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Bullion: Mass Of Precious Metals.................................................................................... ...............3
Gold: Most Sought-After Precious Metal............................................................................. ...........4
Gold And Silver: The Two Precious Traditional Coinage Metals........................ ...........................5
Gold As An Investment: Ways Of Investing In Gold........................................ ..............................7
Gold Standard: Definition And The Three Distinct Kinds.................................... ..........................8
Krugerrand: Most Well-Known Precious Metal Coin....................................... ............................11
Largest Gold Nuggets Discovered: Welcome Stranger And Hand Of Faith............................... ...12
Platinum: Most Widely Traded Of The Platinum Group Metals.................................. .................18
Precious Metals Discoverers And Name Etymologies............................................ ......................21
Rhenium: Last Naturally Occurring Stable Precious Metal Discovered.................... ...................22
Rhodium: Costliest Precious Metal...................................................................... .........................23
Ruthenium: Most Versatile Of The Platinum Group Metals............................ .............................25
Safety Issues Concerning Precious Metals.................................................................. ..................26
Silver: Precious Metal With The Highest Thermal And Electrical Conductivity............. .............28
Silver As An Investment: Ways Of Investing In Silver....................................... ..........................29
The Eight Precious Metals Considered Noble Metals.................................................... ...............30
The Four Platinum Bullion Coins: A Brief Description Of Each............................. .....................31
The Six Precious Metals Of The Platinum Group..................................................... ....................32
Bullion: Mass Of Precious Metals
Bul ion is a mass of any one of the known precious metals. By strict definition, precious metals are those metal ic elements that are rare. Bul ion is commonly made of either gold or silver. Its value is determined by the worth of the metal rather than by its face value as money. To put it another way, bul ion is valued based on the mass and purity of the metal used, instead of its artificial currency value.
New sources of ore have been discovered and there also have been improvements in the mining and
refining processes. These two factors may cause the values of gold, silver, and the other precious metals to diminish. Also, the "precious" qualification of a metal is determined by the market value or high demand.
Bul ion is traded on commodity markets in two forms: bulk ingots or coins, the latter minted by the government of a country. At least ten countries are known to mint gold and silver bul ion coins. These are Australia, Austria, Canada, China, Mexico, Poland, South Africa, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
While bul ion coins are issued as legal tender, with nominal values assigned to them on minting, such face values are far below the commodity value of the metals themselves. Here's an example: Most of the gold coins issued by national governments, particularly those with currency values of between 10 and 100 U.S.
dollars, usual y contain no less than 31 grams of gold. On the average (considering the consistent rise in the exchange rate of gold), the value of gold is around USD12 per gram. Here, it is clear that the currency value assigned by the government to a gold bul ion coin has no meaning.
Below is a list of some of the government-issued gold and silver bul ion coins:
1. Australian Gold Nugget, Lunar Series I, and Lunar Series II
2. Austrian Philharmoniker
3. Canadian Maple Leaf
4. Chinese Gold Panda
5. Mexican Centenario, Libertad, and Onza
6. Polish Orzel bielik
7. South African Krugerrand
8. Swiss Vreneli
9. British Britannia and Sovereign
10. American Buffalo, American Eagle, and Double Eagle
The 10,000-dollar Australian Gold Nugget is one of the world's largest bul ion coins. Minted by the Australian government, this bul ion coin is made of 1 kilogram of 99.9% pure gold. Some other bul ion coins larger than the Australian Gold Nugget have come out. However, these are not produced in mass quantities and are not practical to handle. Two examples are given here: One is the 100,000-euro Vienna
Philharmonic, minted in 2004, which contains 31 kilograms of gold; the other is the 1 mil ion-dollar Canadian Maple Leaf, minted in 2007, which contains 100 kilograms of gold.
Three factors - metal, purity, and weight - affect the value of bul ion. The overal value of bul ion is determined by the metal used. We know, of course, that platinum is worth more than gold, which, in turn, is worth more than silver. It is easy to understand, therefore, that silver bul ion coins have become popular with collectors because of their relative affordability.
