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19 Of The Most Expensive Substances In The World

white truffle risottoFlickr / Blue moon in her eyesWhite truffle risotto
Gold is an incredibly expensive substance.
But many things are worth more than their weight in gold.
Ranging from foods to creams to gems to things the average person can't fathom, we pulled together a list of 19 of the most expensive items in the world.
Think we missed something? Let us know in the comments.

19. White Truffles

19. White Truffles
Wikimedia Commons
White truffle
Cost: Up to $5 per gram or $2,000 per pound
What you do with it: This seasonal mushroom can be shaved over pasta, steak, eggs, and rice and infused in oil to sprinkle on almost anything.

18. 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.

17. Iranian Beluga Caviar

Cost: $35 per gram or $1,000 per ounce
What you do with it: Also known as "almas," these costly fish eggs are eaten cold and in small bites as an appetizer and on unsalted crackers or bread.

16. Gold

Cost: $39.81 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.

15. Rhodium

Cost: $45 per gram or $1,270 per ounce
What you do with it: Rhodium is mostly used in three-way catalytic converters to reduce a car's carbon emissions.

14. Platinum

Cost: $48 per gram or $1,365 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.

13. Rhino Horn

Cost: $55 per gram or $25,000 per pound
What you do with it: The prized tusk is rumored in Vietnam to cure cancer. Its supposed medical uses also include treating fevers and other ailments.

12. Crème de la Mer

Cost:  $70 per gram or $2,000 an ounce
What you do with it: Rub this so-called miracle cream daily to look ageless.

11. Heroin

Cost: High-quality heroin can cost you up to$110 per gram
What you do with it: The opiate is injected, snorted, or smoked and is meant to alter the subconscious. It can also cause convulsions or even comas.

10. Methamphetamine

Cost: $120 per gram or $1,600 per ounce
What you do with it: The highly addictive drug can produce euphoric effects and is often popular with teenagers.

9. Crack Cocaine

Cost: Up to $600 per gram
What you do with it: Some say party, others say develop a problematic habit.

8. LSD

Cost: The crystal form of LSD costs about$3,000 per gram
What you do with it: Popular in the 1960s, this substance is known to causehallucinations.

7. Plutonium

7. Plutonium
Cost: Roughly $4,000 per gram
What you do with it: It makes things nuclear. There are two kinds of plutonium that can be used, for either military purposes or nuclear reactors.

6. Taaffeite

*Cost: Anywhere between $2,500 to $20,000 per gram or $2,400 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 abit 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

5. Tritium

Cost: $30,000 per gram
What you do with it: Tritium is used inself-luminating EXIT signs found in theaters, schools, and office buildings. There are more than two million tritium EXIT signs in the United States.

4. Diamonds

*Cost: A colorless, 1-carat can cost more than $65,000 per gram, or $13,000 per carat
What you do with it: Buy engagement rings.
*FYI: A carat = 0.2 grams

3. Painite

*Cost: $300,000 per gram or up to $60,000 per carat
What you do with it: Thought to be therarest gem mineral, it can be used in crystal healing or just make a pretty collectible.
*FYI: A carat = 0.2 grams

2. Californium 252

Cost: $27 million per gram
What you do with it: The Californium isotope is used in devices that find layers of oil and water in oil wells.

1. Antimatter

Cost: $100 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.

BONUS: Soliris

Cost: $5,000 per 30ml vial.
What you do with it: Pharmaceuticals can be quite expensive largely due to the R&D investments that go into getting to the final product. Considered the world’s most expensive drug, Soliris treats a rare, life-threatening disease that destroys red blood cells more quickly than normal. A year's treatment could cost a whopping $569,000.

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