Gold means luxury right? The precious metal is widely associated with royalty and wealth.
Turns out the stuff is actually a lot cheaper than some other rare commodities.
There are plenty of expensive substances out there, and unlike gold, they actually have some real personal or industrial uses.
These are the 16 most expensive substances we could find, by weight.
Think we missed something? Let us know in the comments.
1. Saffron is actually cheaper than gold
Wikimedia Commons: Saffron
Cost: $11.13 per gram or $5,040 per pound
What you do with it: Saffron is a flowering plant that can be used in natural remedies for everything from depression to menstrual cycles.
2. Then there’s gold, of course
Wikimedia Commons: Coronation carriage for Catherine the Great
Cost: $56.73 per gram
What you do with it: In addition to its uses in jewelry, the ancient metal can be used for electrical conductivity and resistance to corrosion.
3. Rhodium
Cost: About $58 per gram or $1,630 per ounce
What you do with it: Rhodium is mostly used in three way catalytic converters to reduce a car’s carbon emissions.
4. Platinum
Cost: About $58 per gram or $1,637 per ounce
What you do with it: Platinum can be used as a catalyst in scientific experiments, worn as jewelry, and taken in anti-cancer drugs.
5. Methamphetamine
Wikimedia Commons: Crystal meth rock
Cost: $100 per gram
What you do with it: The highly-addictive drug can produce euphoric effects and is often popular with teenagers.
6. Rhino horn
Wikimedia Commons: Rhino
Cost: $110 per gram or $50,000 per pound
What you do with it: The prized tusk is rumored in Vietnam to cure cancer. It’s medical uses also include treating fevers and other ailments.
7. Heroin
Wikimedia Commons: Heroin
Cost: High quality heroin can cost you up to $131/gram
What you do with it: The opiate can be injected, snorted, or smoked and is meant to alter the subconscious. It can also cause convulsions or even comas.
8. Cocaine
Cost: $215 per gram
What you do with it: Some say party, others say develop a problematic habit.
9. LSD
Wikimedias Commons: LSD sheet
Cost: The crystal form of LSD costs about $3,000 per gram
What you do with it: Some people relive the 60s, pretty much everyone hallucinates.
10. Plutonium
Plutonium
Cost: Roughly $4,000 per gram
What you do with it: Make nuclear things. There are two kinds of plutonium that can be used for either military purposes or nuclear reactors.
11. Painite
Wikimedia Commons: Painite
*Cost: $9,000 per gram or up to $1,800 per carat
What you do with it: Thought to be the rarest gem mineral, it can be used in crystal healing or just make a pretty collectible.
*FYI: A carat = 0.2 grams
12. Taaffeite
The Gem Trader: Taaffeite
*Cost: Anywhere $2,500 to 20,000 per gram or $500 to $4,000 per carat
What you do with it: The mauve-colored gem is thought to be more than a million times scarcer than diamonds. And while it’s a bit too durable to use often in jewelry, if you’re lucky enough to find one, don’t let your hands off it.
*FYI: A carat = 0.2 grams
13. Tritium
Wikimedia Commons: EXIT sign at LA Cathedral
Cost: $30,000 per gram
What you do with it: Tritium is used in self-luminating EXIT signs found in theaters, schools, and office buildings. There are more than 2 million tritium EXIT signs in the United States.
14. Diamonds
Wikimedia Commons: Diamonds
*Cost: $55,000 per gram. A colorless, 1-carat can cost more than $11,000 per carat, and colored stones can cost more.
What you do with it: Buy engagement rings
*FYI: A carat = 0.2 grams
15. Californium 252
Cost: $27 million per gram
What you do with it: For an element that’s so incredibly expensive to produce, the Californium isotope actually doesn’t really have any practical uses. It’s only been created once in the western world since it was discovered in 1950.
16. Antimatter
Cost: $62.5 trillion per gram
What you do with it: Antimatter could possibly fuel spaceships to the planets, and maybe the stars, in the years to come. Too bad it’s so expensive and needs incredibly expensive technology to create it.
