Precious Metals In Brief
Precious metals are not easy to find. In chemistry, we learn that about the chemical formation of the precious metals. They are very different from other metals, and this is because precious metals do not react easily compared to other types of metals such as sodium and potassium. Precious metals occur naturally on the surface of the earth. Metal can only be referred to as precious if it is not easy to find. This makes these other types of metals such as sodium, potassium, zinc, among others, to not qualify as they are easy to find almost anywhere. The attribute of precious coming about because of the value that has been attributed to that metal by human beings at a particular time. The precious metals have a high price in the economy generally, in all parts of the world. A long time ago, as the economy developed, precious metals were also once used as money. Precious metals were used as a medium of exchange before the paper money came and took over. This was brought about by the challenges of using the precious metals, that were faced at that time. For big transactions, you would need a large number of precious metals. They have some significant weight which creates the challenge of carrying them around. And because they are precious, they were also very expensive and not everyone could afford them.
Similar to other highly-priced items, they could also get stolen by thieves, and therefore it was not safe to carry them around. Given that they are metallic, they were noisy to carry around so people would know if you passed by carrying them. However, in the history of human beings, precious metals remain to be a really important means of exchange. In the current times, the precious metals are used as a form of investment and are also used in industries to manufacture goods such as jewelry, the likes of earrings, necklaces, and rings, which are mostly worn by very rich people and royal families. Precious metals are also used in making articles of art and coins. Examples of precious metals are such as gold, silver, platinum, and diamond.
The most commonly known precious metal is gold and silver. Platinum is actually found as a group of platinum metals which consists of platinum itself, rhodium, iridium, osmium, and palladium. In this platinum group of metals, platinum is the most frequently traded metal. The demand for precious metals is brought about by different factors. One, is how these precious metals are used. As we have seen above, the precious metals are used in making the different types of jewelry, making articles of art and making coins. The precious metals are also a form of investment. Such investment involves relatively a large sum of money, compared to other forms of investment. The precious metals are also a store of value. When precious metal is discovered on the surface of the earth, like in mines, the value of the existing precious metals goes down. When precious metals are put together in large amounts, this is called bullion.