Is it possible to replace gold with other metals

It also is available from dealers in the form of bars and rounds. Investors also can buy into exchange-traded funds to gain exposure to platinum. Of all the white precious metals, palladium is the most esoteric and the most rare. Most often found as a byproduct of platinum mining, palladium is 15 times more rare than platinum. Palladium is prized as a lower-cost alternative to platinum in manufacturing settings. That low cost may not hold. Palladium coins are available from the US , Canadian , and Chinese mints, and bullion can be bought as bars or rounds.

Investors also can get exposure through exchange-traded funds or by investing in palladium explorers. The growth in demand for all of these precious metals is largely due to their growing importance in industries of all sorts. The automotive, electronic, and solar industries all require silver to make their products.

A short list includes electronics, photovoltaics, medical devices, water purification, and food hygiene. According to the Silver Institute , silver is used in unseen ways in everything from washing machines to computers to furniture handles. Platinum and palladium are used to manufacture catalytic converters and tech products ranging from LCD monitors to batteries, electrodes, and hard disk drives.

They also show up in dental and medical devices. As well as being diverse, the industries that use silver, platinum, and palladium are all growth industries. This will ensure ongoing demand for these three metals. The room for growth in the automotive market is especially strong in India and China, two nations with a particular interest in managing greenhouse gas emissions. In the US, the emphasis on shale oil exploration—which relies on converters to process shale gas—is another growing market for platinum and palladium.

Analysts and financial advisors often stress the importance of diversifying an investment portfolio. In one sense, they mean holding a variety of equities, bonds, real estate, and assets like precious metals. But if you already own precious metals, you have another opportunity to diversify your holdings by owning other precious metals other than gold in your retirement account.

This includes specific American Eagle coins, as well as gold, silver, platinum, palladium, bullion that meet certain fineness. However, the IRS requires all precious metals in physical form to be held by a bank or an IRS-approved non-bank trustee.

This means we h andle all of the documents needed to establish, fund, and complete transactions in your Precious Metals IRA.

The other parties you will work with include the dealer, whom you buy the metals, and the depository, where your metals are stored. Visit our Precious Metals Center today to learn more about saving for retirement with precious metals of all colors and uses.

Entrust does not provide tax and advice. It is highly recommended to seek the assistance of a tax or legal advisor before entering into any investment transaction. Subscribe to our newsletter to get in-depth articles, right in your inbox every month.

Register to our next webinar on Wednesday, December 15, at a. It seems that JavaScript is disabled in your browser. For full functionality of this site it is necessary to enable JavaScript. Here are the instructions how to enable JavaScript in your web browser. Call Us: Fees Forms. Open an Account. Get a Free Consultation. Investment Options Overview. Professionals Professionals Overview. Researchers at the University of Connecticut, partnering with United Technologies Research Center engineers, have modeled and developed new classes of alloy materials for use in electronic applications that will reduce reliance on costly gold and other precious metals.

The research appears online in the October 12 th issue of the journal Applied Physics Letters. What makes these metals attractive is their combination of excellent conductivity paired with resistance to oxidation and corrosion. Finding less costly but equally durable and effective alternatives is an important aim. Mark Aindow and S. Pamir Alpay, UConn professors of materials science and engineering, and Joseph Mantese, a UTRC Fellow, have developed new classes of materials that behave much like gold and its counterparts when exposed to the oxidizing environments that degrade traditional base metals.

Their research was funded by a grant from the U. Army Research Office. The team has investigated nickel, copper and iron -- inexpensive materials that may offer promise. Based on their research, they have laid out the theory and demonstrated experimentally the methodology for improving the electrical contact resistance of these base metals.

Aindow said, "We used a combination of theoretical analysis to select the appropriate constituents, and materials engineering at the atomic level to create designer materials. The researchers synthesized various alloys, using inexpensive base metals. Their work has demonstrated an improvement in contact resistance of up to one-million-fold over that for pure base metals, so that base metal contacts can now be prepared with contact properties near those of pure gold.

Materials provided by University of Connecticut. Note: Content may be edited for style and length. Science News.