You’ve heard of silver, gold, copper, bronze, and even platinum. You know that each of these metals gives you a significant return when you sell them, and you wish you ran into them more often. However, you can’t continue to scrap every computer you own for gold. So how do you profit from precious metals in a reasonable way?

You look for alternative precious metals, like palladium. Palladium belongs to the same elemental family as platinum, and it fetches a decent price at pawn shops and other locations. You can also find it in a large number of items around your home. Even better, some it ems with palladium contain other precious metals as well. Read on to learn more about turning a profit from this precious metal.

What Palladium Is Worth

Palladium routinely gives you a larger return than silver or copper, and it ranks as one of the top ten most valuable precious metals. It provides an important component in more expensive metals like white gold. However, it usually doesn’t sell for quite as much as gold or platinum. That being said, ten grams (0.31 oz.) of palladium can sell for $200 dollars or more.

What Makes Palladium Worth So Much

Palladium can help you make a pretty penny if you have a lot of it. Palladium is rare, and its rarity contributes to its costliness. A number of other characteristics make this platinum-group metal a worthwhile sell:

• It has high durability. In fact, many jewelers and other manufacturers prefer it because it has higher durability than platinum or gold. It resists bending, melting, and corrosion better than most precious metals.
• It has high malleability, which makes it easy to shape for a variety of applications.
• It has low density. The lower a metal’s density, the less it weighs. Palladium won’t feel as heavy even with larger pieces, which make s it ideal for many manufacturing applications.
• It boasts a natural, pure white color. Some metals, like gold, need other metals added to them to preserve their color. Palladium maintains its own brilliance. It also polishes brighter than platinum and other similar metals.
• It gives manufacturers a hypoallergenic option. Again, palladium doesn’t need other metals, like nickel, added to it. Nickel gives other precious metals the hardiness and stability they need to resist constant wear, but it often causes allergic reactions. Luckily, palladium products don’t contain nickel or any other allergy-causing metals.

Palladium may not earn you as much money as gold or platinum, but pawn shops, manufacturers, and other businesses still covet it . Collect it from old items in your home using the guide below.

Where You Find Palladium Around Your Home

Manufacturers use palladium in a number of common products.

1. Cars
Internal combustion engines create emissions that could harm the environment, but automobile makers have used palladium to create auto-catalysts that catch those emissions. After catching them, auto-catalysts convert the greenhouse gases and other toxins into carbon dioxide and water vapor. Look at your owner’s manual to find the auto-catalysts in your car. If you have a newer car, you may also find palladium in your fuel cells.

2. Electronics
Palladium conducts electricity about as well as gold or platinum, so many manufacturers use it as an alternative. Check your old electronics to see if their wiring contains any of these three precious metals.

3. Jewelry
As mentioned above, jewelers like palladium because it looks just as beautiful as platinum but retains its beauty longer. It leads to happier customers, who don’t have to worry about spending a fortune to buy or repair their jewelry.

If you have platinum jewelry, it probably contains a little palladium as well. Manufacturers often use palladium as a stabilizing agent. So even though you don’t have a pure metal, you can still sell your jewelry for a significant amount of money. Just remember that some pieces only feature a precious metal coating, and the cheaper metal underneath won’t give you as much of a return.

4. Old Photography Equipment
If you have historic photographic printing equipment, it likely contains silver, platinum, or palladium. These metals helped photographers achieve their desired tonal quality and longevity. Platinum-family metals often produced more beautiful pictures than silver.

5. Coins
Many old coins also feature palladium coatings. Trade in your coins to make a profit.

6. Water Treatment Equipment
Just as palladium keeps emissions out of the air, it also keeps toxins out of your water. It creates a catalyst that bonds with contaminants and keeps your water pure. So if you have an old water treatment system sitting in your shed or garage, see if it contains a metal purifier.

Whether you need extra cash to pay bills or fund your next vacation, palladium may give you a solution. Use the tips above to find this precious metal around your home.