Written By Simon Newcombe
Gold: Most Sought-After Precious Metal
Of al the different precious metals we can think of, gold is
certainly the one most greatly desired. Since the beginning of
recorded history, gold has been in use in many different works
of art, coinage, and, of course, jewelry. Occurring as grains in
rocks and in al uvial deposits, gold is shiny, soft, and dense. It is
known to be the most ductile and mal eable pure metal.
What makes pure gold especial y attractive is its bright yel ow
color and luster.
These characteristics are maintained as gold is chemical y unaffected by air or moisture. Here are
some of the properties of gold:
General:
• Chemical Symbol: Au
• Atomic Number: 79
• Category (as an element): Transition Metal
• Group/ Period/ Block (in the Periodic Table): 11/ 6/ d
• Atomic Weight: 196.966569(4) g.mol-1
• Electron Configuration: [Xe] 4f14 5d10 6s1
Physical:
• Density (near room temperature): 19.30 g.cm-3
• Liquid Density (at melting point): 17.31 g.cm-3
• Melting Point: 1064.18°C, 1947.52°F, 1337.33°K
• Boiling Point: 2856°C, 5173°F, 3129°K
• Heat of Fusion: 12.55 kJ.mol-1
• Heat of Vaporization: 324 kJ.mol-1
Atomic:
• Oxidation States: -1, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
• Electronegativity: 2.54 (Pauling scale)
• Atomic Radius: 144 picometre
• Covalent Radius: 136±6 picometre
• Van der Waals Radius: 166 picometre
• Ionization Energies: 890.1 kJ.mol-1 (first), 1980 kJ.mol-1 (second)
The term "gold" was derived from "geolu", an Old English Anglo-Saxon word which means "yel ow". Its symbol "Au", on the other hand, originated from "aurum", the Latin word for "gold". The exact period when gold was first discovered could be a subject of dispute. While some accounts point to the year 1848 when gold was discovered in California, history tel s us that this precious metal was already being used extensively by the ancient Egyptians, Romans, Greeks, Chinese, and South Americans.
Throughout history, gold has served as a measure of value and a symbol of wealth. It is one of the coinage metals (along with silver and copper). It is used, customarily and legal y, as a means of payment or a medium of exchange. Gram and troy weight are the units of measurement used for gold. To indicate the amount of gold present in, say, a piece of jewelry, the term "carat" is used. A necklace, for instance, that is 24 carats means that it is made of pure gold.
While gold's price is determined through trading in the derivatives and gold markets, its daily benchmark price is provided in a procedure cal ed the London Gold Fix. In this procedure, the price of the precious metal is determined each business day on the London market. The fixing is done twice - once in the
morning and another in the afternoon. The latter actual y was introduced about 49 years after the
procedure itself was introduced, as a means of providing a price when US markets are open.
This gold-price fixing procedure is done by the five members of the London Gold Market Fixing Ltd., namely The Bank of Nova Scotia, Barclays Capital, Deutsche Bank AG London, HSBC, and Societe Generale
Corporate & Investment Banking.
Written By Simon Newcombe
Gold And Silver: The Two Precious Traditional Coinage Metals
Four transition metals make up group 11 of the periodic table of elements. Al , except one, are considered traditional coinage metals. Qualifying this further, only two of these three traditional coinage metals are considered precious metals. These are gold and silver.
Gold and silver are rare and have high economic values. These things can't be said of copper, the other traditional coinage metal. Occurring in nature in metal ic form, these two precious metals can be produced sans the use of extraction metal urgy. These other characteristics of gold and silver make them both wel suited for coinage:
• They are not radioactive.
• They are more ductile or softer than most other elements.
• They are less reactive compared with other elements.
• They have excel ent luster.
• They have higher melting points compared with other metals.
The high-ductility property of gold and silver means they can be easily damaged as coins for circulation.
Coins intended for circulation must be highly resistant to corrosion and wear. For this reason, gold or silver must be al oyed with other metals (example, manganese) so that the resulting coins wil come out harder, more wear-resistant, and not easily damaged or deformed.
As numismatic items, gold and silver coins are made almost entirely of the precious metals, respectively.
