Gold Glossary

Acid Test: A test to determine the fineness of gold by subjecting it to various acids. Nitric
acid is usually used for testing up to 10 carat gold. Gold finer than 10 carat only reacts with a
mixture of nitric and hydrochloric acids known as aqua regia.

Alloy: A mixture of gold and or silver with other metals such as copper, silver, zinc, platinum
etc.

Annealing: heating blanks (planchets) in a furnace that softens the metal.

Aqua: literally water (Latin). In addition to terms denoting a condition or source or water
(such as aqua tepida, warm water, or aqua nivialis meaning water from snow), some aqua
terms denote aqueous solutions.

Arbitrage: Buying a commodity on one market and immediately selling it on another to take
advantage of differences between the prices on both.goldbars.

Argentum: Latin for silver, hence the symbol Ag; argentum vivum, literally "living silver", is
native mercury [Pliny]

Ask: The ask is the price which a dealer offers to sell.

Assay: A test to find out the metallic content of a coin or bar. The test determines the purity,
fineness and weight of a precious metal.

AU: AU is the chemical symbol for gold. It comes from the Latin word for gold which is
Aurum.

Aurora: the goddess of shining dawn.

Aurum: Latin for gold, hence the symbol Au.

Austrian 100 Corona: A restrike (a coin previously minted and then reissued or 'restruck')
bullion gold coin containing .9802 ounce of gold. Avoirdupois: The system of weights for
commodities with the exception of precious metals, stones, and drugs. One avoirdupois ounce
equals 28.35 grams or 437.50 grains. See troy ounce also.

B
Backwardation: see Inverted Market.

Bag Mark: a mark on a coin from contact with other coins in a mint bag.

Bars: precious metals such as silver, gold and platinum forged or stamped into bars. They can
be as small as 1/25th of an ounce or as large as 400 ounces.

Bear Market: A Market which is down trending. As distinct to a bull market which is
uptrending.

Bid/Ask: This is the price offered by a dealer. The ask price is the price the dealer is
eventually willing to accept to close the deal.

Bid: The price a dealer is willing to buy.

Biscuits: Gold and other precious metal bars come in two types. Cast from moulds or
stamped. The stamped bars are thinner and flatter than the cast type and are often called
biscuits as a result.

Black Hills Gold: This is a particular style of gold jewellery made specifically in the Black
Hills of Dakota, USA. It features usually 10k yellow gold with other golds such as rose gold,
green gold and filigree and popular motifs such as the grape and grape leaf designs. To
qualify it must be produced in the area.

Blank: another word for planchet, the blank piece of metal on which a coin design is stamped.

Boiler Room: A scam enterprise using high pressure sales tactics and false or misleading
information, and scare tactics, usually by telephone, to sell overpriced or worthless
investments to unsophisticated investors.

Britannia: Britannia silver is purer than sterling. It is an alloy of at least 95.84% silver and up
to 4.16% copper to increase the hardness and durability. It is denoted by the millesimal
fineness hallmark "958", with the symbol of Britannia being applied optionally.

BU: brilliant uncirculated, used to describe a coin in new condition and, by definition, not
circulated.

Bull Market: a market in which the general trend is up as distinct to a bear market in which
the general trend is down.

Bullion: Precious metal such as gold and silver in bar or "rounds" coin form. Must be at least
95.5 percent pure.

Bullion Coin: A coin whose market price depends on its gold content or intrinsic value, not on
it's or face value.

Bullion Gold: A term for gold coins, wafers, bars or ingots (Cast gold rather than moulded or
stamped) which is at least 995 fine.

Bullion: Precious metal in negotiable or trading shape, such as a wafer, bar, ingot, or
sometimes a coin. A general term for precious metals in the form of coin, bars, or ingots that
are at least 99.5% pure. Also uncoined gold or silver in bars or other storage shapes (ingots).

Business Strike: a coin intended for circulation (as opposed to a proof coin specially made for
collectors).

Bust: a portrait on a coin of the head, neck and upper shoulders.

Buy: To purchase, accept in exchange for fiat currency.

Call: A call is the right without obligation to buy a commodity or a financial security at a
predetermined date in the future.

Canadian Maple Leaf: Modern bullion coins, usually either gold or silver, minted by the
Royal Canadian Mint and with the Canadian symbol of a Maple Leaf on the coin.

Carat: A unit of weight for diamonds, pearls, and other gems. The metric carat, equal to 0.2
grams or 200 mg, is standard in the world. Not to be confused with karat.

Chameleon: A broker or dealer who changes his position on an investment to what he

considers will influence an investor to enter into a transaction.

Cash Market: See spot market.

Casting: The process of duplicating an object by pouring molten metal into a hollow mold that
has been made of the original object or model. In lost wax casting, used in jewellery
production, molten gold is forced under pressure into a mould from which the wax model has
been burned out.

Chasing: A highly skilled and ancient art of decorating metal with figures or ornamental
patterns, which may be either raised or indented. The work is done entirely by hand without
mechanical aids. The modern chaser draws out the design on the surface of the metal and
delineates it with a hammer and punches, not removing metal, as is done in engraving, but
pushing it aside. The process is extremely slow.

Circulating Coin: A coin that's used in commerce as money.

Clad Coinage: Coins made of two metals, a core of one metal and an outer layer made of a
different metal. Since 1965, all United States dimes, quarters, half dollars, and dollars have
been clad.

Coin Dealer: A merchant who deals in coins. A person who buys and sells coins.

Coin of the Realm: A legal tender coin issued by a government, meant for general circulation.
Generally used in the UK.

Coin Gold: Gold used in coins is generally alloyed with small amounts of other metals,
usually silver and copper, for durability. U.S. standard gold coins are 900 fine or 21.6k.
Coin of the Realm: Coin issued and which is approved for legal tender in that country.
Usually applies to British coins.

Coin Silver: Coin silver is 90% silver and 10% copper as dictated by United States FTC
guidelines. It is a lower grade than sterling and was established in the US in the 1820s.

Coin Spoon: This is not a coin but a spoon made of silver. Coin spoons are avidly collected by
coin spoon enthusiasts.

Coin: a stamped piece of metal of a known weight and fineness issued for use as an exchange
medium but also can be a collectors item.

Collar: A metal piece that restrains the expanding metal of a planchet during striking.

Comex: The Comex is the New York commodities trading center where gold, silver and other
precious metals are traded daily. It is a division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Commemorate: To honor an individual or an event in history or a place.

Commemorative: A coin especially minted or 'struck' to commemorate a special occasion or

person or event.

Commemoratives: legal tender coins or medallions usually minted from gold or silver.

Commodities: A product that can be bought and sold. Especially refers to agricultural or
mining product that can be processed and resold.

Commodity Pool: A venture, usually a limited partnership, in which investors contribute

funds for the purpose of buying commodities.

Correction: a decline in prices following a rise in a market.

Contango Market: This a normal futures market in which prices are higher in the succeeding
delivery months than in the nearest delivery month. Opposite of backwardation.

Condition: The physical state of a coin. How worn it is, how new, what markings to show use
there are.

Contango market: a normal futures market in which prices are higher in the succeeding
delivery months than in the nearest delivery month. Opposite of backwardation.

Correction: a decline in prices following a rise in a market.

Counterfeit: A coin that is a fake. Not what one is lead to believe. A coin deliberately
constructed to resemble a coin of greater value in order to fool people into thinking it is
genuine. Counterfeits are illegal.

Cover: to offset a short futures or options position.

Currency: Money. That coinage and paper money that is used for everyday transactions. A
tool of exchange.

Dealer: A person or company who buys and sells a particular product or range of products.
Commonly use in the sense of a coin or precious metal dealer. Should be licensed and
registered and also look for being a member of a trade association.

Denomination: The value of a coin. US coins come in various denominations, pennies,

nickels, dimes, quarters, half dollars, and dollars.

Designer: the artist who designs a coin but doesn't always do the engraving in a coin die.

Derivative: A financial instrument derived from a cash market commodity, futures contract,
or other financial instrument. Derivatives can be traded on regulated exchanges or over-the-
counter. Futures contracts, for example, are derivatives of physicals commodities, and options
on futures are derivatives of futures contracts.

Die: A metal piece that has had the design of the coin impressed into it. It goes into a coin
press and there are two dies for each coin known as the front and back dies and the coin is
struck when the metal is pressed between the two dies with great force in the coining press.

Die-Striking: Eth is the same method of making coins as the ancient Greeks. It is the same as
die-stamping. First of all a model of the item to be produced, is made out of hard steel. This is
then used to make a die, which is hammered into sheets of pure gold with tremendous force to
produce exact copies in gold.

Double Eagles: U.S. $20 gold coins used as legal tender 1850-1933. Double Eagles
contain .9675 ounce of gold and come in two designs: the St. Gaudens (Walking Liberty) and
the Liberty.

Ductility: Ductility is the quality of a metal that allows it to be drawn or stretched. This is how
fine wire is made . Gold is the most ductile of all metals and very suitable to be made into fine
wire.

Eagle: The name given to a coin of the US. There are many types of eagles but all have an
eagle stamped on the coin. They can be gold or silver and even platinum.

Edge: The outer border of a coin, often called the third side. This is not the rim of the coin.
Some coins have lettering or ornamental designs on their edges.

Electrolytic Gold: This is very pure gold (999.9 fine) produced by a special refining process
employing electric current. It is used for specialized applications.

Electroplating: A process in which an electric current is applied to a metal to coat objects with
another metal. Used a lot in coating base metals with gold. The thickness of the coating will
depend on the intensity and duration of the current applied.
Emblem: A symbol or mark used as an identifying mark on a coin.

Embossing: Producing figures in relief on both flat metal items and hollow articles such as
pitchers, coffee pots or cups, by using punches or hammers on the back or inside of the
article, creating the design on the front. You see this a lot in Asia in the streets and markets.

Engraver: This is the person who actually cuts the design into the die. It may or may not be
the designer.

Epigenetic: A mineral deposit of origin later than that of the enclosing rock.

Error: A coin incorrectly struck but not discovered until after it has left the mint. These can
have great value, especially if there are very few of them.

Exchange Traded Funds: Becoming popular now are Exchange Traded Funds (ETF) as a way
of purchasing gold and soon silver. One buys a certificate which represents an amount of gold
held in trust in a bank vault. As the value of the gold goes up or down so does ones holding.
The advantage of this is that the price is very close to spot (see spot) price and so is cheaper
than buying gold coins or bars. A possible disadvantage is the tax consideration on making a
possible perceived capital gain.

Face Value: The legal monetary value stamped on a coin and the sum for which a coin can be
spent or exchanged. The value of a legal tender coin as stamped on the coin A one ounce Gold
American Eagle has a face value of $50.

Fake: Not real, a copy, usually the information that it is a copy is hidden or not announced in
order to get more for the object than it is really worth.

Fiat Money: paper money made legal tender by law, although not backed by gold or silver.

Field: The background of a coin or the portion of a coin's surface not used for design or
inscription.. Sometimes also called the open area.

Filigree: A form of decoration in which fine gold wire is twisted and soldered into intricate
patterns. The Hellenistic Greeks were masters of this technique. Also used in Black Hills
Gold (See Black Hills Gold).

Fine Gold Wire: This is made by drawing out the gold very thinly. Gold wire of various karat
levels is used in jewellery fabrication for chain-making. In electronics, pure gold wire of
999.75 fine is used in transistors and integrated circuits.

Fine silver: Fine silver is 99.9 percent silver or more. This is what silver bullion bars are made
from. In jewellery however silver is too soft and so is usually mixed with another harder metal
for durability.

Fine weight: This is the weight of the precious metal in a coin or bar as distinct to the gross
weight of the coin or bar which includes the metal which the gold or silver has been alloyed
with or the amount of impurities in the product. For example a one ounce gold eagle has a fine
weight of one troy ounce of gold but a gross weight of 1.0909 troy ounces. Example: a 1-oz
Gold Eagle has a fine weight of one troy ounce but a gross weight of 1.0909 troy ounce.

Fineness: This is the purity of a precious metal as measured in parts per 1000. A gold bar
of .995 fineness for example would contain 995 parts of gold to 5 parts of another metal, often
silver.

Florentine Finish: A textured surface for precious metals produced by engraving a series of
parallel lines in one direction, then cross-hatching them at a 90 degree angle more lightly than
in the first direction.

Fool's Gold: A popular name for iron pyrite. It is mistaken for gold sometimes by the
inexperienced. You can tell the difference as iron pyrite is hard and brittle whereas gold is soft
and malleable.

Forward transaction: purchase or sale for delivery and payment at an agreed date in the future;
similar to a futures contract, except that forward transactions are not subject to the
standardized procedures and regulations of a commodities futures exchange.

Futures contract: an agreement made on an organized exchange to take or make delivery of a

specific commodity or financial instrument at a set date in the future.

Gadroon: A series of small vertical, diagonal or twisted grooves applied as a border

decoration on silverware.

Gallery: A type of mounting with a pierced, openwork design resembling the gallery, or rear
raised deck of an early sailing ship.

Garland Style: A jewelry style popular in the early 20th century made possible by the
introduction of the widespread use of platinum and characterized by lightness and delicacy
that employed motifs such as garlands, ribbon bows, swags, and tassels.

Gem: (Gemstone). A precious or semiprecious stone that may be used as a jewel when cut and
polished. Include diamond, beryl, emerald, chalcedony, agate, onyx, tourmaline, chrysolite,
sapphire, ruby, spinel, topaz, turquoise, zircon, cubic zirconia, jacinth, hyacinth, carbuncle,
amethyst, alexandrite, cat's eye, bloodstone, hematite, jasper, moonstone, sunstone, and many
others. Several organic materials like coral and pearls are also considered gemstones.

Genuine Pearl: A pearl is a calcium carbonate deposit (CaCO3) which a mollusk or shellfish
such as an oyster, will create as a reaction to an irritant contained within its shell. The mollusk
cannot remove the irritant, it might be a grain of sand or some hard substance, so will coat it
with something it feels more comfortable with. The deposit is combined with a substance
called conchiolin and this then becomes nacre. This is more known to us as Mother of Pearl.

Genuine: Unless the word "genuine" is included in the description of a piece of jewelry, it
could simply be using the term to describe the color of the piece rather than its actual content.
For example, "gold" meaning gold toned, rather than actual gold. Or "amethyst" meaning
amethyst colored, rather than containing an actual amethyst stone.
Gilding: Coating a surface with a thin layer of gold, which may be either pure gold or a gold
alloy. It is done either by electroplating or mechanical cladding, (See Gold-Filled)

Gilt: Gold plated.

Girandâle: A style of earring or brooch in which a large stone or decorative element suspends
three smaller pear-shaped pendants of similar design.

Girdle: The outermost edge of a cut gem when viewed from the side and top. It is the edge
formed by where the top section (crown) and the bottom section (pavilion) of the cut stone
meet.

Gold Bars: Bars of gold. These can be as small as one twenty-fifth of an ounce up to 400
ounce bars.

Gold Currency Trading: Buying and selling gold as a currency on the currency market.

Gold Dust: Very fine flakes or particles of gold, such as those found in placer mining.

Gold Eagles: modern gold bullion coins. Produced in the US by the US Mint.

Gold electroplating: A process by which sheets of gold of at least 10 karats and no less than
seven-millionths of an inch thick are electro-chemically bonded to another metal producing
gold plated pieces.

Gold Filled: Jewellery with a layer of gold applied to the surface of a different metal. It is
called 'Gold Filled' if the amount of gold is equal to one twentieth of the total weight of the
piece.

