The subject of metals is quite an exhaustive one and the only way to successfully talk about metals is by breaking them down into categories. If you guessed that this section of our website will be dealing with precious metals just by looking at our pages while browsing our website at your desk then you've guessed correctly. We wanted to do a feature on precious metals because not everyone knows which metals fall into the precious metals category.

If you were to take a stab at naming some precious metals how many would you be able to identify? Do you know what makes a metal precious? Luckily for you we're going to help you out on both fronts. First, let's talk about what exactly a precious metal is. In simple terms a precious metal is a rare metal; they're the types of metals that have inside of them naturally occurring metallic chemical elements that have a very high economic value. Additionally, precious metals aren't as reactive as most elements, have a high luster and are usually ductile.

If you're thinking that the aluminum joint strap in your garage isn't a precious metal right about now you're probably correct in that assumption. Precious metals used to be of some significance in the olden days where trading was king, as they could be used as a form of currency. That's no longer the case though and precious metals are just seen as industrial commodities or investment opportunities. So, please, don't try to buy tickets from Winitcar.com to win a new car, by offering them your platinum jewelry. It's also quite common in today's world that many financial institutions offer precious metals in the form of bullion, coins, or certificates that can either be gifted or invested in. The Canadian Mint offers more information on bullion that you can find here

Now that you have a greater idea as to what a precious metal is it's time to talk about which metals can actually fall into the precious metals category. There are the coinage precious metals of gold and silver, the platinum group of precious metals that includes palladium, iridium, osmium, rhodium, ruthenium and, of course, platinum. That's the main group of precious metals. At one point aluminum was considered a precious metal but now it's a common metal.

Hopefully you're now more aware of what precious metals are and why they're considered precious metals. Maybe you have some metal lying around your home somewhere such as antique jewellery that could be made out of a precious metal and, therefore, is quite valuable. It's time to take stock of the metals in your home and see which ones are worth hanging on to because of their preciousness and which ones can be junked like beat up old subway signs. Art is another thing non-precious metals can be used for if you don't want to throw them away.