Current collectible gold coins (the 22-carat gold coins), for example, are made of 92% gold, with silver and copper comprising the rest. The coins in circulation in the United States prior to 1933 were made of 90%
gold and 10% copper-silver combined. Canada's official gold bul ion coin - The Canadian Gold Maple Leaf - is made of 99.999% gold; and so are these four other gold bul ion coins:
1. British Britannia (with a face value of 100 pounds).
2. Chinese Gold Panda (with face values of 500, 200, 100, 50, and 25 Yuan).
3. Swiss Helvetia Head (with face values of 100, 20, and 10 Swiss francs).
4. Austrian Vienna Philharmonic (with face values of 100, 50, 25, and 10 euros).
Silver coins, like the minted coins circulated in the United States and other countries prior to 1965, were made of 90% silver and 10% copper. The American Silver Eagle and the Mexican Silver Libertad bul ion coins, introduced in 1986 and 1982 respectively, were made of 99.9% silver and 0.1% copper.
Other notable silver bul ion coins include the Australian Silver Kookaburra, Chinese Silver Panda, and the Russian George the Victorious.
Minting coins, whether gold or silver, always entails the risk of having the value of the metal used in the coin greater than the coin's face value. This is especial y true in coins of low denomination. Because of this, there exists the possibility of some smelters taking gold or silver coins and melting these down for the scrap value of the precious metals.
A couple examples, in this regard, are worth mentioning here: US pennies have been made of copper-clad zinc since 1982, when they were before this time made of copper al oys; and British pennies were once made of 97% copper, but are now made of copper-plated steel.
As additional information, gold and silver both have a currency code of ISO 4217.
Written By Simon Newcombe
Gold As An Investment: Ways Of Investing In Gold
Four of the nine known precious metals are regarded as investment commodities. Of these four, gold is the most popular. Investing in gold is a way of protecting against crises that may be brought about by economic or political instability or by social unrest.
There are at least six ways of investing in gold:
Buying gold coins:
This is the most popular way of investing in gold. Gold bul ion coins are typical y priced based on their weight; a premium is added to the gold spot price. Gold coins may be bought or sold over the counter in most Swiss banks.
Buying gold bars:
This is the most traditional way of investing in gold. As in gold bul ion coins, bul ion gold bars can be bought or sold over the counter in most Swiss banks, as wel as in major banks in Liechtenstein and Austria. There also are bul ion dealers that provide this same kind of service. Gold bars however are becoming less and less an option among investors due to the difficulties (in the verification process, transportation, and storage) associated with them.
Opening a gold IRA account: Our Recommended Top Gold IRA Company
Gold accounts are offered by most banks in Switzerland. Here, gold can be bought or sold in much the same way foreign currencies are dealt. A gold account is backed either through non-fungible (al ocated) gold storage or pooled (unal ocated) storage.
Owning a gold certificate:
A gold investor may opt to hold on to a gold certificate rather than store the physical gold bul ion. The gold certificate al ows the investor to buy and sel the security and do away with the many difficulties associated with the actual gold's transfer.
Trading in Gold Exchange-Traded Funds (GETFs):
Trading in GETFs is like trading shares in, say, the New York Stock Exchange or the London Stock Exchange.
Gold Bul ion Securities, the first GETF introduced (in 2003, on the Australian Stock Exchange), stood for 1/10
of an ounce of gold. GETFs are a good means of gaining exposure to the price of gold, minus the
inconvenience of storage. Trading in GETFs involves payment of commission and storage fee (charged on an annual basis). The expenses incurred in relation to the handling of the fund are charged through the sel ing of a certain amount of the gold as represented by the certificate. Over time, the amount of gold in the certificate, as may be expected, decreases.
Entering in a Contract For Difference (CFD):
Some of the noted financial services firms, especial y those in the United Kingdom, provide Contract for Difference (CFD). In this gold investment vehicle, two parties (a "buyer" and a "sel er") enter into a contract, in which the sel er agrees to pay the buyer the difference between the current value of gold and its value at contract time. In case the difference is negative, the sel er receives payment instead from the buyer. A CFD, therefore, al ows an investor to take advantage of long or short positions, enabling him/her to speculate on these markets.
