STORY BY STEVE VOYNICK
Ask anyone to name the precious metals and the answer will likely be “gold, silver, and platinum”— in just that order. Since antiquity, gold and silver have been admired for their beauty, hoarded for their value, fought over, coveted for their workability, collected as jewelry, and minted as monetary metals.
But platinum, the “other” precious metal, has a much different story. It was once cursed, discarded as worthless, and even used to counterfeit gold. But platinum overcame its checkered past, found many uses, gained acceptance as a precious metal, and eventually even surpassed gold in value. Today, it is a vital industrial metal. Platinum is also an investment metal and a jewelry metal, although not on the scale of gold.