Gold Fix: This refers to the value or price of gold which is decided twice daily by the
members of the London Gold Market at the Rothschild Bank in London. This information is
then passed to all the markets around the world.

Gold Leaf: Gold that has been beaten into an extremely thin film. Gold is so malleable it can
be beaten by a skilled craftsman so think that a quarter of a million sheets would only make
an inch thick. Gold leaf is used for many decorative purposes, including picture frames, signs,
book edges, architecture and ornaments.

Gold Nugget: An irregular chunk of gold found naturally in streams or where there is running
water. It has usually been washed down from natural rock which contained the gold. The
heaviest nugget ever recorded, named the Welcome Stranger, was found in Australia in 1869
and weighed 90.9 kilograms or 200 lbs.

Gold plated: A piece of jewelry with a wafer thin coating of gold electroplated or
mechanically plated onto a base metal.

Gold Price: The price of gold. Also the most up to date and comprehensive website on the net
about gold. Gold Price
Gold Standard: A system in which a country backs its paper currency with gold. The gold
standard has fallen out of use in the major countries as they move to a more manipulative
system of issuing paper money as a way of controlling the economy.

Gold Tone: This describes jewelry which have been 'finished' with a gold color that resembles
gold but has almost no appreciable measurement of weight in actual gold.

Gold Washed: Products that have an extremely thin layer of gold, (less than .175 microns
thick), applied by either dipping or burnishing the metal, but not plated.. This will wear away
more quickly than pieces that are gold plated, gold-filled, or gold electroplated. Found in
cheap gold jewellery.

Gold: Symbol AU. A soft yellow metal much prized for its value and beauty. Gold has been
considered the most beautiful of all metals for thousands of years. It has been used for coins
and jewelry for over 6000 years. The specific gravity of pure gold is 19.3. It is often naturally
found mixed with silver, copper and other metals. It is also found as nuggets and grains in
streams where it has been washed down from open veins. It is found in Quartz also. Gold is
very ductile and is the most malleable of all metals. It can be cast into huge statues or beaten
into wafer thin sheets of gold leaf. This malleability makes it too soft to be used in jewelry
without being alloyed with other metals.

Golden Finish: Jewelry finished so that it has the look of gold, but no actual gold content.

Good Condition: Jewellery that shows some wear such as fine pits or lines but will not have
cracks, chips and evidence of glue and possible repair. That would be considered Damage.

Good Delivery Bar: A bar of gold or silver that is acceptable for delivery against a metals
contract.

Good Delivery: the specification that a bar of precious metal must meet in order to be
acceptable for delivery at a particular exchange.

Gothic Revival: Jewelry that evokes the feeling of medieval Europe in its use of styles,
symbols, and motifs. It began in the 18th century as part of the romantic movement.

Grade: A description of the 'wear and tear' of a coin. There is a scale of this called the ANA
scale which measures coins from 'about good - 3' to Perfect Uncirculated.- 70'.

Grading Service: a company that grades numismatic coins. Generally, graded coins are
encapsulated in plastic, a procedure called "slabbing." PCGS and NGC are the two dominant
grading services in the United States.

Grain: Originally a grain of wheat or barley corn, this is the earliest unit of weight. It is the
earliest weight unit for gold. A grain is the smallest unit in the Troy and avoirdupois systems.
In Troy weight, which is used for precious metals, 1 grain = .0648 grams; 24 grains = 1
pennyweight (dwt). 20 dwt. = 1 oz. Troy.

Gram: The weight, in grams, of a specific metal used in a piece of jewelry. A unit of weight
measurement equivalent to .0322 Troy Ounces. A gram is a metric unit of mass and weight
equal to 1/1000 kilogram. 1 gram = 15.43 grains = 0.032 ounce Troy; 1 pound Troy = 373.2
grams.

Granulation: An ancient jewellery art, perfected by the Etruscans, by which small gold
particles adhere to a the surface of a piece of jewelry to form a decorative pattern.

Greek Key: A design motif attributed to the ancient Greeks symbolizing the bonds of love,
friendship and devotion. Greek key designs are repeating patterns of interlocking geometric
shapes.

Green Gold: An alloy made of gold mixed with copper, silver, zinc and often cadmium. The
copper is what gives it the greenish tinge. It is commonly used with enameling to strengthen
the color of the gold when set beside the bright enamels. Gypsy Setting: A setting in which
the surface of the mount is virtually flush with the top of the gemstone.

Hair Jewelry: A style of jewelry popular in the mid-19th century. Lockets of the hair of loved
ones were preserved in brooches under glass. The hair was sometimes intricately curled or
woven. These pieces were often inscribed on the back to identify the donors. Later in the
century, hair was woven into watch chains, bracelets, and earrings and given as tokens of
affection. All forms of hair jewelry are very collectible today.

Hairlines: Very tiny lines or scratches on coins, caused by rough treatment or improper
cleaning. These reduce the value of the coin.

Half-Hoop: A bangle, bracelet, or ring in which half the circumference of the piece is set with
stones and does not form a complete circle.

Hallmark: Hallmarks are simply marks stamped onto a precious metal by a legally appointed
official after assaying to denote the amount of precious metal contained in a piece. They have
been used in England since about 1300 to indicate the fineness and the maker of gold and
silver articles. The Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths, London, and other guilds are
empowered to test and stamp gold and silver wares with four or more marks, including a
quality mark, a town mark, a date letter (changed each year) and a maker's mark.

Hammered: A texture applied to the surface of an object with a hammer to give it a dimpled
look.

Hardness: The measure of a stone or gems ability to resist scratching, surface inclusions,
abrasions or cracking. See Mohs scale.

Hardstone: The term used for any opaque stones used in making cameos, intaglios, or
mosaics, such as agate, carnelian, onyx, etc.

Head: The prongs that secure a stone onto a setting. Also the obverse side of a coin. See
obverse.

Heart Cut: A "fancy cut" diamond or stone in the shape of a heart.

Heavy Gold Electroplate: The term of electroplating of gold or gold alloy of a minimum 10k
fineness with a minimum thickness of 100 millionths of an inch.

Hedge: a transaction designed to protect an existing or anticipated physical market exposure

from unexpected or adverse price fluctuations.

Herringbone Chain: A chain made up of short, flat, slanted parallel links with the direction of
the slant alternating row by row resembling the spine of the herring.

Hidden Box Clasp: A box clasp hidden under the last link of chain. It looks uniform, except
for the release lever.

High Polish: Jewelry polished to a mirror-like finish.

Hoop Earring: An earring made from metal wire or tubing that has been shaped like a hoop.
Charms and other ornaments are sometimes hung from the hoop.

Hue: The specific color classification given to an object based on the seven colors found in
the spectrum; red, orange yellow, green, blue, indigo, or violet.

I.D. Bracelet: I.D. is short for "Identification", so an I.D. bracelet is simply a curved plate
engraved with the name or initials of the person wearing it.

IGI: Stands for the "International Gemological Institute". It is the largest independent gem
certification and appraisal service in the United States.

Igneous: A substance produced under conditions involving intense heat, such as that which is
found in volcanoes. Igneous rock is rock formed by solidification from molten magma.

Inclusion: A naturally occurring flaw, (feather, fracture, fissure, carbon spot, or cloud), within
a diamond or other stone. The test for clarity looks for these flaws.

Incuse: opposite of relief, the part of a coin's design that is pressed into the surface.

Ingot: Metal cast into a bar or other shape.

Inlaid: Past tense of inlay.

Inlay: A decorative technique in which part of the surface of a piece of jewelry, furniture, or
ceramic is cut away and stone, mother of pearl, or some other substance is imbedded into the
hollowed-out area so that it is level with the surface of the piece.

Inscription: the legend or lettering on a coin.

Intaglio: Italian for "carving", an Intaglio is a carved gem wherein the design is engraved or
carved into the object so that it sits below the surface plane of the material, as opposed to a
cameo in which the design is raised from it's background, in relief. Used for seals.

Intrinsic Value: The bullion value of how much the metal in a coin is worth.
Inverted Market: a situation in which prices for future deliveries are lower than the spot price.
Also known as backwardation.

Invisible Set: A method of setting square gemstones side by side in two or more rows within a
metal border or frame so that they are flush against one another with no metal separating
them.

Iridium: A metal of the platinum family often alloyed with platinum to improve workability.
Pieces marked "80% Plat. 20% Irid" would indicate that the alloy is 80 % platinum and 20%
iridium.

Iron Pyrite: See Pyrite.

Irradiation: The process of bombarding a gemstone with X-rays, gamma rays or streams of
subatomic particles in order to change the stone's color.

J hoop: A hoop earring in which the hoop is elongated into a shape resembling the letter J
rather than being circular.

Jabot Pin: A "jabot", (pronounced zhah-Bow), is a kind of ruffle worn on the bosom of a
man's shirt or woman's blouse. The "jabot pin" was designed to hold the jabot onto the shirt. It
is basically a pin with a brooch at either end. One brooch is removable so that the pin can be
stuck through the garment and then secured by reattaching the removable brooch. It is a form
of Art Deco mourning jewelry.

Jade: An opaque semiprecious gemstone which is usually found in shades of green, but can be
also be found in lavender and rose shades.

Jadeite: A hard, translucent variety of jade which is rarer than the other varieties of nephrite
and comes in a variety of colors such as orange, pink, yellow, brown, blue, violet, and black.

Jargon: Registered trade name for a colorless, pale-yellow or smoky-brown variety of cubic
zirconia from Ceylon.

Jewelry: Also jewellery. Adornments of precious metals and or gems or other pieces worn on
the body or on clothes. There is an almost endless amount of variety in jewelry.

Job Lot: A collection of merchandise sold in one group for use in a specific display or fixture.

Jobber: An individual who buys job lots from manufacturers or wholesalers to sell for a
specific display or fixture.

Jocla: A small string of beads at the bottom end of a necklace. The beads in the center of the
jocla usually contrast with the beads surrounding it and may be larger than the beads
surrounding it.

Jump Ring: A small oval or round wire ring used to link charms or pendants onto a chain. It is
not usually soldered shut.

Junk Coins: usually refers to early US silver coins which had a quantity of silver in them. The
coins are collected not for their coin or rarity value but purely for the silver content.

K: See Karat.

Karat: a measure of the amount of gold contained in a gold piece. 24 karat gold is considered
'pure' gold although it is measured as 999.9 percent fine since it is really not possible to obtain
totally pure gold. There is usually some impurity present even if infinitesimally small. So fine
or pure gold is 24k. 18k gold is 18 parts pure gold and 6 parts other metal. 14K or 585 has 585
parts out of 1000, or 58.5% pure gold. Also a variation of the word "carat" which is the word
used to describe the weight of a gemstone. Gold is often alloyed with silver, copper, and/or
other metals to improve its strength and durability.

Karat Gold: A gold alloy of not less than 10k fineness. The term is synonymous with real gold
when referring to fine jewellery.

Kilo Bar: a bar, usually silver or gold, weighing one kilogram or 32.1507 troy ounces.

Kilogram: 1,000 grams (32.1507 troy ounces).

Knife Wire: An extremely thin wire holding a gemstone making it appear to float.

Koala: Australian platinum coin, minted since 1987, 0.995 fine.

Kookaburra: Gold and silver coins issued by the Perth Mint Australia.

Krugerrand: South African gold coin. This was one of the first gold coins of one ounce
designed for citizens of the US to own. At the time Krugerrands were produced US citizens
were not allowed to own gold but were allowed to own gold coins as is legal tender.
Krugerrands were a way of getting around this anomaly.

Lab-created: created in a laboratory or factory as distinct from created in nature. Synthetic.

Lapidary: The art of cutting, shaping, polishing and creating jewelry from stones.

Lapis Lazuli: A royal blue opaque semiprecious stone with white veins or patches of calcite
and a few gold-looking metallic flecks of pyrite. Lapis can be dyed to enhance the color.

Lapis: Shortened form of Lapis Lazuli.

Lariat: A cord worn as a necklace with the ends of the cord dangling like a necktie. It can be
tied into a knot or secured by a sliding brooch. See Bolo.

Laser drilling: A way of enhancing a gem by drilling a tiny hole with a laser to remove an
impurity.

Lavalier: (Negligee Pendant): A necklace with two pendants of unequal length suspended
from it.

Layered: One sheet of material on top of another with indistinct boundaries between them.

Leaf: Gold leaf has a fineness of .999, meaning that it is 99.9% pure. It is also extremely thin.
It would take half a million sheets of gold left to make a pile 2 inches thick.

Legal Tender: A coin that can be legally used to purchase goods or services in a country. Coin
or notes that have been specified by the government of that country as acceptable as an
exchange medium for good and service and debt.

Legend: The inscription or principal lettering on a coin.

Length: The linear measurement of a bracelet or necklace.

Lever back: A means of attaching an earring to a pierced ear with a hook that goes through
the ear and is then secured by a hinged lever attached to the back of the piece.

Light Transparent: Plastic that appears to only be translucent, but is actually transparent when
held up to the light. Use a lot to cover proof and Brilliant Uncirculated coins as a protection
from the elements.

Lime: The gray or white mineral form of calcium oxide, used as a cementing compound.

Limestone: A common sedimentary rock consisting mostly of calcium carbonate that was
deposited by the remains of marine animals. It is used as a building stone and in the
manufacture of lime, carbon dioxide, and cement. Crystalline limestone is called marble.

Linde Star Sapphire: A synthetic star sapphire developed in 1967. Many of the star sapphires
found today are synthetics.

Link: A loop, or other object, which is linked together in a series to make a chain.

Liquid Gold: For bright gold surface decoration on ceramics and glass, a solution of 12% gold
and other chemicals in a medium such as oil of lavender is painted on the object and then
fired to a temperature of 540 degrees Celsius. The result is a smooth lustrous coating of gold
about 0.1 microns (0.000004 inches) thick.

Liquid Market: A market where selling and buying can be accomplished with ease.

Liquid Silver: The term given to strands of small silver beads which were made by carefully
slicing tubes of sterling silver into 1/8" pieces and stringing them together.

Liquidity: The quality of being easily convertible into cash. Silver coins fit the bill here.

Living Jewelry: A term for jewelry made from materials that were once part of a living
creature, such as Ivory, Pearls, Seashell, and Coral for example.
LMW: Acronym. "Limited Manufacturer's Warranty". A warranty which limits the producer
or manufacturer to parts or certain parts of the product only and does not extend to cover the
use or operation even of the product. Always check the warranty on anything you buy as the
terms will vary.

Lobster Claw Clasp: A means of connecting the ends of a necklace together. One end has a
wide flat hook, resembling the claw of a lobster, with a hinged "thumb" on a spring.

Locket: A hinged case, usually in the shape of an oval or heart, which can be opened or closed
and usually contains a photograph or memento such as a lock of hair.

Lode: A mineral deposit consisting of a zone of veins or disseminations; also, a mineral

deposit in solid rock.

London Fix: two daily bidding sessions in London of five major gold firms, at which the price
of gold is "fixed" or set.

Lost Wax Casting: An object is made of wax and coated in clay. When the clay is fired, the
wax melts and is drained away or evaporates leaving an exact impression of the object in the
hardened clay, which is then filled with molten metal.

Lucite: A clear, strong plastic that can be moulded and carved, popular in the 1940's for ladies
purses and jewelry.