In a related scenario, an investor may buy gold early in a condition where there is increased investor confidence. The investor then sel s the gold before a general decline in the stock market sets in. Obviously in this case, the investor's aim is to gain financial y.
Written By Simon Newcombe
Gold Standard: Definition And The Three Distinct Kinds
The gold standard is defined in many different reference materials as a monetary system in which the unit of currency used is a fixed quantity or weight of gold. Under this system, al forms of money, including notes and bank deposits, were freely converted into gold at the fixed price.
There are three known kinds of gold standard that have been adopted since the early 1700s - the gold specie, gold exchange, and gold bul ion standards. Following is the definition and a brief historical account of each.
Gold Specie Standard:
In this gold standard, the unit of currency is linked to the gold coins that are in circulation. More specifical y, the monetary unit is associated with the unit of value of a specific gold coin in circulation along with that of any secondary coinage (coins made of metal that is valued less than gold).
Recorded history points to the existence of a gold specie standard in medieval empires. For example, the Eastern Roman Empire made use of a gold coin cal ed Byzant (from the original Greek term Bezant).
The first known major area in the world to be on a gold specie standard in modern times is the British West Indies. That standard, however, was more of a commonly applied system rather than an official y
established one. It was based on the Spanish gold coin cal ed the doubloon.
The United States adopted the gold specie standard "de jure" (by law) in 1873, using the American Gold Eagle as unit.
Gold Exchange Standard:
In this gold standard, only the circulation of coins minted from lesser valuable metals (such as silver) may be involved. The authorities, however, wil have undertaken a fixed exchange rate with a country that's on the gold standard.
Before the turn of the 20th century, countries that were stil on silver standard started pegging their monetary units to the gold standard of either the United States or the United Kingdom. For example, Mexico, the Philippines, and Japan pegged their respective silver units to the U.S. dollar at fifty cents.
Gold Bullion Standard:
In this gold standard, gold bul ion is sold on demand at a fixed price. It was introduced in 1925 by the British Parliament in an act which at the same time voided the gold specie standard.
Six years later, the United Kingdom decided to temporarily stop the gold bul ion standard because of the large amount of gold that flowed out across the Atlantic Ocean. The gold standard eventual y ended that same year.
One of the advantages of the gold standard is that it sort of restricts the government's power in inflating prices, which is possible through excessive issuance of paper currency.
Also by providing a fixed pattern of exchange rates, the gold standard may effectively lessen uncertainty in international trade.
As to its disadvantage, the gold standard may make monetary policy ineffective in stabilizing the economy in the event of a general slowdown in economic activity.
This is likely, as many economists fear, since under the gold standard the supply of gold would be the exclusive determinant to the amount of money.
Written By Simon Newcombe
Iridium: Most Corrosive Resistant Precious Metal
Iridium is a transition metal belonging to the platinum group. Its main characteristics are that of being hard and brittle and of being silvery-white in appearance. It ranks next to osmium in being the densest element.
As to its main property, this is best expressed in its being considered the most corrosive resistant of al the precious metals. In fact, this is shown even in temperatures of as high as 2000°C (3632°F or 2273.15°K).
Iridium was discovered in 1803 by the English chemist Smithson Tennant. It was identified from the residue of platinum ore which was dissolved in nitro-hydrochloric acid (also known as aqua regia). Platinum ores are stil the main sources today of iridium. The precious metal is likewise obtained as a by-product of mining nickel.
Below are some of the properties of iridium.
General:
• Chemical Symbol: Ir
• Atomic Number: 77
• Category (as an element): Transition Metal
• Group/ Period/ Block (in the Periodic Table): 9/ 6/ d
• Atomic Weight: 192.217 g.mol-1
• Electron Configuration: [Xe] 4f14 5d7 6s2
Physical:
• Density (near room temperature): 22.56 g.cm-3
• Liquid Density (at melting point): 19 g.cm-3
• Melting Point: 2466°C, 4471°F, 2739°K
• Boiling Point: 4428°C, 8002°F, 4701°K
• Heat of Fusion: 41.12 kJ.mol-1
• Heat of Vaporization: 563 kJ.mol-1
Atomic:
• Oxidation States: -3, -1, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
• Electronegativity: 2.20 (Pauling scale)
• Atomic Radius: 136 picometre
• Covalent Radius: 141±6 picometre
Because of its characteristic of being very brittle, pure iridium is quite difficult - almost impossible, in fact -
to machine. Its primary use is as a hardening agent for platinum. High-temperature equipment, such as crucibles, are made from platinum-iridium al oys. Compass bearings, balances and fountain pen tips, on the other hand, are made from osmium-iridium al oys.
