Metals are a collectible in The Sims 3 and are found in ore form, to be smelted into ingots for §40. Sometimes the foundry will return an ore, saying that it is actually a Mysterious Mr. Gnome in disguise. Smelted ingots are worth 175% of their original cost, and so the raw metal must be worth §54 to offset the §40 cost of smelting and break even relative to selling the ore alone. The "breaking even" equation is as follows: With X being the value of the ore. Plugging in §54 yields a profit of §0.5; thus this is the lowest whole number that does not lose money.