Platinum vs Gold
Platinum vs gold price per ounce and gram, live, with the price ratio since 2008, supply, density, purity, storage cost and tax compared in one table.
Index
Platinum Group Metals Compared: Platinum vs Gold, Silver, Palladium and More
Compare platinum, palladium, rhodium, iridium, ruthenium and osmium against gold, silver and each other on density, melting point and price, with links to 15 detailed comparisons.
Platinum (Pt, atomic number 78, CAS 7440-06-4) is one of six platinum group metals that DailyPlatinum compares against gold, silver and each other across 15 dedicated comparison pages, from platinum vs gold to osmium vs iridium. The element itself, with its full property set, is profiled on platinum (Pt), element 78. Every platinum vs comparison here rests on the same modern property data: density at 20 °C, melting point in °C and hardness, with prices dated and tied to a named series.
Browse Compare
Platinum, Palladium and Rhodium vs Gold and Silver
Platinum vs Silver
Platinum vs silver compared on density, hardness, melting point, tarnish resistance, fineness and price basis, with sources for every figure.
Platinum vs Palladium
Platinum vs palladium: which costs more today, the 2017-2025 price-ratio history, density and hardness compared, and how the two metals substitute in catalytic converters.
Platinum vs White Gold
Platinum vs white gold compared: purity, density, hypoallergenic properties, patina versus rhodium replating, and the real cost difference, all sourced.
Osmium, Iridium and the Minor-PGM Comparisons
Rhodium vs Platinum
Compare rhodium and platinum on price, density, hardness, melting point and catalytic use, with dated prices and sourced properties.
Palladium vs Gold
Compare palladium and gold by dated price, density, hardness and jewellery purity standards, with each metal's all-time high and why they diverge.
Palladium vs White Gold
Palladium vs white gold: what palladium white gold is, density and hardness compared to nickel white gold, and why it needs no rhodium replating, sourced and dated.
What This Page Compares#
Each comparison page answers the same questions for a metal pair: which is denser, which melts at a higher temperature and which costs more per ounce. For density, DailyPlatinum uses the modern crystallographic values from the element infoboxes (CRC and Arblaster lineage), never the legacy Johnson Matthey handbook table still reproduced across the web. That legacy table gives ruthenium 12.45 g/cm³ against the modern 12.364 g/cm³, a 0.7% gap.
How Each Comparison Page Is Structured#
Every comparison page covers the same six measures: identity, density, melting point, hardness, price basis and typical use. Each measure follows one unit or standard, listed below.
- Identity: symbol, atomic number and CAS number for each element, such as Pt, 78, 7440-06-4.
- Density: grams per cubic centimeter (g/cm³) at 20 °C, modern values only.
- Melting point: degrees Celsius, with kelvin where the page needs it.
- Hardness: Mohs scale, with Vickers values where sourced; platinum rates 3.5 Mohs, gold and silver 2.5.
- Price basis: the series and date of every historical price, such as the LBMA benchmark or NYMEX settlement.
- Typical use: the documented industrial or investment role of each metal.
Platinum, Palladium and Rhodium vs Gold and Silver#
Platinum is 11.2% denser than gold (21.452 g/cm³ against 19.283 g/cm³) and more than twice as dense as silver (10.503 g/cm³), using Wikipedia's element-density data. The percentage depends on the direction of the comparison: gold is 10.1% less dense than platinum, while platinum is 11.2% denser than gold. Palladium (12.007 g/cm³) and rhodium (12.423 g/cm³) sit far below gold and only 14.3% and 18.3% above silver.
Melting points separate the pairs further. Platinum melts at 1,768.3 °C, palladium at 1,554.9 °C and rhodium at 1,964 °C, while gold (1,064.18 °C) and silver (961.78 °C) are the lowest of the eight metals compared. The gold and silver values are defining fixed points of the International Temperature Scale of 1990 (ITS-90), exact by definition; platinum's melting point is only a secondary reference point. Platinum vs gold, platinum vs silver, platinum vs palladium and platinum vs white gold are the four pairs in the table below.
| Metal | Symbol | Density at 20 °C (g/cm³) | Melting point (°C) | Density vs platinum | Comparison page |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Platinum | Pt | 21.452 | 1,768.3 | Baseline | Baseline |
| Gold | Au | 19.283 | 1,064.18 | −10.1% | platinum vs gold |
| Silver | Ag | 10.503 | 961.78 | −51.0% | platinum vs silver |
| Palladium | Pd | 12.007 | 1,554.9 | −44.0% | platinum vs palladium |
| White gold | Au alloy (Pd or Ni) | Varies by karat and alloy | Not a single value | Alloy | platinum vs white gold |
White gold is an alloy of gold with whitening metals, so its density changes with karat and composition.
Osmium, Iridium and the Minor-PGM Comparisons#
Osmium is the densest of the six platinum group metals at 22.587 g/cm³, fractionally ahead of iridium at 22.562 g/cm³. The margin is 0.025 g/cm³, or 0.11%, settled only by X-ray crystallography in the 1990s. Legacy handbook tables still show iridium ahead (22.65 against 22.61 g/cm³), because older bulk measurements read porous osmium low. Can iridium ever be denser? Only under compression: J. W. Arblaster's 2014 paper "Is Osmium Always the Densest Metal?" (Johnson Matthey Technology Review) places the crossover at 2.98 GPa, where both reach 22.750 g/cm³. The full osmium vs iridium question has its osmium vs iridium page.
