continues to import a big part of its total consumption of the precious metal from some of the countries mentioned above. Since rhenium and its compounds are used in very small amounts, very little is known about their toxicity. So far, only a few rhenium compounds have been tested for toxicity, and these include rhenium trichloride and potassium perrhenate. Other nations, such as Canada, Australia, the United States, and the United Kingdom, started producing their own precious metal coins one after the other beginning in 1979. The decisions of these gold-producing countries to mint their own bullion coins were most likely inspired by the success of the Krugerrand in its role as a vehicle for promoting the South African gold to the international market. One way of investing in platinum is through platinum ingots. Platinum ingots are first assayed and hallmarked before being sold on commodity markets. Another way of investing in platinum is through platinum coins. Platinum coins are internationally recognized forms of currency and have the ISO code XPT. General: Chemical Symbol: Rh Atomic Number: 45 Category (as an element): Transition Metal Group/ Period/ Block (in the Periodic Table): 9/ 5/ d Atomic Weight: 102.90550 g.mol-1 Electron Configuration: [Kr] 4d8 5s1 Physical: Density (near room temperature): 12.41 g.cm-3 Liquid Density (at melting point): 10.7 g. Its atomic number is 76. It is found in nature as an alloy in platinum ores. Osmium is considered the densest natural element. It is brittle and is blue-gray in color. Because of its hardness, osmium is alloyed with the other metals in its group and used in electrical contacts and high-quality fountain pen tips. As a matter of fact, ruthenium is a very effective hardener for both palladium and platinum. When a small amount of ruthenium is added to titanium, the latter's corrosion resistance is improved significantly. As to its other applications, ruthenium is used in: 1. film chip resistors; 2. jewelry (when alloyed with gold); 3.