Bullion

A precious metal is a rare metallic chemical element of high economic value.

Historically, precious metals were important as currency, but are now regarded mainly as investment and industrial commodities.

The best known precious metals are gold and silver. While both have industrial use, they are better known for their uses in art, jewellery and coinage.

Other precious metals include the platinum group metals; ruthium, rhodium, palladium, osmium, iridium and platinum, of which platinum is the most widely traded.

The demand for precious metals is driven not only by their practical use, but also by their role as an investment and a store of value.

A metal is deemed to be precious if it is rare.

The status of a "precious" metal can also be determined by high demand or market value.

Precious metals in bulk form are known as bullion, and are traded on commodity markets. Bullion metals may be cast into ingots, or minted into coins. The defining attribute of bullion is that it is valued by its mass and purity rather than by a face value as money.

One of the largest bullion coins in the world is the 10,000 dollar Australian Gold Nugget coin, which consists of a full kilogram of 99.9% pure gold. There have been a small number of larger bullion coins, but they are impractical to handle and not produced in mass quantities.

Gold and silver are often seen as hedges against both inflation and economic downturn.

Silver coins have become popular with collectors due to their relative affordability, and unlike most gold and platinum issues which are valued based upon the markets, silver issues are more often valued as collectables, far higher than their actual bullion value.