When you talk of metals in general no list can be complete without silver and platinum which are one among the precious metals. Platinum is a silver look-alike called Pt in chemical symbols and comes from the Spanish word plata. It is found as pure chunks of the precious metal and has the quality of being unaffected and not reacting even when heated to a great extent. It is this characteristic of the platinum precious metal that has made it a good catalyst for manufacturing other important substances.
The price of the platinum precious metal rises with gold prices as well as the rise in sales of cars or jewelry. Gold prices also have an effect on it. More number of find in the South African region has led to increase in the price but at times there are strikes in various mines and this leads to a fall in the production and naturally creates a slump in the platinum precious metal. The mines usually take a long time to get back to normal production.
The price of silver rises along with that of gold and in addition it rises with the demand from the industry as also by investors. Industrial demand mainly fuels the price of silver as was seen in the year 2009. According to the Silver Institution there is a great demand for silver coins, ETFs or bars and it has actually gone up by 180% when compared to the prices in 2008. The iShares Silver Trust shows an increase of 1000 tons of silver from 9000 tons last month to 10000 tons this month which obviously shows the increase in the silver investment.
Silver has a special place in precious metals as its price increases when people buy it with a security investment in mind just like other precious metals. But additionally, silver has industrial needs too which fuels its price. When the economy revives the industrial demand for this precious metal also recovers and then there is an additional demand for it whereby the price of silver too rises.
The price of the platinum precious metal has risen by 23% year over year while that of silver has shown a remarkable rise of 31% every year. The platinum price has increased by about 11% from its price in January 2010 and is now at $1,673/oz whereas it was $1,700/oz in the middle of the year. The price of silver had an all time high in 1980 at $50/oz and is now at $23/oz.
Looking for more information on precious metals? Check out precious metal prices such as the price of silver and learn more about gold, palladium and the platinum precious metal today.