Palladium has slowly risen over the decades to become a premium brand with a corresponding price tag. It didn't always used to be that way. At first the metal, recovered primarily as a byproduct in nickel mining, used to be funneled into the unglamorous world of filling teeth and catalytic converters. Then at some point marketing execs came up with a plan to raise its image profile and invented "white gold" as a cheaper alternative to, you know, actual gold.

It wasn't good news for the automotive industry which, bound by federal regulations, was required to make substantial use of palladium in a market suddenly filled with new buyers hogging up the already scant supply. And that supply was strained yet more when bullion refineries added the name as an exciting new portfolio line item.

The three-way tug of war has, not surprisingly, sharply raised the price of this metal which now trades nearly on a par with gold and platinum. The future is bright indeed for nature's 46th creation.

Each 10mm cube weighs 11.7 grams.