Luster: The reflection of light from the surface of a mineral, described by its quality and
intensity; the appearance of a mineral in reflected light. Terms such as metallic or resinous
refer to general appearance; terms such as bright or dull refer to intensity. Also a frosty
appearance on the surface of a coin, usually an uncirculated coin. A reference to the
brightness of an object that shines with reflected light rather than producing its own.

Lustrous: A reference to the brightness of an object that shines with reflected light rather than
producing its own.

Mabe' (Or Mobe'): A Japanese term for cultured pearls which are cultured against the shell so
that only half a pearl is formed resembling a half-sphere.

Magnesia: Also called periclase, magnesia is a light, solid, white earthy mineral composed of
magnesium oxide. It is a source of magnesium and is used as a laxative. It takes its name from
Magnesia, an ancient city of Asia Minor, and is a mineral ingredient of the philosophers'
stone.

Magnesium: A light, silvery malleable and ductile, metallic element which occurs in nature as
a compound with other elements.

Malleability: the property of a substance, especially metal,, of being able to be hammered or

pressed out of shape without returning to it's original shape. Gold is the most malleable of all
metals and may be beaten to a thickness of 0.000004 of an inch.
Maltese Cross: A Maltese cross has four arms of equal length with a V shaped notch cut out
of the ends. It is named for the Knights of Malta, a group of knights who bore this symbol on
their tabards during the Crusades.

Marina Chain: A chain composed of small, round, diamond cut links that are designed to lie
flat like a curb link chain, but are set very close together.

Mariner Link: A chain link that resembles a flat oval with a flat bar in the middle of the ring.
A figogucci chain is a variant form of this.

Market Value: The price a coin or bullion bar is traded. This can vary daily with the value of
the metal concerned.

Marquise: pronounced Mar-KEY. It is an oval shape gemstone which tapers to a point at both
ends, named after the Marquise de Pompadour, Mistress of King Louis XV.

Matinee Length: A necklace 30 to 35 inches long.

Matte: In jewelry with a matte finish, the designer has used either a chemical process or an
abrasive to scratch or dull the top layer and create a matte finish. Also known as a 'brushed
finish'.

Medal: A coin or medallion designed to commemorate or honor a person or event. It usually

resembles a coin but is not legal tender as is not actually a coin. Medallion: A large medal
(see medal). A medallion can be issued by a government or a private mint.

Medium of Exchange: Something used as an agreed form of exchange. This could be money
or it could be traded good or barter. Something agreed by both sides of the trade can be used.

Metal: A solid mineral element that is able to conduct heat and electricity and is pliable under
heat or pressure. Common metals include bronze, copper and iron. Metals used for making
jewelry, such as platinum, gold, and silver are called "precious metals".

Metallic: There are two definitions. A material composed of metal is metallic but the term is
also used to describe something that is metallic in appearance and has a luster or a reflective
surface.

Metric ton: 1,000 kilograms or 32,151 troy ounces.

Middleman: A person who acts as an agent between two parties to arrange the trade of
something.

Milgrain Setting: A milgrain design engraved into the edge of the metal securing a stone in
place.

Milgrain: A raised, beaded edge on a ring done with a special engraver's tool; resembling the
edge of a coin.

Millefiori: Glass or clay beads with imbedded floral designs. Millefiori means "a thousand
flowers" in Italian.

Mine Cut: A diamond or gem cut. It differs from the modern Brilliant Cut only in its girdle
shape, which is square instead of round, a higher crown, smaller table, deeper pavilion, and
larger culet, but the number and arrangement of the facets are the same. It is lumpier than the
form accepted today. This form of cut surfaced in the early 1800's and began to disappear
around the turn of the 20th century.

Mineral: Any inorganic substance; i.e. anything that is not a plant or an animal.

Mint: 1. The condition of a coin which it has not been circulated. It is said to be in 'mint
condition' 2. The place which produces or manufactures coins either privately or under the
auspices of a government.

Mint Condition: A coin or piece of jewelry which is in the same condition as when it left the
mint or manufacturer. That is to say there is no signs of wear at all.

Mint Luster: the dull, frosty, or satiny shine found on uncirculated coins.

Mint Mark: a letter or symbol stamped on a coin to identify which mint struck the coin.

Mint Police: The special US force created to protect all US mint buildings including Fort
Knox.

Mint Set: A complete collection of a specific set of coins. The Panda Series of Chinese gold
coins is an example.

Mint State: A coin in an uncirculated condition as it was issued by the Mint that produced it.

Mintage: The amount of coins of a specific type, value and condition produced by a mint.

Modern Issues: Coins struck, minted or produced for circulation or for sale to investors or
collectors.

Moh's Hardness Scale: A measure of a mineral's hardness and its resistance to scratching
invented by Austrian mineralogist, Friedrich Moh. On the scale the softest mineral is talc and
the hardest is diamond.

Moonstone: A transparent, slightly iridescent, milky white variety of feldspar with white or
light blue opalescent spots. Moonstone is considered a good luck stone, especially for lovers.

Morse: A clasp used by the clergy for fastening garments, such as a cape, in front. It is usually
very large, from 12.5 to 17.5 cm in diameter, of various materials and shapes, and decorated
in religious themes.

Mosaic: A design created by pressing pieces of stone, glass, or ceramic tile, (called tesserae),
in mortar.

Mother-of-Pearl: The pearlescent material on the inside of mollusk shells like abalone,
oysters, and mussels. This material can be scraped off, sliced thin, and used as inlay on a
variety of jewelry, furniture, etc.

Mothers' rings: A kind of "family jewelry", Mother's rings are rings personalized with their
children's birthstones or with birthstones and names.

Motto: a phrase or slogan on a coin that is symbolic of a country's ideals.

Mount: To place or fix a stone in the setting. See Mounting.

Mounting: A piece of metal that holds a gem in place.

Mourning Jewelry: Jewelry worn to commemorate the death of a loved one, usually in the
form of a ring, brooch, or necklace; widely worn during the Victorian era when the death of
Prince Albert plunged Queen Victoria into a lifetime of mourning. See Filigree, Jet, and Jabot
Pin.

MS-60: The lowest grade of Mint State coins. Higher-grade coins are labeled MS-61 up to
MS-63 with MS-70. Coins showing no wear.

Muff Chain: A long chain with a clasp used to suspend a lady's fur muff.

Native Gold: Natural gold in a pure state in nature.

NGC: Acronym. Numismatic Guaranty Corporation of America. One of the two major coin
grading services in the United States.

Noble: modern platinum bullion coin issued by the Isle of Man since 1983.

Nugget: See gold nugget.

Numismatic Coins: Coins whose prices depend more on their rarity, condition, dates, and
mint marks rather than on their gold or silver content.

Numismatics: The study and collection of money and coins. Also includes paper money and
sometimes medals and medallions. Numismatist: A coin collector.

NYMEX: the New York Mercantile Exchange, a future exchange where platinum and
palladium are traded.

Obsolete: something, in this case a coin, no longer produced.

Obverse: The front side of a coin which contains the principal design. Also known as the
'head' side of the coin. It usually has the date, mint mark, and main design.

Off-center: This describes a coin that has received an off-center strike from the coin press and
has portions of its designs missing.
Option: the right, but not an obligation, to buy or sell a commodity or a financial security on a
specified date in the future.

Ounce: a unit of weight. In the precious metals industry, an ounce is defined as a “Troy
Ounce” equivalent to 31.1035 grams.

Overstrike: This is where a new coin is struck using a previously struck coin as the planchet.

Pandas: Chinese coins of gold and silver produced for coin collectors. Each has a Panda
struck on them.

Panning: A method of prospecting for gold by washing gold bearing minerals such as gravel,
dirt etc to separate out the gold.

Pattern: an experimental or trial piece, generally of a new design or metal.

PCGS: Acronym. Professional Coin Grading Service, one of two major coin grading services
in the United States.

Pennyweight: Originally the weight of an English silver penny. Now an American unit of
weight for gold in which one pennyweight equalling 24 grains or 1/20 of a troy ounce.

Physicals Market: A marketplace in which physical products are traded, as opposed to a

futures market where "contracts" are traded and physical delivery of the product may or may
not take place.

Placer: A superficial mineral deposit formed by mechanical concentration of mineral particles

from weathered debris. The common types are beach placers and alluvial.

Placer Mining: The extraction and concentration of heavy metals or minerals from placer
deposits by various methods, generally using running water.

Planchet: A blank piece of metal on which a coin design is stamped.

Platinum Eagles: Modern platinum bullion coins minted by the U.S. Treasury.

Precious Metals: Any of the gold, silver, platinum and other rare metals.

Premium: The price of a coin over and above the value of the gold content.

Proof: a specially produced coin produced using special dies and planchets that results in a
sharpness of detail and a virtually flawless surface, usually mirror-like fields. Such coins are
often struck twice to accent the design.

Proof Set: A set of proof coins of a particular type, denomination or year or series.

Pyrite: A common yellow mineral. . It has a brilliant luster and an absence of cleavage, and
has often been mistaken for gold . It is commonly referred to as "fool's gold"

Quarry. Site where stone, rock and construction materials are extracted. Open-pit operation.

Relief: The opposite of incuse. The part of a coin's design raised above the surface. Repoussé:
A form of decoration on metal objects where a relief pattern is made by hammering from the
back or on the front of the surface.

Restrike: An officially issued restrike of a formerly circulated coin using the original dies but
at a later date.

Reverse: The back or tails side of a coin.

Riddler: This is a machine that screens out blanks that are the wrong shape or size.

Riffle: A groove in the bottom of an inclined trough or sluice, for trapping gold or other heavy
minerals contained in sand or gravel.

Rim: the raised edge on both sides of a coin. It is designed to protect the coin from wear.

Roll: Coins packaged by the mint or banks or dealers into a roll. coins packaged by banks or
dealers. The number of coins in a roll depends on the denomination.

Rolled Gold Plate: Same as gold-filled except the quantity of karat gold is less than 1/20 of
the total metal weight. Must be identified with a fraction indicating the quantity of gold, e.g.,
1/40 12k R.G.P.

Roman Gold: A finish on gold jewellery produced by matting or frosting the surface, then
electroplating it with pure gold. It gives a soft matte finish with a rich yellow color.

Sand-Blasting: Producing a matted or frosted finish on gold or other metal by blasting it with
a stream of sand driven by a jet of compressed air.

Scrap Gold: Scrap gold

Seal: an official symbol or mark.

Series: A collection of coins containing all date and mint marks of a particular design and
denomination.

Silver: Silver is a chemical element with the symbol Ag. This comes from the Latin for silver,
argentum. Silver has the highest electrical and thermal conductivity of any metal and occurs
in minerals and in free form. Silver is used in coins, jewelry, tableware, photography, and in
mirrors.
Silver Bars: Bars of silver. These can be as small as one ounce or as large as 400 ounce bars.

Silver Eagles: US one ounce silver bullion coins.

Slabbed Coins: These are coins encapsulated in plastic for protection against wear. Generally,
"slabbed" coins are graded by one of the two major grading services.

Solid Gold: Fine or 24k gold.

Sovereign: An English gold or silver coin produced by the Royal British Mint and with a face
value of one pound sterling and a gold content of .2354 ounce. There are also half sovereigns.

Specific Gravity: This is the ration of weight of a given volume of a substance in relation to
an equal weight of water.

Spot: The price for the physical delivery of bullion bars, usually bars of gold silver or
platinum. This is considered the price of the precious metal on the open market and changes
daily. Dealers will charge spot plus an additional handling charge.

Spread: the difference between the buying price and the selling price of a precious metal coin
or trading unit.

Stirling Silver: The term "Sterling Silver" refers to the .925 grade of silver, used in England
from the 13th century. It is still used today and refers to silver that is not 100 percent but 945
from 1000.

Stope: An underground working area in a mine from which gold ore is extracted.

Strike: This is the process of stamping a blank with a coin design. Heavy presses amounting
to many tons are used to stamp out or 'strike' the coin. The strength of the imprint - full,
average, or weak - affects the value of rare coins.

Symbolic Face Value: The nominal value given to legal tender coins sold for their metal
content. Example: the 1-oz Gold Eagle carries a $50 face value but sells for the value of its
gold content plus a premium of 5% to 8%.

Tola Bars: A unit of weight of India equal to 180 grains or 0.375 troy ounce (11.7 grams).
Trade. gold bars measured in tolas, the most popular of which is the 10-tola cast bar (3.75 troy
oz). Although manufactured in Europe, tola bars are traded primarily in the Middle East,
India, Pakistan, and Singapore.

Troy Ounce: A unit in the Troy system of weights used for precious metals, based on a pound
of 12 ounces and an ounce of 20 pennyweights or 480 grains. Gold is widely measured in
Troy ounces. 1 Troy oz. = 31.1035 grams.

Type Set: a collection of coins based on denomination. For example, a nickel type set would
contain one of each of the four types of nickels that the United States Mint has produced.
U

Uncirculated: a coin in new condition, that doesn't have any signs of wear and sometimes said
to be "brilliant uncirculated" or "BU." The term is often used interchangeably with Mint State.

Upset: A coin exhibiting an error where the two sides are not correctly aligned. This is caused
when one of the dies in the coining press works loose and rotates to a different angle before
striking the coin. See also the glossary entry for Alignment.

Upsetting Mill: a machine that raises the rim on both sides of a blank or planchet.

Variety: a minor change from the basic design type of a coin.

Vein: Thin mineralized body.

Vermeil: A term used to describe heavy gold electroplate over sterling silver, or a substantial
layer of karat gold mechanically applied over sterling silver.

Vignette: The pictorial portion of a banknote as opposed to its frame or lettering.

Volume of Trading (or sales): A simple addition of successive futures transactions (a

transaction consists of a purchase and matching sale).

Wear: friction on the surface of a coin.

Working Dies: Dies taken from the master dies (hubs) and used in a coin press to actually
stamp the coins. They are discarded and replaced as they wear out or break. See also die.

Working Hubs: The transfer punch with a relief design from which the working dies are
made.

World coins: any coin issued by countries other than the united states.

Writer: The seller of an option who collects the premium payment from the buyer.

No entry

Year Date: the year in which a coin is struck.

Year Mark: A character or symbol stamped on articles of silver or gold by British goldsmiths
to mark the year in which the article was manufactured. One of the four or more symbols
making up the Hallmark.

Year Set: a collection of all denominations produced in a given year.

Yield: a measure of the annual return on an investment expressed as a percentage.

Zinc: Bluish-white hard metal occurring in various minerals such as sphalerite.

Zn: Zinc

Buy Fair Trade Gold

Fair Trade does not just apply to coffee anymore. It applies now to a variety of products and
one can even buy Fair Trade gold these days.

Much gold is mined under conditions for miners that could be called adverse at the best and
very dangerous at the worse. Especially in parts of Africa where labor is cheap and human
rights and human life are not highly regarded.

But now the Fairtrade Foundation and Alliance for responsible Mining (ARM) have taken up
the banner with the worlds first Fair Mined and Fair trade gold now launched u the United
Kingdom.

There are, at the last count, over twenty jewellers participating in the campaign for a fair deal
for Artisanal and Small-scale Miners (ASM).

Royal jeweller Garrard is among 20 companies to launch the first of the gold, which has been
used in collections and one-off pieces. Each piece will carry a Fairtrade and Fairmined
hallmark. Other Jewellers include, Stephen Webster, Jon Dibben and Harriet Kelsall, and each
now retail jewellery and gold products made from Fairmined gold. Their consumers will be
able to buy fair trade gold before the end of the year.

