Gold is not the only precious metal worth acquiring. Platinum has numerous industrial, automotive, and healthcare related uses such as: being the catalyst in catalytic converters, great potential as a catalyst in fuel cells, it helps cross-link DNA, it is a main component in chemotherapy, and it is widely use in jewelry making. Platinum will never tarnish or wear out which makes it ideal for many things. Platinum also has a higher market value than gold, which means that a very large value is concentrated in a very small package.

   Silver, while more common and less valuable than platinum, can certainly hold its own. It is used in everything from soldering to dentistry, keeping bacteria out of clothing, making the rods of nuclear reactors, making mirrors, and making fine silverware and jewelry. Silver is worth far less, ounce for ounce, than either gold or platinum. In some ways this is an advantage, as it is far easier to divide a portfolio of silver than one of platinum or gold, and much more economical to give as a gift.