Density splits the six metals into two groups. Osmium, iridium and platinum form the heavy group at 21.5 to 22.6 g/cm³; ruthenium, rhodium and palladium form the light group at 12.0 to 12.4 g/cm³, matching the 5d and 4d rows of the periodic table. Osmium also melts highest, at 3,033 °C (the conventional handbook value), ahead of iridium at 2,446 °C and ruthenium at 2,334 °C.
| Pair | Densities compared (g/cm³) | Difference | Comparison page |
|---|---|---|---|
| Osmium vs iridium | 22.587 vs 22.562 | Osmium +0.11% | osmium vs iridium |
| Iridium vs platinum | 22.562 vs 21.452 | Iridium +5.2% | iridium vs platinum |
| Rhodium vs platinum | 12.423 vs 21.452 | Rhodium −42.1% | rhodium vs platinum |
| Rhodium vs gold | 12.423 vs 19.283 | Rhodium −35.6% | rhodium vs gold |
| Rhodium vs silver | 12.423 vs 10.503 | Rhodium +18.3% | rhodium vs silver |
| Palladium vs gold | 12.007 vs 19.283 | Palladium −37.7% | palladium vs gold |
| Palladium vs silver | 12.007 vs 10.503 | Palladium +14.3% | palladium vs silver |
| Palladium vs white gold | 12.007 vs alloy (varies by karat) | Alloy-dependent | palladium vs white gold |
Platinum vs Engineering Metals#
Platinum is compared with titanium, tungsten and stainless steel on three further pages, on density, hardness and price rather than jewelry advice. Platinum's side of each comparison stays fixed: 21.452 g/cm³, 1,768.3 °C and 3.5 Mohs. Tungsten out-melts every platinum group metal: at 3,422 °C it has the highest melting point of any metal, ahead of rhenium (3,186 °C) and osmium (3,033 °C).
| Pair | What the page covers | Comparison page |
|---|---|---|
| Platinum vs titanium | Density, hardness, melting point, price basis | platinum vs titanium |
| Platinum vs tungsten | Density, hardness, melting point, price basis | platinum vs tungsten |
| Platinum vs stainless steel | Density, hardness, melting point, price basis | platinum vs stainless steel |
All Platinum Group Metal Comparisons#
DailyPlatinum publishes 15 platinum group metal comparison pages, listed below by pair. New pairs join the list on their publication date.
| Pair | Page title |
|---|---|
| platinum vs gold | Platinum vs Gold: Price, Rarity, Value and Investment |
| platinum vs silver | Platinum vs Silver: Price, Properties and Value |
| platinum vs white gold | Platinum vs White Gold: Purity, Density, Durability and Price |
| platinum vs palladium | Platinum vs Palladium: Price, Properties and Uses |
| palladium vs gold | Palladium vs Gold: Price and Properties |
| palladium vs silver | Palladium vs Silver |
| palladium vs white gold | Palladium vs White Gold |
| rhodium vs platinum | Rhodium vs Platinum |
| rhodium vs gold | Rhodium vs Gold: Price and Properties |
| rhodium vs silver | Rhodium vs Silver and Sterling Silver |
| osmium vs iridium | Osmium vs Iridium: Which Is the Densest Element? |
| iridium vs platinum | Iridium vs Platinum |
| platinum vs titanium | Platinum vs Titanium |
| platinum vs tungsten | Platinum vs Tungsten |
| platinum vs stainless steel | Platinum vs Stainless Steel |
Compare PGM Prices Instead#
Comparison pages state dated property and price data, not a live figure; the price hub carries today's prices for all six metals, spot for platinum and palladium and dealer quotes for rhodium, iridium, ruthenium and osmium. Current values for every metal on this page, in troy ounces and grams, sit on platinum group metal prices today.
Comparison FAQ#
Which platinum group metal is densest?#
Osmium is the densest platinum group metal, at 22.587 g/cm³, just ahead of iridium (22.562 g/cm³) and platinum (21.452 g/cm³). All three values are at 20 °C and ambient pressure.
Is platinum denser than gold?#
Platinum is denser than gold (21.452 g/cm³ against 19.283 g/cm³) and melts at a higher temperature, 1,768.3 °C against 1,064.18 °C. The melting gap is 704.12 °C. Platinum's full property profile, from identity to thermal data, is on platinum (Pt), element 78.
Is palladium lighter than platinum?#
Palladium is 44.0% less dense than platinum by volume (12.007 g/cm³ against 21.452 g/cm³), so a palladium ring of the same size feels noticeably lighter. Palladium also melts 213.4 °C lower, at 1,554.9 °C.
Does DailyPlatinum give ring-buying advice on these pages?#
DailyPlatinum's comparison pages answer metal-property and price questions, not ring-buying decisions; jewelry retailers cover styling, warranty and resizing advice. Questions such as "what is better than platinum?" get measured answers: density, melting point, hardness and dated price, never a recommendation.