The Cotapata Mining Co-Operative in Bolivia was the first Fairtrade and Fairmined mining
organisation to be certified by independent auditor Flo Cert, with more expected in the
coming weeks and months. Greg Valerio, founder of Cred jewellery, said he got into the
movement after finding that as a jeweller he was unable to tell customers where the gold in
their jewellery had come from. He said: "I think that is an unacceptable reality. What I love
about what we've done here is that we’ve put the soul back into gold."

Participating jeweller Stephen Webster, creative director of his eponymous brand and
Garrard, said: "I'm very very passionate about that fact that people coming into our store now
getting engaged, getting married, will be offered the option that they can have Fairtrade gold
or conventional gold."

The gold initially launched in the UK, also benefits mining communities in Peru, Bolivia and
Ecuador by offering them 95% of the London Bullion Market’s (LBMA) price fix for gold.

Currently ASM"s are at the mercy of middle-men who cheat them on price on the grounds of
weight and purity and are offered anything from 35% to 85% of the LBMA fix for their gold,
despite the fact that they account for 10% of the world gold production and 90% of the
extraction workforce, leaving many miners living on as little as $1 a day.

Miners will be able to earn an extra 5% premium against the LBMA fix if they recover gold
without the use of mercury or cyanide.

It is intended to roll the scheme out to other countries with the aim of capturing 5% of the
world’s gold jewellery market by 2015. A network of pilots will be launched in Africa soon
and then in Asia, enabling more miners to join. ARM said it hopes to introduce three to seven
new producer organisations a year, resulting in consumers able to buy fair trade gold and gold
jewellery from their local jewellers.

Thursday, August 06, 2009

Tips on Buying Gold

Here are some tips on buying gold that can help you get the
best gold for your money.

1. Find out which is the best gold for you to buy. Usually it is gold bullion bars, or gold coins
or can even be GoldMoney (more on that later). This can depend on how much money you
have to allocate to buying gold and why you are buying gold. If you have sufficient funds
then gold bullion bars would be the way to go. These can be as small as one or half ounce bars
or as large as one kilo bars or even the 400 ounce bars although buying those sized gold
bullion bars would be very rare.

2. Searching around for the best price is important as the prices can vary. The smaller amount
of gold you buy, for example, means the higher cost per ounce or gram. Due to fabrication
costs and other factors, a one or half ounce bar (or biscuit as it is known) can cost twice as
much as the value of the gold. Yet a larger bar will have a more acceptable cost attached to
the value of the gold. The price you see in the news is not the actual price of gold. It is the
price of gold futures . To see the actual price of gold you have to look at what dealers are
charging. You can also get a very good idea from auction sites such as eBay which will show
the current value people are placing on gold. Here you would not look at what people are
asking but what people are paying.

3. When you have determined what gold you want to buy then the next question is where to
buy it. Dealers tend to be the most expensive. You can get some good deals on eBay but that
usually involves a lot of time and effort. Plus you have to verify the seller is selling the
genuine article and not some fake of course. Practicing due diligence is very important when
buying gold bullion online.

4. An alternative is to buy gold from GoldMoney. Here you can simply open an account
rather as you would open a bank account. Deposit funds to GoldMoney who will then assign
you gold at the prevailing price to your account. Your gold physically sits in a bank vault
either in London or Zurich and you can add to it, cash it or a portion in and even, under
certain circumstances redeem the gold in the form of one kilo gold bullion bars. The gold held
in the vaults is regularly audited and is fully insured against the usual, theft destruction and so
forth.

You can also transfer any quantity of gold to another GoldMoney account and, by the same
token, have it transferred from another account to yours. You have to show proof if identity in
order to open an account but once that is done you are free to accumulate gold without the
issues of transport, insurance and storage as this is all taken care of. There is a small storage
fee and some transfer fees but the cost of those is far below buying gold, having it shipped,
stored and insured by dealer or mint. There is no minimum, you can buy a gram or an ounce
at the same rate as a kilo or more as there are no fabrication and other costs to worry about.
You can open an account at GoldMoney and quickly start to accumulate gold.

5. The best way to save gold is to accumulate some at regular intervals. This is regardless of
the gold price. Each month or each regular period just buy some gold. The price may be up
one month or down the next. It does not matter. It is the consistency that counts. The value of
your gold will even out and tend to rise in the long term as the value of gold goes up against
the value of currency.

So there you are, a few tips on buying gold that may help you to save and and increase your
gold holding.

Where to Buy Gold

Deciding where to buy physical gold products is a very important decision. This article
provides guidance to help you decide where to make gold purchases. The knowledge you
need to find the best place for you to buy gold consists of general knowledge and knowledge
specific to gold

Use the same common sense approach you use to make any major purchase. After
determining exactly what you want to buy make a list of potential sellers. Write the seller’s
details down. These details include the seller’s physical address, contact information, and web
site address. Next, write a small set of criteria based on which you will select your top three
sellers. Some criteria to consider are as follows. How long the company has been in business.
Their terms and conditions related to payment procedures, return policy, and buying back.
Recommendations from those you know and trust that have done business with the company.
Find or make your own gold price comparisons for the items you want.

Use the Internet to search out any information you can find on others experience with the
company. Don’t be afraid to call the company and tell them you are evaluating them and ask
any questions you need answered. It is important to find a person at the company that will be
your main contact. By this point you will be able to pick your top two or three companies.

One approach is to test your sellers buy making a small purchase from each of the selected
sellers. Another approach is to make a purchase each month from a different seller. In any
case, determine all the costs involved in each purchase including taxes, shipping and
insurance before completing the transaction. Based on this experience you will have found
some good companies to deal with. Ideally you will develop a long term relationship with a
good company.

Here are some gold specific things to keep in mind when deciding where to buy gold. Look
for coin shops near you that you can visit. Look at government and private Mints. eBay is an
alternative suited to some. As gold becomes more popular you will see many more
advertisements for gold products. Be very careful about these offerings and remember the
process given above. If it seems too good to be true – it is!

Investing in Gold

Investing in gold usually means long term investing for five to ten years or more. The chart
below shows Gold priced in US Dollars from 1973 to the present.

One ounce of gold purchased in 1973 for $64 is now worth more than $900. This represents a
“return on investment” greater than 1000%.
By studying the markets some may be able to make good timing decisions. Charts such as
DOW/Gold can aid in spotting trends and more importantly major trend changes. The Dow
Jones Industrial Average, the DOW, is computed based on the stock prices of 30 of the largest
and most widely held public companies in the United States. The value of the DOW in 1973
was about $1000 and dividing that by $64 is 16. The ratio made a high of 44.70 in 1998 and
has declined since to about 10.

The chart shows that since 2000 gold has in general been a better investment than stocks.
A summary of gold price performance is shown below.

GLD

Is the Gold ETF (GLD) Right For You?

by James Turk

Copyright © 2009 by James Turk. All rights reserved.

The exchange-traded fund for gold (NYSE:GLD) has been described as a convenient way to
buy and sell gold bullion. Consequently, GLD has been heralded as a major breakthrough for
gold buyers, but is it?

I have been and remain critical of GLD, and have written several reports since its launch five
years ago. I consider GLD to be risky because its prospectus says that gold reportedly owned
by the fund but stored in subcustodians and sub-subcustodians is not audited and cannot even
be inspected to ensure that it really exists. Nor is it insured. Further, the prospectus allows for
the possibility that all of the gold supposedly owned by GLD is subject to the considerable
numerous risks spelled out on pages 6 through 13 of GLD’s prospectus, including the
significant risk that “Shareholders do not have the regulatory protections provided to investors
in investment companies.”

GLD presents its financial statement in 10-K reports filed with the Securities & Exchange
Commission, and these are revealing. GLD's balance sheet states its major asset to be:
“Investment in Gold”. It does not say just: “Gold”. This classification declaring GLD's asset
to be an investment in gold rather than gold itself provides an easy hurdle to meet for auditing
purposes.

Investments in gold can be nearly anything gold related, and for example, include gold
certificates and other promises to pay gold. GLD does not have to prove to its auditor that
each share in issue is backed by gold in the vault. Rather, all GLD has to do to satisfy its
auditor is to simply show them an account statement (i.e., a piece of paper) from any
subcustodian or sub-subcustodian that says gold is owed by them to GLD.

If GLD declared its asset to be “Gold”, it would have to substantiate to its auditor that the
gold really exists. The auditor would need to visit each and every vault where gold is stored,
which neither the management of GLD nor an auditor can do because of the inability stated in
the prospectus to audit or even inspect gold stored in subcustodians and sub-subcustodians.

Thus, the 10-K clearly re-confirms what others and I have concluded all along – that GLD is
just another paper scheme. It should not be considered as an alternative to physical gold
ownership because it is not. But we only need logic, and not the 10-K, to tell us that.

Since launching in November 2004, GLD has reportedly gathered over 1084.3 tonnes of gold
($34 billion at current market value). Of this amount, 420.5 tonnes – which is 17% of all the
gold mined last year – were added in the past twelve months, a 63% increase in just one year.
But what has happened to the gold price during this period?

Gold has fallen from its $1,003 record high one year ago by as much as $298 (a 30% decline)
to $705 on November 13, 2008, and even now as I write one year later on March 18th, gold
remains $114 below last year’s high price. How is it possible that GLD increases the demand
for gold by 63% and absorbs the equivalent of 17% of all the gold mined last year yet the
price of gold still declines?

Its sponsors would have us believe that these 1084.3 tonnes are newly created gold demand,
but this proposition is self-evidently outlandish.

So instead of creating new demand, one should be asking, what would be the impact on the
gold price if the $34 billion GLD manages would have been used to purchase physical metal
if GLD hadn't existed? How much higher would the gold price be today if GLD wasn't
launched?

My point is that without any third-party verification that all of the gold owned by GLD really
does exist, GLD is just another paper product offering exposure to the gold price. The
prospectus clearly states: “The investment objective of the Trust is for the Shares to reflect the
performance of the price of gold bullion, less the Trust’s expenses.” The objective is not to
provide individuals an alternative way of owning physical metal.

So do not view GLD as an alternative to physical gold, because it's not. GLD should be
compared to a gold futures contract, not to physical metal.

1) A futures contract tracks the future price of gold in the form of a tradeable contract. In a
similar vein, GLD tracks the spot price of gold in the form of a tradeable security.

2) There is no gold backing any individual futures contract outstanding, and there is no
audited proof that there is physical gold backing every GLD share in issue. What’s more, to
the extent that GLD is sold short, even if the gold in GLD backed every share in issue, the
gold equal to the amount sold short would be owned by two shareholders – the original buyer
and the buyer who purchased the shares sold short.

However, there are differences of course between a futures contract and GLD. One can
convert their futures contract into gold by taking delivery. An individual GLD shareholder
cannot do that. Only a so-called ‘authorized participant’, which are the big bullion banks, can.
So in my view this limitation makes GLD less useful to individuals than a futures contract.

I favor the concept of a gold exchange-traded fund. However, physical metal is one thing, and
the paper representation of metal like GLD is something entirely different. Importantly, it is
physical gold itself – and not just the promise to pay metal – that is the bedrock asset of one's
portfolio.

Consequently, use GLD as you would a futures contract – as a trading tool. It is not an
alternative to owning physical metal.

Copyright © 2009 by James Turk. All rights reserved.

_________________________________________________________
James Turk is the Founder & Chairman of GoldMoney.com. He is the co-author of The
Coming Collapse of the Dollar.

Gold

Gold is one of the chemical elements. Gold's chemical symbol is Au and its atomic number is
79. Its chief characteristics are that it is inert and malleable. Inert means gold does not interact
with other chemicals or compounds. Gold doesn't tarnish and even the strongest acids have no
effect. Thus, gold lasts forever - and stays shiny the whole time!
Gold has many industrial uses, but its main historical uses have been for jewellery and money
- both are a store of value. Gold has been used as a store of value for at least 5000 years. Gold
is measured and prices are quoted in Troy Ounces and Grams. As an example of gold's ability
to store value, 2000 years ago one ounce of gold would buy a fine man's outfit. Today one
ounce of gold will still buy a good quality man's wool suit with enough left over to buy a few
shirts, a tie, some underwear, socks, a pair of shoes and a belt!

Gold has been called a "barometer of fear." When people are anxious about the economy -
they turn to gold and bid the price up. The two main things that make people anxious are
deflation and inflation. Most think that deflation is "falling prices" and inflation is "rising
prices." Actually, rising and falling prices are symptoms. The root causes are decreases
(deflating) or increasing (inflating) of the money supply. Gold has the remarkable ability to
store value in both deflationary and inflationary times.

The correct way to think about owning gold is as insurance. Gold is a store of value virtually
independent of economic conditions. Unlike shares of a company or government bonds - gold
will always retain value. Gold's most important use is insurance against the paper (fiat)
currency of the country you live in. Almost every country has had at least one major
"currency crisis" over the last one hundred years. Those that had some of their wealth in gold
survived. Unfortunately many people saw their saving become worthless - sometimes in a
matter of days.

So, think of gold as insurance. Do not think of gold as a way to "make money." Do not try and
"time the market." It is better to buy gold in small amounts regularly, every month for
example, over a period of time.The percentage of your total wealth devoted to gold is a
personal decision and depends on your particular situation. A conservative goal would be ten
percent. In times of uncertainty the percentage should be much higher.

Do not worry about selling gold when that time comes. Gold is recognized and valued
everywhere in the world. It is easier to sell gold than to buy gold! Of course gold can be used
in barter or trade as it has for thousands of years.

To summarize, gold is an insurance policy against economic uncertainty. Gold can protect
against both deflation and inflation. Everyone should store some of their wealth in gold if at
all possible.

Spot Gold Price

What is the current or "spot" gold price and where does this price come from? The spot gold
price is based on the price of "futures" contracts traded on "futures exchanges" operating in a
number of countries.

Futures contracts, or just Futures, are standardized contracts for delivery (the seller delivers)
or receipt (the buyer receives) some fixed quantity and quality of a commodity. Futures
Exchanges exist in many countries to facilitate commercial trade of all major commodities.
These commodities include energy products such as crude oil and natural gas, "softs"
including wheat, corn, and soya beans, and metals like copper, lead and zinc. The range
includes cattle, pigs, eggs, coffee and even orange juice. Gold, silver, platinum and palladium
are also traded as futures.

Futures contracts are available for each month of the year. That is, a contract for delivery of
December wheat can be purchased in May the year before. The purpose of futures contracts
are to allow commercial producers and consumers to establish guaranteed prices and
guaranteed supply of the underlying commodity. For example, a large commercial bakery that
needs many thousands of bushels of wheat each month uses the futures market to ensure it has
wheat at a known price for many months into the future. This practice is called hedging.
There are other participants in the futures market. One large class is the speculators.
Speculators buy and sell futures contracts hoping to make money on the price fluctuations -
they do not intend to actually take delivery, or deliver, the commodity.

Futures contracts are traded on the floor of the exchange. You have probably seen views of
this on television - people in colored vests screaming and making hand signals in what looks
like total chaos. This is called an "open outcry auction" market. It is anything but chaos. The
people in the colored vests work for brokers who have a "seat" on the exchange. They are
buying and selling futures contracts for their clients. The details of the contracts that are
bought and sold are entered into the computer system of the exchange. The exchange
publishes the price and related data such as the number of contracts (volume) in real-time.
The exchange sells these data feeds to companies that then make them data available to
traders via brokerage houses and eventually to the public via websites like goldprice.org and
newspapers.

