Humans have been fascinated with Silver since recorded history began. In ancient Greece, Silver was associated with Isis, the goddess of motherhood and fertility. In the west, several pre-Columbian tribes buried their dignitaries in Silver to usher them into the next world. Silver appears as a symbol of strength and beauty in everything from Roman mythology to the ancient Hebrew Scriptures. Like gold, silver was first used in ceremonial pieces and jewelry. Starting in 700 BC, records show that a merchant from Mesopotamian - now modern day Iraq - traveled over a treacherous mountain path to trade his textiles for gold and silver.

Unlike gold however, silver is often found in large deposits. Mining silver has been a lucrative enterprise for thousands of year, dating back as far as 500 BC. From 500 to 100 BC, historians say there were 350 mines producing 1,000 "talents" of silver a year. In today's measurements, that would be equal to fifty-seven pounds each year, from each mine. And that was just in the known world. Recent finds show that many tribes in the Americas yearned for silver as well. In the 16th century, massive deposits of silver were discovered in Mexico, Bolivia and Peru. These abundant mines made the New World the largest silver-producing area, fueling the rush for Europeans to explore and exploit this potential wealth.

Since ancient times, no other substance on earth as been so desired, fought over, revered or mythologized as gold. Gold has long been equated with power and beauty in virtually every culture. Gold was written about in the biblical Book of Genesis, Greek sage and writer Homer warned of its allure, and it’s perhaps the metal universally accepted as a form of wealth, long before the first coins were ever minted.

Mythical tales have pass down from generation to generation surrounding gold. Greedy King Midas, whose curse included everything he touched turning to gold, even his own beloved daughter! Jason and the Argonauts searched for the fabled Golden Fleece against Herculean odds. A mythical tale but rooted in reality. Ancient miners used a sheep’s fleece as a type of sieve to capture the tiny, but heavy flakes of gold found in water. After the fleece dried, it was gently shaken and the ‘gold dust’ flakes were collected. Primitive but still effective, because some miners in the California gold rush of 1849 used the same method.

To gain an understanding of how rare platinum is, consider this… all the platinum ever mined could fit in the living room of an average sized home!  It’s also scarce.  While gold is relatively abundant in many parts of the world, large platinum deposits have only been found in two places; South Africa and the Ural Mountains of Russia.  10 tons of ore has to be removed from the earth and painstakingly processed to yield a single ounce of this precious metal.  It has been sought after by everyone from the ancient Egyptians to Louie the 16^th, who proclaimed it, “the only metal fit for royalty”.  It’s the ideal metal for jewelry because platinum is so hard; many claim it never wears down.  Because of these qualities, its no wonder platinum is often referred to as “The Rich Man’s Gold”.  But many industries have found this precious metal beneficial as well. 

Palladium has a unique history. It is one of the only precious metals not initially used in jewelry… but medicine.  Discovered in 1803 by British chemist and metallurgist, William Hyde Wollaston, who named palladium after the asteroid Pallas that had been discovered two years earlier. Wollaston mixed palladium with other chemical compounds and used it as a treatment for tuberculosis.  It did have some negative side effects and was later replaced.  But since it’s a sister metal to the platinum, manufactures quickly found use for it beyond medicine.