Both have fairly long-established commercial and industrial uses, but gold has an even longer-established following for a store of value in economic downturns or uncertainty (as does little sister, silver). While, ounce for ounce, platinum is more precious than gold in common prices, far, far more gold gets traded than does platinum. While desirable for jewelry, platinum usually doesn't have the, um, bling effect that gold or silver does. The industrial uses far outweigh the jewelry uses (excellent electrical conductor coupled by a wide range of catalytic potential even though it has fairly benign chemical characteristics otherwise).
Are there more industrial uses coming for platinum? Unless you are following the research and development work, it is hard to say. I don't know of any. Therefore, platinum prices ought to stay strong and lofty, but gold will flop all over the place as retail sales ebb and flow (jewelry and some electronics), yet most importantly as one crisis after another sends some people to the metal to store value. Gold has been largely abandoned by those with monetary connections, but it is rarely out of their mind when news turns grim, and they sometimes pay dearly for it when that happens.
2007-06-08 05:34:34
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answer #1
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answered by Rabbit 7
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