotive exhaust systems. But in jewelry, white gold is an alloy of gold and white metal, such as nickel, silver or palladium. Rhodium is used in an electroplating process to make the alloy take on a whiter color. Like rhodium, palladium is used in catalytic converters for automotive exhaust gas filtration systems.
But unlike rhodium, palladium is only used in diesel vehicles. Based on industrial use, mainly in the automotive industry, the value of gold and platinum has had to change over the years. Most of the gold that is poured into jewelry is largely recycled. Rare metals, such as rhodium and gold, are so scarce that humans constantly reuse and recycle precious metals and diamonds.
Lest you suffer from the false assumption that paper and plastic were the beginning of the recycling and reuse movement, the precious metals and jewelry industry came first. Many investors view silver as a good first step in buying precious metals. With its very affordable prices, physical silver offers great flexibility for both purchase and resale. Advantages include the ability of physical gold to track the price of the precious metal and the potential for gold stocks and ETFs to perform better.