The most recognized gold price comes from the COMEX located in New York. COMEX
(Commodity Exchange) is the leading commodity exchange in the US for metals and is a
division of the NYMEX (New York Mercantile Exchange). The process of determining spot
gold prices on the COMEX is specified in the NYMEX "Rule Book."

The real-time, second by second, spot price of gold is the price of the futures contract of the
"most active month" as it is trading on the exchange. The most active nearby month is called
the "spot month." Even though there are contracts for every month of the year, some contracts
are only lightly traded. In order to get an accurate spot gold and silver price the exchange uses
the most active nearby month.

The "closing spot price" for the day is derived from that day's trading of the spot month
futures contract. The COMEX futures trading in gold closes at 1:30 PM Eastern Standard
Time. COMEX is currently operating under the following rules to calculate the daily spot
close of the gold price: "Notice No. 185 of 22 June 2001 Amendments to COMEX Futures
and Option Settlement Procedures" and specifically "AMENDMENTS TO COMEX RULES
4.91, 4.92 AND 4.93":

"Rule 4.91 - Futures Settlement Prices

(a) Active Month. The settlement price of the most active futures contract month shall be the
average (rounded off to the nearest price tick) of the highest and lowest prices of the trades
reported during the closing period, except as otherwise provided in this rule or in Rule 4.93
("Use of Discretion to Establish Settlement Price")."
The "closing period" for gold is the last two minutes of trading. To summarize, the real-time
spot price of gold is the price of the most active futures, or spot month, contract as it trades on
the exchange. The spot gold close is calculated as the average of the highest and lowest prices
of the trades during the last two minutes of closing period which is 1:28-1:30 PM in New
York.

The spot gold price is provided in US Dollars in the spot gold chart at top of the goldprice.org
website and in real time or tic by tic on the live gold price page. The spot gold price is
converted from US Dollars to 29 major national currencies which are available on the gold
price per ounce page. There are also conversions for the 29 different national currencies
available in grams and kilos on the gold price per gram and gold price per kilo pages.

Gold contracts on COMEX are for 100 troy ounce bars. If you have a futures trading account
with a broker on the exchange you can buy a gold contract and take delivery of the physical
gold when the contract period ends. COMEX has a number of gold storage locations in the
United States. You can go to one of these locations and get your gold bars. Also, services
such as Brinks can deliver them to you.

Buying physical gold from COMEX is quite involved. Most people find it more practical to
purchase physical gold in smaller amounts such as 1 ounce bullion bars and gold coins from
dealers. You may be surprised to see the difference in spot gold price on the COMEX and
actual gold prices today for small amounts of gold coins. For example, you can check the
current gold coin (and silver coin) prices for items sold on eBay at eBay Gold Prices and eBay
Silver Prices.

Storing Bullion Internationally

INTRODUCTION

“Tis the part of the wise man to keep himself today for tomorrow, and not venture all his eggs
in one basket.”

Many investors internationally will wish that they had paid attention to the wise old proverb
used by Cervantes in Don Quixote in 1605.

The fundamental tenet of investment theory and of wealth growth and preservation is
diversification. In layman's terms one should not have all the proverbial eggs in the one
basket. This concept is crucial both in terms of an entire investment portfolio but also in terms
of the precious metals component of a properly diversified portfolio.

Unfortunately, in recent years the majority of investors were not diversified – with most being
very overweight equities and property. Now due to the asset price deflation of recent months,
many are overweight cash and bonds. Very few have any allocation to gold whatsoever.

This is not a prudent strategy especially as in the coming years we are likely to see sovereign
and systemic risk remaining elevated, and significant inflation and stagflation.
TAKING POSSESSION OF BULLION AND STORING BULLION
INTERNATIONALLY

Diversification of assets and diversification amongst assets is important. Thus, it is also

important that the precious metals (gold, silver, platinum or palladium) component of a
portfolio is diversified.

This means that bullion owners should not allow themselves to be dependent on any one
investment provider or institution. This is why a combination of precious metal certificates,
gold or silver bullion coins and bars and semi numismatics in your possession and storage of
bullion internationally with a secure and specialist third party should all be considered.

Companies, insurance companies, trusts, banks and nations can and do go bankrupt. The great
advantage of gold bullion is that it has no third party risk. Gold and precious metals cannot go
bust. Thus, when owning physical bullion one of the most important things to consider is
where to store your bullion and what are the legal conditions under which it is stored.

Many would rather have their bullion closer to home. This may suit those with smaller
amounts of bullion or for those 'who hope for the best but are prepared for the worst'. It is
prudent to be at least partially prepared for a meltdown scenario of a currency collapse and
hyperinflation by owning real money, gold and silver, that will help preserve wealth. It is
important to have at least some bullion in one's possession – in a residence or office. Only do
so if you feel it is secure there and make sure you have insurance (home or office insurance)
that covers the bullion and other contents.

Some fear that in the event of a systemic crisis then there could be enforced bank closures or
extended bank holidays. In this scenario, deposit boxes in banks and financial institutions
could be sealed and the bullion confiscated. Under the Gold Confiscation Act of 1933 at the
height of the Great Depression, Roosevelt ordered all gold be handed to the authorities at
$20.67/oz (prior to revaluing gold from $20.67/oz to $35/oz). It is possible that in the event of
such a crisis many pool accounts, digital gold providers and depositories in the UK and the
US might have their gold confiscated and might have their assets nationalized.

In the light of these risks, one should take possession of some of your bullion. But for security
reasons, generally larger amounts would be safer stored with a secure third party.

What type of facility or institution should it be stored with and should it be stored locally,
nationally or internationally? The short answer is to store your bullion with the safest and
securest facilities or institutions locally, nationally and internationally and to be sure that you
are outright legal owner of the gold. Also be sure that the storage company or investment
provider can and will ensure delivery of your bullion in a format that you require should you
need it, to the destination of your choosing and in a timely manner.

US AND GLOBAL SYSTEMIC AND SYSTEMATIC RISK

Investors buy bullion primarily to insure and hedge against macroeconomic, geopolitical and
particularly systemic risk. Systemic risk includes the collapse of a financial system as a result
of events such as a general stock market crash, fiat currency crash and or a breakdown of our
modern day fractional reserve and derivative laden banking system. Any of these would have
serious ramifications and could lead to deflation, stagflation or hyperinflation in various
jurisdictions and the collapse of the current global monetary and financial system.

It is important to remember that the modern global financial and monetary system is only a
few decades old. As seen in recent months, it is by no means stable and the coming months
and years may test it as never before.

Systematic risk describes risks which the global economy faces such as business cycles,
pandemics, peak oil, extreme natural phenomenon (such as earthquakes, floods, tsunamis and
hurricanes), climate change and geopolitical risk such as terrorism and wars, including cyber
warfare.

Today in our globalised and massively interconnected financial world, a systemic or

systematic financial crisis could result in a chain reaction involving waves of individual and
corporate bankruptcies and large financial institutions and even sovereign governments would
be at risk. In this environment, all the conventional investments – paper assets such as stocks
and bonds, derivatives such as exchange traded funds (including the precious metal ETFs) and
property – would likely be seriously affected, may become illiquid and fall very sharply in
value.

This is not alarmist doom and gloom mongering. Many societies have experienced brutal
economic conditions such as the hyperinflation in Germany in the early 1920’s, the Great
Depression in the US in the 1930’s and the stagflation of the 1970's. In recent years, people in
Italy, Israel, Thailand, Yugoslavia, Belarus, Russia, Peru, Ecuador, Angola, Mexico,
Argentina and more recently in Zimbabwe (too name a few) have experienced currency crisis
and hyperinflation.

These systemic and systematic financial and economic risks create political risks. Increasing
diminution of civil rights in even the most liberal western countries must give pause for
thought. These authoritarian trends generally become more pronounced in times of recession
or depression. Historically protectionism, trade frictions, capital controls, gold confiscation,
currency devaluation, extended “bank holidays” or bank closures (when safety deposit boxes
and cash deposits cannot be accessed), nationalization, nationalism, radicalism, communism,
fascism and militarism can result.

These factors mean that having one's bullion outside of the financial system is important, if
not imperative. This can be either through personal possession or storage with a secure third
party who can deliver the bullion upon demand.

However, these factors also mean that besides having one's bullion outside of the financial
system it may be prudent to have some of one's bullion outside of the jurisdiction in which
one is domiciled or is a citizen. This lessens geographic risk. For these reasons it is important
that investors consider 'internationalising their bullion' to safe haven jurisdictions.

SAFETY DEPOSIT BOXES VERSUS DEPOSITORIES

Safety deposit boxes in banks and specialist depositories can be used but allocated accounts in
specialist depositories are less risky and superior.

A safe deposit box or safety deposit box is a type of safe usually located in groups inside a
bank vault, in a secure room of a bank or post office or in a specialist depository. It usually
holds important and valuable possessions such as important documents (wills, property
deeds), family heirlooms, cash and or precious metals that a person might be reluctant to leave
at home due to fear of tampering, fire, flood and theft.

In recent months, safety deposit boxes have been targeted by authorities in some countries. In
the UK, authorities said that one private deposit box company was facilitating money
laundering and police raided the company and the 7,000 individual safety deposit boxes
confiscating assets with an estimated value of £2.5 billion. In the U.S., family heirlooms, cash
and bullion held in safety deposit boxes have been raided, appropriated and sold off at
auction. Some state governments claim the contents are “unclaimed property” (a safety
deposit box is considered “abandoned” after just 3 years) in order to raise funds for
government states in grave financial difficulty.

Safety deposit boxes in financial institutions that are close to insolvent or may become
insolvent are high risk, as are safety deposit boxes in states or countries that are close to
bankruptcy. Especially as the contents of safety deposit boxes are normally not insured.

A depository on the other hand, is a place where valuable objects are kept or deposited for
safekeeping or storage, e.g. a high security warehouse or vault for important documents,
precious works of art, valuables, heirlooms, cash and bullion. Depositories are normally
private companies that are not owned by banks and thus less exposed to economic cycles or to
a collapse of the financial system. They are independently insured. They make no claim over
assets stored and their sole purpose is to provide the safest environment for valuable
possessions. Storage is not a secondary function as it is in a bank, rather it is a primary
defining function and one which is carried out to the highest standards with far less risk.

A BETTER WAY TO STORE BULLION

Ultimately, the need to reduce counter party risk and intermediation means that many
investors internationally are now requiring proximity (nearness in place and time) to their
bullion. This need for the closest proximity to gold, silver, platinum, palladium and or
rhodium coins and bars means that many take personal physical possession of at least some of
their precious metals. Due to the many of the reasons outlined in this article many also choose
to store their bullion in secure vaults internationally.

Safety, security and confidentiality are of paramount importance when entrusted with the
storage of precious metals. There are many specialist depositories internationally which
facilitate investors but the vaults of one of Europe's largest and oldest armoured transport and
storage companies are a favourite in this regard. They have secure storage vaults in all major
financial centers including in the tax free zone in Zurich airport in safe haven Switzerland.

Importantly, precious metals remain the property of the investor. This eliminates counter
party and intermediation risk posed by business failure and company insolvency.

PERSONAL ALLOCATED STORAGE WITH BAILMENT

Owning bullion in this way gives you the soundest protection from company insolvency –
bullion dealers, digital gold dealers, ETF trustees, banks etc). When companies fail,
liquidators are appointed and take control of the company's assets, sell them and arrange a fair
distribution of the assets to creditors of various classes including themselves. Liquidators
generally claim ownership of every asset on a failed company's balance sheet, including
bullion. However they cannot lawfully treat bailments as the property of the company
available for creditors' benefit.

Bailment is the legal action of a client entrusting their bullion to another party for
safekeeping. Bailment describes a legal relationship in common law where physical
possession of personal property such as bullion is transferred from one person or entity (the
'bailor' or client) to another person or entity (the 'bailee' or company) who subsequently holds
possession of the bullion.

Through bailment, an individual gives up possession of their bullion but remains the outright
legal owner of their bullion, with the investment provider acting simply as a custodian. Over
the centuries there has been much less case law and legal conflict on the subject of custody
bailments than on the subject of trusts. This is because the legal standing of custody bailments
is well defined and confers on the owners more security than if their bullion is held in a trust.
Unlike in a trust where the legal owners of a trust asset are the trustees and this can lead to
litigation and potentially loss of the underlying asset.

When choosing where to store bullion it is also important to consider access to and the ability
to have worldwide transportation of bullion. Very few providers can offer domicile-to-
domicile solutions to all important financial centers and locations internationally. This is an
important consideration as is insured storage for valuable goods in customs-free warehouse,
customs clearance of shipments including neutralizing, dividing and repacking and
monitoring of transit mailings.

Bullion storage should be considered from a cost and security perspective but in these very
uncertain times flexibility and accessibility are also important considerations.

SUMMARY

Don't delay in deciding what the optimal storage solution is for your bullion. Decide on a
storage plan and the securest location and order your bullion coins and or bars or move your
existing bullion as soon as you have done your due diligence.

Importantly, be sure that you can access and ship your bullion in a format of your choosing, to
a destination of your choosing at the time of your choosing.

Gold and silver bullion are the ultimate form of financial insurance and in these uncertain
times all investors and savers should have an allocation and own this essential insurance in the
safest ways possible.

ABOUT GOLDCORE

GoldCore, www.GoldCore.com , specialises in international bullion dealing, asset

diversification and wealth preservation offering bullion storage in the US, Asia and Europe.
GoldCore are experts on global macroeconomics and the gold and silver bullion markets and
the company is the EU Approved Dealer for the Perth Mint of Western Australia.

GoldCore has an international media profile (CNBC, Bloomberg, CNN, BBC, FT, Wall Street
Journal, Bloomberg, Dow Jones, Associated Press, Reuters etc.) and takes part in the Reuters
Precious Metals Poll and the Bloomberg Gold Survey.

How to Buy Gold and Silver on the Comex

This article is about how to buy gold and silver on the Comex.
Firstly, for those unfamiliar with the Comex, it gives a brief overview of how it works and
how futures contracts for gold and silver work. Then there is some information that an
investor might want to use to buy gold at spot on the Comex Exchange.

In all activities of this sort it is highly advisable to consult with your financial advisers and
brokers before embarking on any futures contracts.

Real Gold & Silver vs Gold & Silver Spot Price

Currently there is an unprecedented shortage of physical metal in the real gold and silver
bullion markets. It is very difficult to buy physical gold and silver and the premiums (the
amount over the spot price charged by dealers) are the highest since the 1980s and the waiting
period is blowing out to 8 weeks or more for delivery.

In view of the increasing financial instability now worldwide, more and more people than
ever are seeking physical gold and silver.

Yet, after an understandable climb in the gold and silver prices during the middle of the year
when the 'credit crisis' really began to emerge, the spot price of gold and silver is falling. This
is contrary to normal economics as, traditionally, in any past crisis , the value of gold and
silver would consistently rise.

But nowadays, the spot price and the comex price, no longer reflect the true price of gold and
silver in the market. Why is this so one might ask? Usually one would expect when a shortage
of a commodity occurs, then the price would rise commensurate with the unavailability, and
then more of the commodity should enter the market to make up the short fall, resulting in a
balance being struck between the price and the commodity. Yet here we have a widening gap
between the 'apparent' price of gold and silver and the availability of it.

To answer this conundrum and, possibly take advantage of it, we need to look at a number of
issues. The first of which is, what is the comex or spot price of gold and silver?

