# Is there a "generally accepted" rank of the symbolic values of precious metals? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 1, 2007, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-generally-accepted-rank-of-the-symbolic-values-of-precious-metals/410148 "2007-07-01T19:42:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2007, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-generally-accepted-rank-of-the-symbolic-values-of-precious-metals/410148/1 "2007-07-01T19:42:24Z")
It has been common to use the names of precious metals or other valuable materials for things to which you want to attach an aura of exclusivity. There are “gold” credit cards, “diamond” records, the gold/silver/bronze medals from the Olympics (the first instance of such a scheme in use?), and “platinum” collections or artists’ works. Is there a generally ranking of the relative value of these materials? It’s obvious that silver ranks above bronze and gold above silver. The next step above gold seems to be platinum, and diamond apparently outranks platinum. Occasionally, I’ve also seen palladium and even rhodium used in such a manner. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2007, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-generally-accepted-rank-of-the-symbolic-values-of-precious-metals/410148/2 "2007-07-01T20:01:42Z")
[QUOTE=Schnitte] … the gold/silver/bronze medals from the Olympics (the first instance of such a scheme in use?), and “platinum” collections or artists’ works. [/QUOTE] The awarding for medals for competitions in gold, silver and bronze goes back to _at least_ before 1855 in the US. I have some. And easily found cites on a database. Platinum, OTOH, was not a very precious metal back in the 19th century. Sorry I can’t answer the rest of your question. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2007, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-generally-accepted-rank-of-the-symbolic-values-of-precious-metals/410148/3 "2007-07-01T22:03:20Z")
We’ve had a couple of threads on the curious perception of the value of titanium, which is often used to indicate a level far above the metal’s actual value: > **[Titanium vs. Platinum - Price per Ounce](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=258224)** > > What is more expensive per ounce \*\*pure\[/p\] titanium or pure platinum? > **[Has titanium become cheap enough to make jewelry out of it?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=303447)** > > I bought some eyelets (hollow plugs for my pierced ears) and the guy at the shop said they were titanium. I thought titanium was fairly expensive to produce, so this took me by surprise. Also, based mostly on seeing bike frames made from ti, I... Modern marketers are muddying the water a good bit here, I believe. For instance, “cobalt” this and that seems to be used to confer cachet sometimes, too. Like titanium, cobalt is an industrial metal which is expensive enough that you only use it for specialized purposes, but isn’t a “precious metal” (Seems to be about $30/lb, and was $17/lb in 2006.) ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2007, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-generally-accepted-rank-of-the-symbolic-values-of-precious-metals/410148/4 "2007-07-01T22:14:43Z")
[QUOTE=samclem] The awarding for medals for competitions in gold, silver and bronze goes back to _at least_ before 1855 in the US. [/QUOTE] [Aluminum was probably too precious](http://www.world-aluminium.org/history/index.html) to be included in that ranking: > [@](#): > > **1854** Henri Sainte-Claire Deville (France) improves Wöhler’s method to create the first commercial process. The metal’s price, initially higher than that of gold and platinum, drops by 90% over the following 10 years. The price is still high enough to inhibit its widespread adoption by industry. > > **1855** A bar of aluminium, the new precious metal, is exhibited at the Paris Exhibition. ---
**Author:** ![T\_SQUARE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9de053/32.png) [@T\_SQUARE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/T_SQUARE)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2007, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-generally-accepted-rank-of-the-symbolic-values-of-precious-metals/410148/5 "2007-07-01T23:15:31Z")
The very top of the Washington Monument is made of aluminum, as it was the bees knees at the time. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2007, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-generally-accepted-rank-of-the-symbolic-values-of-precious-metals/410148/6 "2007-07-01T23:39:32Z")
By 1860, aluminum was quoted at “36 shillings per pound” (about $9 US/pound). That would make it cheaper than silver by that date, at least I think. Or at least close. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2007, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-generally-accepted-rank-of-the-symbolic-values-of-precious-metals/410148/7 "2007-07-02T00:27:30Z")
[QUOTE=samclem] By 1860, aluminum was quoted at “36 shillings per pound” (about $9 US/pound). [/QUOTE] I wonder if any 50’s brides got suckered into aluminum wedding bands? Just 10 years on, and all their friends would been snickering at them. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Tranquilis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tranquilis/32/3639_2.png) [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2007, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-generally-accepted-rank-of-the-symbolic-values-of-precious-metals/410148/8 "2007-07-02T00:32:45Z")
In the US military, silver out-ranks gold. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2007, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-generally-accepted-rank-of-the-symbolic-values-of-precious-metals/410148/9 "2007-07-02T00:48:35Z")
