



Item rarity does not seem to matter with regards to how valuable an item is - that is, for a given game, the common, uncommon and rare emoticons will all produce the same number of gems when recycled. Doing so destroys the card, emoticon or background, and gives a certain number of gems depending on the item. Gems can be obtained by "recycling" trading cards, emoticons, and profile backgrounds that you own. Gems are a currency introduced on Steam on December 12, 2014, during the Holiday Sale 2014 event.