Again, iridium is the most corrosive resistant precious metal known. Coupled with its resistance to extremely high temperatures, this special characteristic makes iridium ideal for use in certain parts of aircraft engines. It is also al oyed with titanium to make deep-water pipes.
Other uses of iridium include the following:
1. Electrical contacts for spark plugs (due to its resistance to arc erosion);
2. Computer memory devices;
3. Direct-ignition engine (as a catalyst);
4. Radiotherapy (as a source of radiation);
5. X-ray telescopes.
In 2007, worldwide demand for iridium reached 3,701 kilograms (119,000 troy ounces). Distribution of these were as follows: electrochemical uses (1,100 kilograms); electrical uses (780 kilograms); for catalysis (750 kilograms); and other applications (1,100 kilograms).
Iridium is found at highest concentrations within the Earth's crust in three specific types of geologic structures: in impact craters, in igneous deposits, and in deposits reworked from either of the first two. The Bushveld igneous complex in South Africa is the largest known primary reserves for iridium in the world.
Other important sources of this precious metal are the Sudbury Basin in Canada and the nickel-copperpal adium deposits near Norilsk in Russia. Several smal er iridium reserves are also found in the United States.
Beginning the year 2000, the annual production of iridium is about 3 tonnes (96,500 troy ounces). Its price as of 2007 is 14,667 U.S. dollars per kilogram (440 U.S. dollars per troy ounce).
Written By Simon Newcombe
Krugerrand: Most Well-Known Precious Metal Coin
There are thirty-three known bul ion coins in the world. Of these, 5 are made of platinum, 1 of pal adium, 9
of silver, and 18 of gold. And of al these precious metal coins, the South African gold bul ion coin Krugerrand is perhaps the most popular.
In 1967, the South African Mint Company introduced the Krugerrand, with the intention of circulating it as currency. Its status as a legal tender was seen as the best way for marketing South African gold around the world. In fact, thirteen years after its introduction, this precious metal coin accounted for about ninety percent of the gold coin market.
The Krugerrand comes in four varieties:
1. One-tenth ounce coin (0.11 troy ounce in weight, 1.35 mil imeters thick, and 16.55 mil imeters in diameter).
2. Quarter ounce coin (0.27 troy ounce in weight, 1.89 mil imeters thick, and 22.06 mil imeters in diameter).
3. Half ounce coin (0.55 troy ounce in weight, 2.22 mil imeters thick, and 27.07 mil imeters in diameter).
4. One ounce coin (1.09 troy ounces in weight, 2.84 mil imeters thick, and 32.77 mil imeters in diameter).
Each of these four coin varieties is 22K, containing 91.67% pure gold and 8.33% copper. This composition was meant to make the coins more durable and harder and thus resist dents and scratches, as, again, they were original y intended for circulation.
On the obverse of the Krugerrand is the face of Stephanus Jonannes Paulus Kruger, fifth president of the South African Republic (note the surname Kruger and the South African currency Rand were combined to give this precious metal coin its name). Also here are the Afrikaans and English versions of the name "South Africa", both inscribed in capital letters.
On the reverse of the coin is an image of the springbok, an antelope specie which is a South African national symbol. Atop the image is an inscription of the name of the coin, in capital letters, while below it is the coin's gold content, inscribed in Afrikaans and English.
Special samples of the coin (proof Krugerrand) are minted and offered as collector's items. These proof Krugerrands are priced above the bul ion Krugerrands. The two coin versions can be distinguished from one another by the number of serrations they have - the proof version has 220, while the bul ion has 40 less than the former's.
Other nations, such as Canada, Australia, the United States, and the United Kingdom, started producing their own precious metal coins one after the other beginning in 1979. The decisions of the