Being worth your weight in gold might be a popular saying but it isn’t necessarily an impressive accolade, especially since there are many other valuable substances which cost more than gold.
Want to know which ones? Here is a list of rare materials that are more expensive than gold – and even diamonds – when compared by weight. How many of them can you recognize?
Saffron
Price: $11 per gram
This rare ingredient is taken from the saffron flowers which is only grow in certain climates and are only picked by hand.
Saffron is the least expensive substance on this list, but the only one that is used for consumption. You have probably seen these deep red strands which are incorporated into lavish rice dishes – so if you ever wonder why a traditional middle eastern or Indian rice dish is too expensive, it is probably because of the saffron inside. Iran is the top producer and seller of saffron.
Gold
Gold Nuggets
Price: $56 per gram
You’re probably as surprised as we are to see gold ranked so low on this list, since it is one of the most beloved metals used in the jewelry market, but the truth is that there are other, much rarer substances which can cost a trillion times more! If you’re intrigued to find out what we’re talking about, you need to keep on reading.
Platinum
Price: $60 per gram
Taking a spot over gold on this list is platinum, a precious metal which has many uses. Several lab equipment, technological devices, electrodes and even jewels are made out of platinum since it is one of the least reactive metals in existence.
Rhinoceros Horn
Price: $110 per gram
Rhinoceros horns are probably the most unusual substance on this list but they are definitely more expensive than gold, gram for gram. These specific horns are an important ingredient in traditional Chinese medicine due to their high keratin content, and can be fetched off the black market for $110 per gram.
Plutonium
Price: $4,000 per gram
Probably one of the most dangerous compounds on this list, plutonium is a highly radioactive metal which can cause nuclear chain reactions and is a common ingredient in large power plants. The process of creating plutonium is extremely complex and costly which is why it is considered one of the most expensive substances in the world.
Painite
Price: $9,000 per gram
The discovery of painite was first made in 1950s in Myanmar, and this deep-orange gemstone still remains rarer than diamonds – despite fetching a much lower price for some strange reason. This splendid gemstone is made up of an array of elements including oxygen, aluminum, calcium, zirconium and boron.
Taaffeite
Taaffeite stones
Price: $20,000 per gram
You probably haven’t heard of taaffeite before but it one of those precious gemstones that is even rarer than diamonds – almost by a million times! But the price of this substance is much lower than that of diamond due to the difference in demand and the sneaky efforts of diamond cartels to control the prices of the precious jewel.
Tritium
Price: $30,000 per gram
Tritium is one of the most expensive and rare compounds found on earth. It is hydrogen’s radioactive isotope and a popular choice in the manufacturing of self-illuminating clocks. Even though the price of a single gram of tritium clocks in at $30,000 per gram, it can cost much more to produce this compound in labs.
Diamonds
Price: $55,000 per gram
Probably one of the most obvious substance on this list is diamonds, and it is also the second most expensive one on this planet with a single gram costing over $55,000. Diamonds are mainstream in the jewelry market and are a prized symbol of elegance and romance.
Antimatter
Pictured: The Antimatter process
Price: $62.5 trillion per gram
Probably the most rare and abstract substance on the list, the antimatter can be quite hard to define – and identify. Simply put, if matter is matter, then antimatter is the complete opposite of it. The atoms in the antimatter are the opposite of the matter they are opposed to, which is why when an antimatter and a matter collide, both of them disintegrate with a large release of energy due to molecular reactions.
