Palladium And Platinum As Investment Commodities Palladium and platinum are two of nine metallic chemical elements considered "precious" for their rarity and high economic value. Like all the other precious metals, palladium and platinum have various industrial uses. But apart from these, both are also regarded as investment commodities. Below is a comparison of the chemical nobility of the precious metals (again, excluding rhenium), with details of their specific electronic configurations, simplified reactions (as per the pH diagram), and electrode potentials. The list is presented in order of increasing atomic number. 1. Ruthenium - VIIIb/5; Ru -> Ru2+ + 2 e-; 0.455 V 2. 1 ounce coin - With 31.103 g platinum content, 31.119 g in weight, and 32.7 mm in diameter. The coins have no currency value. Their value, rather, is equal to their respective platinum contents. All coins consist of 0.9995 pure platinum. On the coin's obverse is Queen Elizabeth II, along with these texts: "ISLE OF MAN" and "ELIZABETH II". 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 bullion coin - The Canadian Gold Maple Leaf - is made of 99.999% gold; and so are these four other gold bullion coins: 1. British Britannia (with a face value of 100 pounds). The gold particles, having higher density than the other materials (examples, mud, sand and gravel; also, gold is about nineteen times heavier than water), settle to the bottom of the pan, while the lighter materials are washed over the side. Sluice Box: This method uses the same principle as that in gold panning, only on a larger scale. Compass bearings, balances and fountain pen tips, on the other hand, are made from osmium-iridium alloys. 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.