If you already understand about the Comex you can skip this part.
What is the Comex
There used to be two exchanges in New York. The New York Mercantile Exchange and the
Commodity Exchange, Inc (COMEX). In 2006 these two exchanged merged and became one.
It is now the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) but is divided into two parts, the
NYMEX Division upon which is traded such commodities as oil, gas, palladium and platinum
and so forth, and the COMEX Division on which gold, silver copper and aluminum is traded.
It is this exchange that we are most interested in. On this exchange are traded 'Future
Contracts' of gold and silver.

Futures Trading
Futures trading is the basic action of entering into a legal contractual agreement with another
(known or usually not known) individual to exchange money or assets of some value at some
time in the future and with the pre-determined price (called a futures price) based on the
underlying asset. Such an asset could be stock, an interest rate even or, in this case gold.

It is an agreement to exchange the underlying asset, or equivalent cash flows, at a future date.

In other words if you enter into such a contract you are betting that the value or price of that
asset or stock or gold is going to be at a certain value at a predetermined time in the future. At
that time, when the contact is completed and 'settlement date' arrives, you or the other party
cough up with the difference between what was originally paid and what the settlement price
is.

One of the perceived advantages of futures trading is that you do not have to put up all the
money needed for the contract but usually only a percentage. Usually around 10 percent. This
means that people can trade with a smaller amount. It is rather like going to the races and
placing a bet for 1000 dollars but only putting 100 dollars down. If you lose you have to come
up with the 1000 dollars of course but if you win you have only needed 100 dollars to play the
game. There are some other factors of course that an investor in futures trading can come a
cropper with, such as a drop in the price of the commodity resulting in more money being
demanded of one by the broker. This happens only too often and many people over commit
themselves and so can lose more than the shirt of their back this way. It takes good knowledge
and due diligence and an excellent financial advisers and broker to play in the futures market.

Both parties of a futures contract must fulfill the contract on the settlement date. The seller
then delivers the commodity to the buyer, or, more often than not, it is a cash-settled future,
and cash is transferred from the futures trader who sustained a loss to the one who made a
profit.

Incidentally, you can bet both ways of course, that the price will go up or down.

Gold & Silver Futures Trading

In this case the futures traded are gold or silver and done through the Comex, the marketplace
where one buys and sells specific quantities of gold or silver, in the form of a futures contract,
at a specified price with delivery set at a specified time in the future. The preset price is called
the futures price and the delivery date is called the settlement price.

In Gold and silver future trading, the precious metal is usually not delivered but a cash
settlement is affected. Many institutions who by gold and silver futures contracts, especially
banks, will sell short, or in other words sell before the contract expires. However, we are
going to look at how one can see the contract through to expiry and then accept delivery of
physical gold and silver

What happened with the Comex?

Firstly, to help understand how this works, we might ask the question, why is the Comex price
of gold and silver so much lower than the real price of gold and silver?

The “Resource Investor” (www.resourceinvestor.com) noted recently, "In that CFTC

(Commodities Futures Trading Commission) report, it surfaced that those few banks took the
huge net short positions in gold and silver futures just ahead of the largest and harshest fall in
prices for gold and silver since the Great Gold Bull began in 2001 – 2002. The 'Got Gold
Report' covered it from the silver point of view earlier this week."

This means that, artificially through a process of short selling on contracts, the price of gold
and silver was driven down as part of the effort to boost up the dollar. Of course this only
affected the COMEX gold and silver price and had no effect on the real price of gold and
silver, which is demonstrably in short supply, except to focus more attention on the ever
widening gap between the two.

This has consequently opened up the opportunity for investors and traders in gold and silver
to buy at the Comex Price and sell on the open market. There are some costs issues to
overcome but these are minor when you look at the difference in the price of the Comex and
physical metal.

How to Buy Gold and Silver on the Comex

Taking delivery of a commodity is not usual and some brokers might try and talk you out of it
as it involves more work for them. Something they are not keen to do. So you will have to
find a broker willing to do the work and be insistent about taking delivery. It is quite legal and
in fact that is what the market was originally designed to do.

The following outlines the basics, including the various procedures involved in taking
delivery of a gold or silver future contract on the Comex. There are some costs involved of
course which will vary with the broker you use.

Whereas, with a cash market you can buy or sell during the term of a contract, to take delivery
you will need to wait until the term of the contract expires and you can take delivery. This is
called taking a long term. Various entities, such as banks for example, take a short term. They
have no intention of taking deliver and so, with the ten percent leverage (remember?) they can
take enormous amounts of contracts and sell them short, keeping the price down and, in
effect, manipulating the gold and silver price.

But if you intend to take possession you will have to ante up the whole amount required to
complete that contract and you would have to wait until the contract expires before you can
organise and take delivery.

For example, if a contract was bought today, and the price on the gold contract was between
$695 - $735 per ounce, the full value of the contract you bought would be $69,500 - $73,500
per 100-troy ounce. Likewise if the price on the silver contract was between $9.74 - $9.16 per
ounce, then it would be $48,700 - $45,800 per 5,000 troy-ounce contract.
These figures would not include any commission charges incurred going through a broker of
course and are just an example to illustrate how it works.

Of course, if you did not want to take possession of the metal you could simply enter a
position without posting the full contract value, but instead post around 10 percent (The actual
percentage may vary depending on your broker and other factors). This is the "margin" which
is posted "in good faith". Price can go through some dramatic changes in the any futures
market and if the price of gold drops significantly you might be called upon to add funds to
your account to maintain your position. (called a maintenance margin) or you might find your
position is liquidated. There is usually a risk maintenance level and if your account falls
below that level then you would need to top up your account with the requisite funds.

Now, when the time comes to take delivery you will get a Notice of Delivery and the full
amount will be debited from your account. So you would be required to have the full contract
value deposited in your account with your broker at the price the contract was originally
purchased. There would be a few days of processing at the end of the contract but then you
would be able to take possession, usually a couple of weeks later.

You can do this in three ways.

You will receive a receipt, which in effect is like a stock certificate, and you could store that.
The gold would be in storage in a vault and you would be up for some storage charges, This
premium, compared to the gold price, will be minuscule. The gold is kept in storage for you
and you can take physical delivery anytime you want of course. This is the first method.

The second is that you could have the gold bullion shipped to a warehouse. You can be put in
touch with the vault that contains your gold (generally in or around New York, US) and have
brinks or an Armored car transfer your gold to a warehouse or bank of your choosing. There
would be more costs involved with this but, again, the charges would not be very much
compared to the value of the gold bullion.

Of course you can avoid doing any of this by simply depositing the full value of the contract
when you establish the position. Note, you can decide not to take delivery of course at any
time and close out your metals position and take a profit or loss depending on the price
movement.

Price and Delivery Costs

Usually when the contract is expired and delivered to you it is in the form of a Certificate.
Many clients have the broker hold their certificate so the contract can be sold back into the
market at a later date. However, In this case you want to take delivery so you would get the
certificate from the broker.

The costs involved now will depend upon your broker, usually there is a contract fee and a
commission, as well as insurance and storage fees. The gold can stay where it is and simply
be stored for a regular fee.

However, IF you want to take it out of the Comex warehouse and have it stored elsewhere
then it would be your responsibility to organise this. This would be typically done through a
security shipping service and arranged storage at a bank vault.
In order to sell the gold or silver back on the comex there is also the addition action required
which is to have the gold assayed (assayed: an analysis of a metal to determine the quality and
weight of the metal). Any gold removed from the Comex Warehouse must be assayed prior to
being sold again on the comex. So this would be an additional cost if you planned to sell it
there in the future. However, you can sell the gold or silver to a gold dealer any time without
having to have it assayed.

If your intent is to actually receive the physical metal, it is held in storage at specific "delivery
points." It is your responsibility to make the arrangements to do this. There are fees associated
with removal from the storage facility. In addition, if the metal is taken out of storage, it
cannot be sold for delivery on the exchange without being re-assayed.

Some people actually turn up with a SUV, their receipt or certificate and have the gold loaded
into the back of the SUV and drive off with it. Not something to tell the neighbors of course.

Of course to do all of this one needs to have an account with a broker who handles, or
preferably specializes, in Commodity futures trading on the Comex. You will need to set up
an account whereby you have access to broker-assisted trading rather than just trading online.

In step form it goes like this:

Broker holds the receipt in PFG's account for customer
Client buys the futures contract.
Client will take delivery between First Notice Day and the Last Trading Day.
On delivery day account is debited cost plus a small delivery fee.
Receipt is booked to customers account
Monthly storage charge also passed on to customer's account.

For Physical Delivery when the Customer wants the gold or silver bars in their procession
Client buys the futures contract.
Client will take delivery between First Notice Day and the Last Trading Day.
On delivery day account is debited cost plus a small delivery fee.
The broker provides the customer with name and phone number of the individual at the
depository to
contact.
Customer makes arrangements for the physical delivery including having the gold or silver
assayed if required in order to sell to a dealer.
Last word on Buying Gold and Silver on the Comex
For the new person or one inexperienced in futures trading, it is advisable to only use funds
which you can happily afford to lose. It is also advisable to have a broker who fully
understands gold and silver futures trading and with which one can build up a relationship.
Also always seek the advice of a competent financial adviser prior to making any investment.

Buying gold or silver on the Comex can be a very fruitful exercise and following the above
outlines and point will help you to understand a bit more fully how to buy gold and silver on
the Comex.

Australian Gold Superannuation

Australia created a pension system called the "Superannuation Guarantee" or "Super" in 1992.
Under this scheme employers must make contributions into a registered Superannuation Fund
on behalf of their employees. Currently the law requires a contribution of 9% of the
employees' salary. Individuals that are not employees may also participate in Super at their
own discretion.

Typically employers use a financial services company to provide a super fund vehicle to their
employees. These funds offer a range of fund choices usually related to investments in share
markets, bonds and so on. The employee then chooses one or more of these funds.

Many Australians understand little about Super or only become interested as they approach
retirement. It is quite common for employees to lose track of their Super accounts when
changing employers.

One option is to establish a Self Managed Super Fund (SMSF) whereby you become the
manager of your own Super fund. This approach provides flexibly in what you can invest in.
Below is a set of steps to accomplish this.

1. Establish a Self Managed Super Fund (SMSF). Most accountants and lawyers can establish
a SMSF. As the Super industry has grown "discount" SMSF service companies have emerged.
In general it should cost about $500 to setup a SMSF. A SMSF can have up to four members,
for example, family members. The SMSF is a Trust under the law. The members are the
Trustees. The Trust has a charter or set of investment objectives. Make sure words similar to
the following are included in the investment objectives: “The Trust may invest in collectables
and precious metals including gold and silver bars and coins.” A bank account will be opened
for the Trust.

2. Consolidate any existing Super funds. Contact the Super fund companies and instruct them
to close your accounts and send the proceeds to you SMSF bank account.

3. Make your purchases. You can buy and take delivery of physical precious metals. Of
course these items must be stored securely. Banks and other companies offer secure storage.
Institutions such as the Perth Mint have "certificate programs" whereby they store precious
metals in your name. Keep complete records and receipts of all your transactions for the
annual audit.

4. Annual audit. Each year your SMSF must be audited and forms lodged with the Australian
Taxation Office (ATO). The company that established your SMSF can do this. Shop around
when establishing the fund to get a low annual audit cost. Discount firms charge around $600.

The ATO has an informative website and anyone setting up a SMSF should read the relevant
sections on that site (www.ato.gov.au).

Disclaimer: nothing here constitutes financial or legal advice.

Gold Bullion Investments: Which to Buy, Gold Coins or Gold Bars?

By Michael B. Clark

Precious metals have been one of the top performing asset classes over the past six years, and
investors wanting to add a precious metals component to their portfolios are often
overwhelmed by the number of investment vehicles available to them today. Alternatives
include precious metals futures and options contracts, government certificates, “digital gold,”
exchange traded funds (ETFs), mutual funds, mining shares, as well as buying the physical
bullion itself. All enable an investor to gain exposure to the precious metals markets and
participate in what many investment experts foresee as a continuing multi-year secular
market.

Having exposure to gold, in particular, the world’s pre-eminent tangible asset, either through
a direct purchase of the physical asset itself, or by adding one of the other aforementioned
alternative vehicles, is highly recommended in today’s environment.

But to be sure, there is no “holy grail” of gold investing; it should never be an "either / or"
scenario. Just as prudent investors hold a range of investment types to minimize their
dependence on a single asset class in their overall portfolios, investors should also consider
further diversifying their holdings by acquiring a number of these precious metals vehicles
within this particular component of their portfolios.

As an example, a smart, holistically diversified investor might hold a combination of physical

gold in his/her personal possession, government certificates and physical gold in an allocated
account, and “digital gold,” along with some exposure to the mining sector via equities.

But, each of these vehicles is unique and can be complex. Thus, investing in them requires a
thorough understanding of not only their various advantages and potential rewards, but of
their relative risks and individual disadvantages, as well. Therefore, an investor should
carefully study, and perform proper due diligence on all aspects of a contemplated gold
investment. Credit risk associated with the company selling the investment, the company (or
companies) behind the offering, and the custodian holding it, if applicable, should be of
paramount concern in the investor’s mind, as a sound credit rating of these entities is as
important as their business history and professional experience.

Ultimately, the crux of the answer as to which to buy rests with the investment objectives and
risk tolerance of the investor. Indeed, there is no single, correct answer for every investor, and
seeking the assistance of a reputable, trusted investment expert is the best approach for most
investors when contemplating making a gold or other precious metals investment.

But for many investors, perhaps the simplest and most straight forward way to gain exposure
to the precious metals markets, and eliminate many of the uncertainties and/or complexities
associated with the alternatives, is to own physical precious metals outright, by buying gold,
silver, or platinum in the form of Bullion Coins or Bullion Bars.

But first, why would an investor want buy physical precious metal commodities to begin
with? Good question…

As a physical asset, bullion is inherently valuable. This is to say, physical precious metals
have tangible, intrinsic and innate value in and of themselves, and they are, therefore, the only
asset class that is not some outside entity’s or third party’s liability (as is the case with a stock
or bond). Thus, the investor who owns the physical asset directly, and whether held in his/her
personal custody or stored safely in his/her name in an insured account at a qualified facility,
will enjoy the sense of security one derives from knowing that their investment portfolio is
strengthened by the presence of an actual tangible asset with an intrinsic value, and not just a
piece of paper, or derivative product, that serves as a proxy for precious metal.

In contrast, “paper precious metal” investments present considerably different risk-reward

considerations. For example, buying shares in a mining company provides ownership in an
entity that produces gold or silver, but not direct ownership of the commodities themselves.
Management and accounting competence, environmental risks, hedge book exposure,
potential political turmoil, and a host of other vital considerations need to be taken into
account when deciding to buy shares of a mining company to add to one’s portfolio.

On the other hand, precious metals futures and options are legal contracts that can leverage
one’s gains, but they can be complicated investments and they can exacerbate one’s losses.

Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) are derivative vehicles that track the price of gold and silver.
Two of the more popular are the New York-traded streetTracks Gold Shares (NYSE:GLD)
and the London-traded Lyxor Gold Bullion Securities (LSE:GBS). As derivative products,
they do not provide their owners with title to the underlying asset, as one has when holding
gold in an allocated account or in one’s personal custody. Thus, ETFs are often used by day
traders, hedge funds and institutional players speculating on short term movements in the gold
price.

From the investor’s perspective, although the price of a gold ETF will move in tandem with
the price movements of gold, owning an ETF is not the same as owning gold directly. In fact,
owning an ETF may defeat the very purpose many investors buy gold as a physical,
inherently valuable asset (and tangible currency) to begin with. For many investors, the
primary reason to own gold is that it is the ultimate safe haven physical asset to have in times
of economic or geopolitical uncertainty. ETFs, on the other hand, are a form of debenture.

