History

With a silvery-white appearance, rhodium is a precious metal that is slowly but surely taking its rightful place amongst the most coveted precious metals today. It belongs to the platinum family of metals and is 45 on the periodic table of elements.

Having just discovered palladium a year earlier, alchemist William Hyde Wollaston also unearthed the truth behind yet another precious metal in rhodium in the year 1803. Rhodium is one of the absolute rarest metals on Earth so it is in high demand due to its potential as an investment and in commercial usage. Its applications are very similar to that of palladium, also coming from the same family of platinum metals.

Due to the fact it does not corrode and is extremely reflective, rhodium finds itself often in demand for jewelry and objects such as mirrors.

Just how rare is rhodium? It only appears in one part per 200 million in the Earth’s crust, so if you come by some naturally you are probably lucky enough to go and purchase a lottery ticket.

With numerous industrial applications, impervious to oxidation and having tremendous reflective properties, rhodium is a savvy investment option for any precious metals portfolio. When we add in the factor of just how rare it is versus its growing demand, one can begin to see why rhodium has taken a prominent spot amongst the platinum family of metals.