Precious metals

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Precious metals are some of the best assets for diversifying any investment portfolio. Rare, useful, highly valued and finite, these precious metals can protect your wealth against economic uncertainty – and have the potential to make gains too!

A precious metal is typically a rare, metallic element, with a high economic value. Though not synonymous, precious metals are often ‘noble’ metals, meaning that they are less reactive than many other metals. Over long periods of time they won't corrode or rust, helping them to retain their value.

Gold and silver are the two best-known precious metals; their history stretches back thousands of years, being used in coinage and jewellery, but they are not the only precious metals. At BullionByPost we stock precious metal coins and bars made from gold and silver, but also platinum and palladium.
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Designation as a precious metal can also change; aluminium was for many years considered as precious, but is considered relatively common today. Despite being the most abundant metal in the Earth’s crust, aluminium was originally difficult to extract from its naturally occurring forms, and this made it incredibly rare. At one time it was even valued higher than gold! Adoption of modern techniques – such as the Hall-Héroult process – meant that aluminium was much more easily obtained, and its price dropped considerably, stripping it of its precious metal status.
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Precious metals list

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Lists of precious metals can differ from source to source, but below are some of the generally accepted metals that are considered precious:

• Gold – Famed for its beautiful yellow lustre, gold has been used in jewellery and coinage for millennia. In modern times it also has a number of industrial uses, further helping its demand grow.
• Iridium – Iridium is one of the densest metals, and also has one of the highest melting points of any metal. It has various uses from jewellery to medicine.
• Osmium – With a similarly high density to that of iridium, osmium is very brittle and hard, and as such is used in alloys to improve durability.
• Palladium – A popular alternative to platinum, palladium is mostly mined in Russia, and has seen prices climb above gold recently due to high demand in the automotive industry.
• Platinum – Platinum has seen impressive growth in price in the past decade, but the 2015 Volkswagen emissions scandal hurt diesel vehicles, and in turn platinum (used in exhausts) suffered.
• Rhodium – One of the ‘platinum group metals’ or PMGs, rhodium is highly reflective, and is used to make jewellery and mirrors shiny.
• Ruthenium – Another PMG, ruthenium is traditionally used in alloys to improve durability and resistance to corrosion, similar to osmium.
• Silver – As with gold, silver has been mined and coveted as a precious metal for thousands of years, and is incredibly useful.

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Most precious metal in the world?

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Thanks to the changing nature of precious metals, it is difficult to say which is the most precious metal in the world. Gold would certainly spring to mind for many people but, in terms of value/weight, gold is not the most expensive. As can be seen in the section below, palladium is arguably the most precious metal at the moment, but this could change over the course of time.
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Precious metal prices

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Customers can view live prices for gold, silver, platinum and palladium using our live charts. These can be customised for time, weight and currency as required. Gold and silver regularly garner attention in the bullion market, but platinum and palladium can also command impressive prices.

Platinum, for example, is significantly scarcer than gold; much less platinum can be found, and mining production numbers are lower as a result. Despite being rarer, it is still used widely in the automotive industry, and the case could be made for platinum being the most precious metal. In fact, the record-high price for platinum and gold are almost identical, at around £1,177 per ounce.

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Palladium is arguably the most precious metal in the world at the moment. Used as an alternative to platinum in the automotive industry, palladium has seen its price skyrocket in recent years. With supply limited by Russia, prices for palladium have even surpassed gold, reaching £1,209 per ounce in March 2019.

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Whichever precious metal you choose, the fact that finite amounts exist means their value is protected versus paper money. While money can be printed on the whim of governments and central banks, there will only ever be a set supply of precious metals, making them the ideal way to diversify your portfolio, and reduce the risk of economic uncertainty.