Although every bit as rare in nature as silver, bismuth trades at just a fraction of its cost. We’ve seen though how these value relationships are rarely ever linear. Rarity, after all, is only half of the equation. The other side - and the more important of the two commercially - is demand. Bismuth is both fairly rare and fairly… unwanted. There’s a long list of industrially important chemicas that include bismuth, and an equally lengthy list of metallurgical concoctions that need it too, but none of it adds up to a demand so strong that it puts any sort of real squeeze on supply. It doesn’t help that its main output comes from lead and copper mining, two of the most intensively exploited metals worldwide. Meaning that any potential blip upwards in terms of demand could be met with a flood of new bismuth coming from those mines if the opportunity ever presented itself.

Bismuth is not a full member of the metals family. Science places it on the fence line between metals and non-metals. It certainly looks metallic, yes, but it’s much too soft and brittle to do anything with. These two properties make it a challenge to form into bars, thus accounting for both the price and the scarce availability of these bullion bars.