Thus, should an ETF provider go into liquidation, its investors will become general creditors
of that provider, since ETF assets are not held as allocated assets, titled in the individual
names of the investors. Direct ownership of gold bullion, on the other hand, either by holding
it in one’s personal custody or having it stored it in a physically allocated account (and off the
custodian’s balance sheet), and titled in the owner’s name, insulates the investor from the
potential losses experienced by general creditors in bankruptcy scenarios.

In other words, owning the physical precious metal directly removes most of these ancillary,
but critically important considerations.

So, once a decision has been made to invest in physical bullion, bars and coins are the choices
available. But, which does one buy? Let’s review their respective characteristics.

Bullion coins are highly refined precious metal products that are round in shape (as opposed
the rectangular shape of a bullion bar), and produced to exacting specifications by numerous
federal governments throughout the world, specifically for investment purposes. These coins
are produced in large quantities and come in a variety of sizes, which are convenient to own
and trade -- typically one, one-half, one-quarter, and one-tenth troy ounces. Their content –
that is, the weight and purity of precious metal they contain -- is guaranteed by the
governments that produce them.

The United States Mint describes a bullion coin as: “a coin that is valued by its weight in a
specific precious metal. Unlike commemorative or numismatic coins valued by limited
mintage, rarity, condition and age, bullion coins are purchased by investors seeking a simple
and tangible means to own and invest in the gold, silver, and platinum markets.”

Moreover, while bullion coins are ascribed legal tender status in their country of origin, they
are actually valued by the market for their precious metals content, plus a small premium
representing the cost of production, shipping handling and the seller’s profit added to their
price. They are readily bought and sold by investors through a world-wide network of
precious metals retailers, wholesalers, banks and brokerage firms. The current prices for most
major bullion coins are published daily both on the internet and in financial publications such
as the Wall Street Journal, internationally. Thus, bullion coins are an excellent choice for most
investors.

Bullion bars, on the other hand, are rectangular blocks of investment grade precious metal
(also referred to as “ingots”) manufactured by commercial refiners. (Note: the most reputable
and prominent commercial refiners have standing with, and are recognized by the world’s
leading precious metals exchanges.) Bullion bars are produced in a wide range of sizes – from
1 gram (or less) to 400 troy ounces (or more). They typically bear four distinguishing marks
that uniquely identify them, including their refiner’s mark (i.e., the bar’s brand name), the
gross weight (usually in troy ounces), the metal fineness (or “purity”), and the bar’s serial
number.

Having been produced commercially, they have no legal tender status, but reputable refiners
stand behind the quality and authenticity of the bars that bear their brand name. Both small
and large sized bars are also highly liquid and easily traded worldwide, provided the larger
bars are not held by the investor personally (more about this point appears below). And, like
bullion coins, the price of these bars varies with the market value of the precious metals they
contain, plus a modest premium representing the cost of production, shipping, handling and
the seller’s profit.

An important distinction between coins and bars that a precious metals investor should
understand is that, while bullion coins produced by mints and small “investor bars” produced
by refiners are specifically designed to contain an exact weight of the metal they contain (e.
g., exactly one-ounce or one-half-ounce of platinum), larger sized bullion bars (e.g., 400-
ounce gold bars or 1000-ounce silver bars) are not. To keep production costs down and their
associated premiums to a minimum, large bar weights and metal purities are maintained
within internationally acceptable ranges. (Example: a so-called “400 ounce” gold bar may
actually weigh 404.360 troy ounces and have a pure gold content of 99.65 %. By multiplying
the bar’s gross weight and the fineness together, the investor can calculate the exact amount
of pure gold the bar contains -- 402.944 troy ounces, in this example.) While this
manufacturing method keeps the premiums paid for these large bars low, thereby allowing the
buyer to get more precious metal in his/her investment, it requires the owner to use fractions
to calculate the bar’s absolute metal content. This may prove a confusing and inconvenient
requirement for some investors; thus, large bars are usually traded among large companies
and sophisticated investors.

There are, in reality, three important aspects for an investor to consider when choosing
between bullion coins or bullion bars for investment. Each of these aspects can affect the cost
of the investment and affect the flexibility the investor has over his/her investment. These
considerations include the following:

1) Premium – as discussed above, this refers to amount of money an investor is charged for
the product over and above the value of the metal the coin or bar actually contains. As stated
earlier, the premium represents the cost of production, shipping, handling and the seller’s
profit. A higher premium is normally paid for smaller-sized coins and investment bars (i.e.,
5% - 20% depending on size) than is paid for large investment grade bullion bars (i.e., 2%-
5%). This is because, like with most products, it costs the manufacturer – in this case, a mint
or refiner – more money to make, say, 400 one-ounce perfectly shaped, designed and
inscripted pure gold coins, than it does for that mint or refiner to produce the single inexact
weight and pure “400-ounce” gold bar described above.

2) Custody -- An investor may desire to hold his/her bullion coins or bars close at hand and,
therefore, may request personal delivery. This is fine for bullion coins and small investment
bars, as neither will typically require assay (unless they are materially damaged) at the time
they are ultimately sold. But, because the content of large bars can be manipulated or altered
in ways that are difficult to detect by visual examination, even by seasoned professionals, a
time-consuming and costly assay will be required if the investor has taken personal possession
of them and presents them to a dealer for sale. Thus, investors who buy large bars for their
portfolios are advised to leave them in storage (in an insured account titled in their name) at a
reputable recognized precious metals depository. If a large bar is kept in such a storage
facility, its liquidity will not be affected at the time of sale.

3) Flexibility – Does the investor intend to just buy, hold and then ultimately sell his/her
precious metals for profit? If so, then perhaps buying bullion bars may be best, as the
premiums paid at the time of purchase will be lower. Or, is this a long-term investment that
may be a permanent part of one’s estate that will be passed on to a number of heirs? If this is
the case, then buying bullion coins may be preferred. One thousand one-ounce bullion coins
can be readily distributed among five heirs, where as two 400-ounce and two 100-ounce
bullion bars cannot.

To summarize, an investor should carefully consider his or her investment objectives, the
amount of money he or she plans to invest, their need for liquidity, and the current
geopolitical, macroeconomic and systemic risk when making an investment in precious
metals. And while the variety of bullion products may seem somewhat overwhelming, the
"best" product, in all likelihood, will differ for each investor. However, it is the abundance of
investment products available in the marketplace that allows investors to tailor their portfolios
to meet their particular needs.

Consultation with a trusted precious metals advisor can help the investor determine the best
precious metals products to satisfy their individual risk tolerance and specific investment
objectives.

Michael B. Clark is a consultant to Gold and Silver Investments Limited,

www.goldandsilverinvestments.com , Ireland's Asset Diversification and Wealth Preservation
Specialist. He is the President of Solidus Associates, LLC of Wilmington, Delaware, and has
served in the precious metals industry for 25 years. He oversaw Deak-Perera's Precious
Metals Certificate Program, America's largest precious metals investment program, in the
early 1980s. Later he became Vice President of Precious Metals at Wilmington Trust
Company, and President of both Delaware Depository Service Company and First State
Depository Company. He obtained licenses for Wilmington Trust and DDSC to operate as
Nymex and Comex depositories.

Bullion Coins

By Michael B. Clark
President, Solidus Associates, LLC
Wilmington, Delaware

The precious metals markets have been on a tear. In fact, precious metals have been the top
performing asset class in recent years and with this trend looking likely to continue, many
investors want exposure to these markets. But how does one go about making a precious
metal investment that safely affords the investor with such exposure?

To be sure, there are numerous precious metal investment vehicles available to the individual
investor today – including futures and options contracts, government certificates, digital gold,
exchange traded funds (ETFs), mutual funds, mining shares, as well as direct ownership of
physical bullion itself. All enable an investor to add a precious metals component to his/her
investment portfolio and participate in what is likely to become another multi-year secular
market.

However, each of these vehicles is unique in its nature and complexity, and investing in them
requires a specific understanding of their individual advantages/disadvantages and
risks/rewards. This article provides an in-depth discussion about what is perhaps the easiest
and most convenient way for individuals to acquire and directly own physical gold, silver, and
platinum– by investing in precious metal products known as Bullion Coins.

Bullion coins are highly refined precious metal products that are round in shape (as opposed
the rectangular shape of a bullion bar), and produced to exacting specifications by numerous
federal governments throughout the world specifically for investment purposes. These coins
are produced in large quantities and come in a variety of sizes -- typically one, one-half, one-
quarter, and one-tenth troy ounces. Their content – that is, the weight and purity of precious
metal they contain -- are guaranteed by the governments that produce them. They also are
ascribed legal tender status in their country of origin, but are actually valued in the market for
their precious metals content.

South Africa introduced the first investment bullion coin -- the gold Krugerrand -- in 1970.
Since then, many more countries began to produce their own series of gold, silver, and even
platinum bullion coins, including the United States (American Eagle), Canada (Maple Leaf),
Australia (Kangaroo), Austria (Philharmonic) and China (Panda), to name but a few. For
example, the United States Congress directed the U.S. Mint to produce the American Eagle
Gold and Silver bullion coins in 1986 and later, the American Eagle Platinum bullion coin, in
1997.

To further understand the nature and function of a bullion coin, consider this excerpt from the
United States Mint web site:

“A bullion coin is a coin that is valued by its weight in a specific precious metal. Unlike
commemorative or numismatic coins valued by limited mintage, rarity, condition and age,
bullion coins are purchased by investors seeking a simple and tangible means to own and
invest in the gold, silver, and platinum markets.”

Bullion coins are referred to as “un-circulated coins,” because while they are bought and sold
in the precious metals market place on a daily basis, they do so at values reflecting their
precious metals commodity content, and they do not actually circulate in any of the world’s
national economies, nor are they used as money, or as a medium of exchange, anywhere in the
traditional commercial sense.

Today, bullion coins are widely traded as a form of precious metal commodities throughout a
world-wide system of dealers and retailers, and their market values are globally publicized on
a daily basis. Though ascribed legal tender status by the governments that mint them, bullion
coins trade in the marketplace at a modest premium above the prevailing value of their
precious metals content, typically 3 - 15%, depending on the size of the coin. Thus, their
actual market value bears no direct relationship to what a given coin’s assigned legal tender
(or “face value”) may be.

As an example, at the time of this writing, a one-ounce American Eagle gold bullion coin,
which has a U. S. legal tender value of $50, was trading in the market place at about $700.00
(USD), while gold itself was trading at a “spot price” of approximately $665.00 (USD) per
ounce. Thus, the price of the 1-ounce gold Eagle included a $35.00 (USD) premium (5%)
above the prevailing gold bullion price.

It is important to understand that the premium charged for a bullion coin over the current
“spot price” of the corresponding commodity it contains, reflects the costs of production,
insurance, transportation, handling, and storage, as well as the manufacturer’s and the selling
dealer’s profit, all of which are associated with the manufacturing, delivery and sale of the
coin. This premium is not a value ascribed to the coin as the result of any scarcity or
uniqueness considerations, as is the premium paid for rare coins. In fact, bullion coins are
purposely manufactured in large volumes by federal governments to specifically ensure they
do not become “rare” or “scarce,” but remain as common as the many types of bullion bars
and ingots that are also produced by commercial refiners for investment purposes.

[Note: It is not uncommon for a federal mint to produce a separate series of specially
manufactured, limited edition un-circulated bullion coins for given mint year. These particular
coins, known as “proof coins,” are produced specifically for the coin collector and hobby
markets, as they do often take on rarity (numismatic) characteristics, as a result of their
limited mintage. Proof coins are a separate category of the bullion coins discussed in this
article.]

Recognizing precious metals bullion coins as viable and widely held investment products, the
Wall Street Journal and other leading financial publications the world over each business day
publish the market prices not only of gold, silver, platinum and palladium bullion, but the
prices the world’s most widely traded bullion coins, as well.

To be sure, there are significant advantages for the investor wanting to own physical precious
metals to do so by buying bullion coins. For example, since they are produced and guaranteed
by federal governments, bullion coins are universally recognizable by bullion and coin
dealers, and by many banks, throughout the world. Thus, they are highly liquid and
immediately tradable without the need for a costly and time-consuming assay, as may be
required for bullion bars and ingots.

Moreover, many investors have found that the large quantity of bullion coins that may own is
directly divisible, allowing them to readily sell or bequeath smaller quantities of their precious
metals holdings at various points over time, as they may desire. For example, investors can
easily and directly liquidate or gift some portion of 100 one-ounce pure gold Austrian
Philharmonics, in 20-ounce, 25-ounce, or other desired increment at the time of their
choosing, without any impact on the remaining Philharmonics in their investment portfolio.
Conversely, if one held a 100-ounce gold bullion bar instead, its owner would first have to
sell the bar and either convert it to smaller bars (or coins), or sell it for cash, in order to
distribute or liquidate some smaller portions of it. This is a time-consuming, costly and
inconvenient exercise.

Other advantages to owning bullion coins are that they are highly portable and are perfectly
suitable for delivery, personal transport and/or storage in a bank safe deposit box or one’s
own personal vault, if so desired.

Perhaps the only drawback to buying a large number of bullion coins (400 one-ounce coins,
for example) is the somewhat higher premiums that must be paid initially when they are
purchased, as compared to the somewhat lower premiums paid for an equivalent amount of
precious metal that can be bought in bullion bar form (a 400-ounce gold bar, for example).
However, the disadvantages of owning the bullion bar, as opposed to the bullion coins, are
many (including its large size, the requirement for storage, and the need for a costly assay if
personal delivery should be taken.). Besides, a significant portion of the premium one
originally pays when acquiring bullion coins is re-captured at the time of their sale.

Without question, if one desires to reap the many benefits of owning precious metals as a part
of his/her overall investment portfolio, direct ownership of the physical commodity through
the acquisition of bullion coins is an excellent choice for investors. But, you should fully
understand and be entirely comfortable with making such a purchase. To learn more about the
advantages of owning precious metals bullion coins, be sure as with any investment, to do
appropriate due diligence, and then talk with an experienced and reputable precious metals
bullion dealer before you invest in them.

Copyright © 2005-2007 Mike Clarke and Gold and Silver Investments Limited. All rights
reserved.

A consultant to Gold and Silver Investments Limited (www.gold.ie), Mike Clark has operated
in the precious metals industry for 25 years. He first oversaw Deak-Perera’s Precious Metals
Certificate Program, America’s largest retail precious metals investment program, in the early
1980s. Later he became Vice President of Precious Metals Services at Wilmington Trust
Company, and then President of both Delaware Depository Service Company and First State
Depository Company. He obtained licenses for Wilmington Trust and DDSC to operate as
Nymex and Comex approved depositories.
Gold

Gold has been consistently rising in value for the past year or
so now and there seems little likelihood that this trend will diminish.

A number of reasons have been put forward for this sudden and dramatic rise. War, economic
uncertainty, China and even India have all be assigned responsibility at one time or another.
Even inflation and national debt, both which currently run extraordinarily high in the western
countries, have had the finger pointed at them.

Regardless of the possible reasons for the steady rise in value of gold, it can be said with some
certainty that gold is considered a good investment and a safe haven for one’s assets.

What gold should one buy and keep?

There are many types of gold one can buy.