[QUOTE=Squink] I wonder if any 50’s brides got suckered into aluminum wedding bands? Just 10 years on, and all their friends would been snickering at them. 🙂 [/QUOTE] After 1886, they would have REALLY gotten snickered at - that’s when the Hall-Héroult process was invented (independently, and essentially simultaneously by Hall in the US and Héroult in France). Once that got commercialized, the price dropped by a couple orders of magnitude, making aluminum cheap enough for widespread use. ---
**Author:** ![dynamitedave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ed655f/32.png) [@dynamitedave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dynamitedave)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2007, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-generally-accepted-rank-of-the-symbolic-values-of-precious-metals/410148/10 "2007-07-02T10:36:08Z")
Didn’t a royal house toss out the silverware dining set and replace it with an aluminium one :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Sapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2007, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-generally-accepted-rank-of-the-symbolic-values-of-precious-metals/410148/11 "2007-07-02T14:01:37Z")
[QUOTE=T\_SQUARE] The very top of the Washington Monument is made of aluminum, as it was the bees knees at the time. [/QUOTE] I seem to remember that during the latest renovation, a new top of platinum was made and installed. It was stolen the very first night, since nobody thought of the need to secure it while the scaffolding was still in place. I can’t find a quote for it anywhere. I am just making up stuff or did this really happen the way I remember it? oh, and tungsten seems to be the new platinum. For wedding bands, at least. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2007, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-generally-accepted-rank-of-the-symbolic-values-of-precious-metals/410148/12 "2007-07-02T19:01:46Z")
Come to think of it, isn’t there an “Iron Ring” tradition among Canadian engineers? Why was platinum not a precious metal in the 1800s? Did they have so much of it, or was it just that it wasn’t well enough known to have intrinsic value? I do remember reading about some demonstration strikes for new U.S. coin designs, back then, being made from platinum. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2007, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-generally-accepted-rank-of-the-symbolic-values-of-precious-metals/410148/13 "2007-07-02T19:51:35Z")
[QUOTE=Spectre of Pithecanthropus] Come to think of it, isn’t there an “Iron Ring” tradition among Canadian engineers? Why was platinum not a precious metal in the 1800s? Did they have so much of it, or was it just that it wasn’t well enough known to have intrinsic value? I do remember reading about some demonstration strikes for new U.S. coin designs, back then, being made from platinum. [/QUOTE] Although it was known to the ancient world, it wasn’t really isolated and recognized as a separate metal until the 18th century (at one time it was thought to be an alloy of gold and iron). According to this, it started becoming popular for jewelry uses in the late 19th century, partially because of improved techniques for refining and working it (hardness and high melting point made it difficult to work with): [http://www.professionaljeweler.com/archives/articles/1999/jun99/0699v.html](http://www.professionaljeweler.com/archives/articles/1999/jun99/0699v.html) > [@](#): > > After 1880, platinum began to supplant silver in settings for diamonds and pearls and, around 1890, settings of pure platinum appeared. As demand grew, the price of platinum rose until it surpassed silver and gold. This is interesting: > [@](#): > > The Spanish considered platinum a nuisance and derogatorily named it platina (small silver). While platinum resembled silver visually, it resisted melting or forging, so the Spanish government banned its import in the 17th century. What little platinum did make its way to Europe entered as contraband. ---
**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_Rat)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2007, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-generally-accepted-rank-of-the-symbolic-values-of-precious-metals/410148/14 "2007-07-02T20:19:36Z")
I seem to recall, I think it was in one of James Burke’s “Connections” episodes, that the Spanish used platinum in the alloys of their cannons made in South America. Anyway, the “gotcha” was that the value of the junk platinum that they though was worthless exceeded the value of the treasure they brought back (in modern values I guess). I can’t find a cite, and did Burke have a habit of playing loose with some facts to make a point, so don’t place any value on this probably flawed remembering. ETA: It might have been platinum sand used to cast the cannon, not as an alloy. ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2007, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-generally-accepted-rank-of-the-symbolic-values-of-precious-metals/410148/15 "2007-07-02T23:24:58Z")
If you go by anniversaries, the list would seem to be: **Year / British / American / Modern** 1st / Paper / Paper / Clocks 2nd / Cotton / Cotton / Desk / items 3rd / Leather / Leather / Leather 4th / Fruit, / Flowers / Linen, / Silk / Clothing 5th / Wood / Wood / Silverware 6th / Sugar / Iron / Wooden 7th / Wool, / Copper / Wool, / Copper / Wool, / Copper 8th / Bronze, / Pottery / Bronze / Tourmaline 9th / Pottery, / Willow / Pottery / China 10th / Tin / Tin, / Aluminum / Electronics 11th / Steel / Steel / Appliances 12th / Silk, / Linen / Silk / Garnet 13th / Lace / Lace / Lingerie 14th / Ivory / Ivory / Sculpture 15th / Crystal / Crystal / Crystal 16th / Tungsten / Tungsten / Peridot 17th / Turquoise / / Watches 18th / / Tanzanite 19th / / Aquamarine 20th / China / China / Topaz, / Diamond 25th / Silver / Silver / Sterling / silver 30th / Pearl / Pearl / Amethyst 35th / Coral / Coral, / Jade / Jade, / Agate 40th / Ruby / Ruby / Ruby 45th / Sapphire / Sapphire / Sapphire 50th / Gold / Gold / Gold 55th / Emerald / Emerald / Emerald 60th / Diamond / Diamond / Diamond 70th / Platinum / Platinum / Platinum 75th / Diamond / Diamond / Diamond 80th / Oak / Oak / Oak 90th / Granite / Granite / Granite