Facts about platinum

Platinum is a metallic element with the chemical symbol Pt and an atomic number of 78.

Its name is derived from the Spanish term platina del Pinto, which is literally translated into "little silver of the Pinto River."

It is a dense, malleable, ductile, precious, gray-white transition metal.

Platinum is one of the rarest elements in the Earth's crust and has an average abundance of approximately 0.005 mg/kg. It occurs in some nickel and copper ores along with some native deposits, mostly in South Africa, which accounts for 80% of the world production.

Some counterfeiters in the late 1500's made coins in South America from platinum that resembled silver coins (at the time platinum was unknown and not valued) The authorities confiscated the coins, set them on a ship out to sea in the Pacific and scuttled the ship. It sank in an unknown location. Today that trove of platinum would be very valuable.