The 17 Most Expensive Materials In The World

For many centuries, lots of people have believed that gold is one of the most expensive materials in the world. This, however, is absolutely wrong.

Bright Side has compiled a list of materials of value, rating them from the lowest price to the highest one. Let’s skip ahead a bit: gold is not even in the top three here.

16. Saffron — $11 per gram

This spice is unique, combining fantastic taste and great health benefits. Its production process is highly time and effort consuming, but the flavor and healing properties of saffron are unequaled by any other spice.

15. Gold — $56 per gram

The most well-known precious metal that no woman can supposedly do without. Gold has been worshipped from time immemorial, and all things beautiful are inevitably compared to it.

14. Rhodium — $58 per gram

A metal of the platinum group and an extremely rare one. To give you the big picture, let’s say that one ton of earth crust contains about 0.001g of rhodium.

13. Platinum — $60 per gram

This is a rare and precious metal of a silvery steel color. Like gold, it’s highly resistant to acids, alkali, and other compounds.

12. Methamphetamine — $100 per gram

This is what the protagonists of Breaking Bad were cooking. It’s prohibited by law, and you’d do well if you don’t see it in person. Ever.

11. Rhinoceros’s horn — $110 per gram

The horns are valuable for their medicinal properties and as great knife handles. Because of poachers, poor rhinos are already on the verge of extinction.

10. Heroin — $130 per gram

An opiate that changes your perception. Once again, better you never see it for yourself. If the movies speak the truth, it’s very hard to get, and that’s probably why it’s so expensive.

9. Cocaine — $236 per gram

A drug that costs a fortune yet won’t do you any good whatsoever. This white crystal powder is a fatally dangerous narcotic. Its higher price, as compared to the one above, is explained by its ’purity’ and naturalness.

8. LSD — $3,000 per gram

A psychoactive narcotic substance, and a very expensive delayed death. The manufacturing process of this semi-synthetic drug is quite difficult, which explains the cost.

7. Plutonium — $4,000 per gram

A heavy yet fragile radioactive metal of a silvery-white color. Its uses vary from production of nuclear weapons and fuel to a source of energy for spacecrafts.

6. Painite — $9,000 per gram

This stone is so rare that very few people actually know it exists. It’s a mineral of an orange or reddish-brown color, and it was only discovered 65 years ago. There are just a couple hundred of these stones in the world today.

5. Taaffeite — $20,000 per gram or $4,000 per carat

A precious stone of a violet, pink, red, or white color. It is a million times rarer than diamonds, making it legendary. However, despite its uniqueness, it’s not very popular when it comes to jewelry — and that’s probably the reason why it’s relatively inexpensive.

4. Tritium — $30,000 per gram

This gas is used in lighting — for example, in tritium illumination. It costs about $15 million to produce a pound of tritium.

3. Diamond — $55,000 per gram

The most famous precious stone on Earth, and the best friend of any lady.

2. Californium — $25-27 million per gram

The most expensive chemical element ever. It has been synthesized only once since its discovery in 1950.

1. Antimatter — $62.5 trillion per gram

The most expensive substance on Earth. Production of one milligram of positrons costs about $25 million. In theory, we will be able to use antimatter as fuel for spacecrafts in the future. But the drawback today is that to make just one gram of it, all of mankind will have to work for about a year without rest.

Bonus: Jade stone — $170 million

Miners in Myanmar have found the world’s largest jade stone in a remote mine in Kachin State, in the north of the country. The stone is 14ft high and 19ft long, and weighs approximately 200 tons. This beautiful jade boulder will be sent to China, where it will be carved up into expensive jewelry and sculptures.