One can invest in Gold Exchange Traded Funds (EFTs). EFTs are simply a certificate that
represents a portion of gold held in a bank vault. One purchases a specific amount of gold and
receives a certificate to establish one’s holding. As the price of the gold in the vault changes,
the value of one’s holding changes correspondingly. The advantages of this system are that
one can buy gold at virtually spot price. The disadvantage is that it is considered an
investment and there are tax considerations such as profit taking and capital gains to consider.

One can buy Gold Stocks. Investing in the shares of a gold mining company can be profitable
but the value of the shares depends on many factors, not just the value of gold. A mining
company is projecting to produce a certain amount of gold over the life of the mine and this is
what give it its value. If the mine falls short then the share value can fall short. Even an
adverse movement in the currency exchange rate of the country in which the mine is situate
can cause a drop in the value of the gold bring produced by the mine.

Gold Futures is another method of buying gold. Usually this is the arena of the trader rather
than the investor, it is still a possibility but one fraught with danger as it is very easy to lose a
lot of money trading in gold futures. This area is best left to the experts.

Buying Gold Bullion, such as gold coins or gold bars, has some advantages in that coins
generally are legal tender and not taxed. They are easy to carry and store and also easy to
dispose of or sell. Gold bars also have some advantages. Easy to carry, store and sell also.
Sometimes there may be tax considerations with gold bars depending on the purpose declared
for their purchase. When buying gold bullion also consider that there is an increase in price,
above the spot gold price, as the dealer or supplier needs to pay for their expenses etc.
However with the steady increase in value this may not be such a problem.

Gold has traditionally always been a good buy in any market and better in an uncertain
market.

Probably a regular purchase of gold on a consistent basis might be a wise move, then the price
one pays will tend to level out and with the current trend you will surely do well with your
gold.

Gold Money - Buy Gold Online

Gold Money® is a simple and convenient way to buy and sell gold and silver online. Gold
Money is like an online bank account, but your balance is denominated in goldgrams and mils
rather than dollars and cents.

Gold Money is a digital gold currency that enables the online circulation of physical gold
while it remains stored in a vault in London, England. Gold Money was founded by James
Turk, a renowned authority on gold and the precious metal markets.

You can buy goldgrams for as low as 0.98% above the spot gold price. You can sell the
goldgrams in your account at any time back to GoldMoney at the prevailing spot gold price.
Buy and sell rates provided on the Gold Money website are based on prevailing market prices,
which are updated throughout the day with a live gold price data feed.

The gold in your Gold Money account is held for you in allocated storage in a vault in
London, England, and your gold is insured by Lloyd’s of London. When you buy goldgrams,
you own pure gold in a secure vault.

Buy Gold Bullion Bars

 A new service offered by GoldMoney
enables you to buy gold bullion bars AND take delivery at any time.

What is Gold Money

GoldMoney is a service where you can buy gold, or buy silver, and have it stored on your
behalf by GoldMoney in bank vaults in London or Switzerland. Now you can have the gold
bullion also delivered to you in most countries a list of which is given below.

GoldMoney are located in Jersey in the British Channel Islands independent to Britain. Jersey
is governed by its own laws and regulations and not subject to British Law.

Regulatory services are provided by the Jersey Financial Services Commission (JFSC), who
oversee the regulation of all financial services in Jersey.

The vaults are owned and operated by The VIA MAT group who operate under the strict
standards of the London Bullion Market Association. The VIA MAT group also provide the
insurance and the Andium Trust Company performs the regular audit of gold to ensure that
the gold bullion matches the customers accounts.

GoldMoney is registered and regulated by the JFSC as a money service business.

How does GoldMoney Work

GoldMoney currently holds, on behalf of its customers in customer account holdings, almost
700 million dollars of solid gold bullion bars in two bank vaults. One in London and the other
in Zurich, Switzerland.

Account holders simply sign up for and open an account which records their gold bullion
holdings with details of when purchased, where the gold is stored and any transactions such as
cashing in the gold, selling the gold and taking delivery of any gold.

You can open a free account at GoldMoney by providing your name, contact details and
sufficient ID as you do with a new bank account.

Once the account is opened you simply fund the account through a bank transfer of funds and
then you can buy gold bullion.

There is no wait period (other than verifying the details needed to open the account) and the
account is fully private and confidential.
There is also the facility to change your gold for silver and to 'cash out' your gold if needed.

How to Buy Gold with GoldMoney

There is no minimum or maximum of gold bullion one can buy. It will depend on how much
funding there is in your account. Sometimes when you want to buy gold from a dealer or bank
or mint, but there is a minimum you can buy.

With GoldMoney this is not the case, making it ideal for those with smaller incomes who
would like to buy gold in small amounts and build up. There are some condition relating to
large quantities of gold bought at any one time. This relates to the gold spot price and buying
gold at a 'locked rate'.

What are GoldMoney Gold Bars

The gold held by GoldMoney on behalf of its customers are gold bullion bars usually of the
400 troy oz. or 12.44 kg of better than 95.5 percent pure refined gold and meet the London
Bullion Market Association. They originate from the following refineries:
Rand Refinery Limited (South Africa)
Metalor Technologies SA (Switzerland)
Argor-Heraeus SA (Switzerland)
Johnson Matthey Limited (United Kingdom)
Also GoldMoney buy gold in 1000 gram bullion bars. All GoldMoney 100 gram and kilo bars
are "4 nines fine", meaning they are 99.99% pure gold. Each of these 1000 gram gold bullion
bars is produced in Baird & Co.'s factory in London, UK. You can take delivery of these bars
and once ordered, the gold bars can either be shipped to you by insured mail or you can
arrange to pick up your bars at Baird & Co. Shipping is currently available to customers
resident in the following 16 countries:
Austria
Belgium
Canada
Denmark
France
Germany
Holland
Italy
Luxembourg
Norway
Portugal
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
United Kingdom
USA
You can also personally deliver or ship your GoldMoney bars back to Baird & Co. in London
and receive goldgrams in your Holding. The bars must be in good condition and show no
signs of tampering (i.e., marks or chips that indicate some of the gold content may have been
removed).

GoldMoney will charge a 2 percent fee for each returned bar. Therefore, a kilo bar return will
result in a 980gg addition to your Holding. A 100 gram bar return will result in 98gg being
added to your Holding.

How Much Does it Cost

Unlike buying gold from gold dealers, mints etc, the cost of buying gold from GoldMoney is
appreciably less. The exchange fee to buy gold by the gram ranges from 0.98 to 2.74 percent
above the prevailing spot gold price, depending upon the size of the transaction. The more
gold you buy at one time the less the transaction fee proportionately.

Selling gold back to GoldMoney does not incur an exchange fee. You simply get the spot
price at the moment you transfer back.

How Do You Get Your Gold Bars

Where to Start. goldmoney.com is the place to start. Here you can open a Gold Money
account and then start funding your account to buy gold. You can then keep all the gold or
some of the gold in your account and at any time take delivery of all or some of your gold in
1000 gram gold bars.

This is a very simple and easy, not to mention quick, way to buy gold bullion bars.

Buy Gold

Why buy gold I hear some people ask. Gold is transitory and
the price will always go down again!

In fact gold is not transitory. It has been around and used by man for thousands of years as
decoration, jewelry and also, importantly, as a medium of exchange and preserving assets. It
may drop temporarily but it always goes up again and is now worth more dollars than ever
before.

Why Buy Gold

Why buy gold indeed! Nations and governments come and go. Currencies come and go.
Economic conditions come and go. Inflation and recessions all come and go. Various
bartering systems come and go. Stocks and shares and the ancillaries to those, futures etc, all
come and go. But gold lives on and persists throughout the centuries and continues to be a
stable resource for man.

Additionally gold does not tarnish, gold is welcome anywhere in the world. You can buy gold
and sell it. Keeping assets in the bank means one gets a paltry interest rate (if that) which is
generally eaten up by bank charges and inflation as each year the dollar is worth less than the
year before. But gold. Ah! Gold does not hit you with bank charges and is not subject to
inflation. Gold does not wear out and is not subject (mostly) to taxes. No. Gold is a stable
asset that keeps its purchasing power.

In fact, regardless of the current economic situation, gold remains ... as good as gold!

So the time to buy gold is always now, regardless of when now is. The time to sell gold is ...
never! And as to how much gold to buy? Well, as much as you can possibly lay your hands
on!

Gold Price
The gold price fluctuates daily, even hourly. The live gold price is dependent on market
forces, upon the economic conditions and peoples perception of what is happening
economically and how the economy affects them. When the economy is unstable, people look
for alternatives such as precious metals like gold and silver. The price of gold moves up and
down with these apprehensions. The current price of gold to day reflects peoples moods and
expectations. Since the economy has been unstable for so long and there is no likely hood of
stability any time soon, more and more people are turning to gold.

Gold is undervalued even now. It takes many more dollars to buy an ounce of gold now than
it did 30 years ago although you can still by the same products now as you did years ago.
Gold has not changed. Only the purchasing power of the dollar which has gone down over 95
percent since 1910. Yet an ounce of gold will still buy now what it did in 1910. That tells you
that you have much more chance keeping your assets if you buy gold than by sticking your
money in the bank.

In the short term gold prices may change by the minute. But in the long term the price of gold
is on a steady uptrend and looks set to continue as more dollars are printed and the purchasing
power of becomes less and less.

Gold, in short, is a safe haven for assets.

A Short History of Gold

The historical gold price chart over the past few years shows that gold has been on a long
term upward trend. There are peaks and troughs and, of course, who can forget the major
spike in gold in 1980 when it hit the high 800s. But over the past 30 year gold price history,
the trend has been essentially up and looks like continuing as the value of the currency it is set
to continues to diminish in value..

The value of the gold, of course is not changing. One can still buy the same value of goods
and services with one ounce of gold as one could 30 years ago. But the value of the dollar has
plummeted and it takes a lot more dollars to by those same goods and services than it did 30
years ago. The gold has not changed. One ounce of gold is still one ounce of gold. But the
dollar has changed and the price of gold reflects that.

Even the five year and one year gold history demonstrates that.

Buy Gold Coins

Some of the best places to buy gold coins are of course gold mints, gold dealers, gold shops
and eBay. From these one buys gold retail and one can also buy gold wholesale. The main
trick when buying gold is to keep the premium over the spot price of gold to a minimum. This
is difficult with gold coins as the manufacturing costs are high and the mint and dealer want
their profits.

The advantages with buying gold coins is that they are easy to buy, store and transport. Also
to sell. You can sell gold coins anywhere in the world. Gold coins are easier to sell than bars.
Dealers who buy bars will want to assay the bar fist and this may require sending the bar off,
if the dealer is online, which can be a bit of a security risk.

The disadvantage, of course, is the price you pay for gold coins. The premium is higher than
bars and can be up to double the price of gold for small coins such as the one tenth ounce for
example. This means it is going to take a long time to recoup the value of the gold.

What you do will depend largely on the reason why you buy gold coins. It may be you enjoy
just collecting certain types of gold coins, or for convenience if you travel a lot and need to be
able to convert gold into money quickly.

Buy Gold Bullion

Out of all the ways to buy gold, the best buy is gold bullion. You can buy gold online either as
gold coins or gold bars or even share in actual gold pooled by buying gold from
GoldMoney.com, probably one of the cheapest and most secure ways to buy gold. You can
also buy direct from Mints or dealers and all are equally valid ways of buying gold. Each
method has its advantages and disadvantages..

To buy gold bullion in the form of coins and bars means you will have to pay a premium.
How much this premium will be depends on the coins and bars you buy. The smaller the bar
or coin in weight the higher the premium per ounce. The higher the bar or bigger the coin the
less premium per ounce you pay. The premium itself is stable as the fabrication and other
associated costs per coin or bar stay the same.

One way of not having to pay a heavy premium is to buy gold from goldmoney.com. Here the
gold is stored in vaults and you can buy any amount of that gold. This system guarantees that
you actually own gold, not shares in gold and your account details and balance will reflect
that holding. One of the main advantages here is that the premium and fees are so incredibly
low. Instead of paying vast sums over the spot price of gold you simply pay a small storage
fee that amounts to less than one percent per year and a management fee of one quarter of one
percent. This must make it the cheapest gold around. The system is fully transparent and you
can see the bar count and audits on the website.

The only possible disadvantages are the costs associated with wire transfers in and out of the
account in some cases. But that can be disadvantage with any online purchase of gold.

Buy Gold, Pure Gold

Bu gold, pure gold! That is the catch cry but which gold? Canadian Maple leaf, 24k American
Gold Buffalo Coin, Krugerrands,, whatever gold coin you buy it should be 99.99 fine gold or
999.99 pure gold. Sometimes you will find coins that have a lesser quantity of gold in them.
Some mints are now offering gold coins as 22 carat instead of the 24 carat. These may say
they are 99.99 fine gold and of course the gold contained within the coin IS 99.99 fine gold.
Any gold anywhere is 99.99 fine gold. But if it is alloyed or mixed with another or other
metals then it is not a pure gold product. Look at the Karat. Is it 22 Karat gold? Or 24K gold?
The 24K gold is pure gold. The 22k gold is not all gold. It may be advertised a pure fine gold
and the gold itself would be but it is not all solid gold..

When you buy gold coins always, always check the karat and ensure it is 24 karat gold as well
as being 99.99 percent gold.

Buy Gold Eagles

American Gold Eagle Coins are perhaps one of the most popular of the
gold coins and are official legal tender in the USA.

They are considered a beautiful gold coin. the $20 Double-Eagle gold coins minted from 1907
to 1933 has the graceful Striding Liberty design inspired by the Augustus Saint-Gaudens on
the obverse and the reverse of the coin displays a nest of American Eagles.

All American Eagles ere struck with 91.67% (22 Karat) fine gold and the total gold weight is
stamped on the reverse of the coin.

One interesting aspect of American Eagle Gold Coins is that the weight, gold content and
purity are all guaranteed by the US Government.

You can buy American Eagle gold coins from most coin dealers as well as on eBay and the
American Gold Eagle and are likely one of the most traded of gold coins in the US.

Buy Gold Maples

The Canadian Gold Maple has been said to be the most beautiful gold coin in the world. It is
certainly one of the best being a pure .9999 (24 karat) gold coin with no alloys added.

The Canadian Gold Maple Leaf Coins are among the purest gold coins available then.

All Canadian Maple Leaf Gold Coins have a bust of Queen Elizabeth II, on the obverse
designed by Arnold Machin and on the reverse (tails or flip side) we have the famous
Canadian Maple Leaf symbol.

Canadian Maple Leaf gold coins are official legal tender in Canada and can be bought from
most of the major coin dealers.

Buy Gold Krugerrands

Everyone has heard of Krugerrand Gold Coins. They have been made famous in exciting and
adventurous movies.

In fact the Krugerrand was named after Stephanus Johannes Paul Kruger, a former South
African President and well known person involved in the formation of the South African
Republic. His head is on the obverse, or "heads" side of the coin

The Krugerrand was the first gold coin to contain one ounce of fine gold. These days you can
also get half ounce, quarter ounce and even one tenth ounce Krugerrands.

If you want to buy gold Krugerrands, they are generally available from most coin dealers, at a
premium, and, although not the prettiest coin, perform the basic function of having gold cons
available when you need them.

Buy Gold Bars

One of the best ways to buy gold is to buy gold bars. These can be from the simple one ounce
gold bars up to the 400 ounce gold ingots. In practice most people buy the smaller gold bars
as 400 ounce ingots are somewhat impractical.

1 ounce gold bars, 1 kilo gold bars, Swiss gold bars, all are popular and all can be obtained for
a premium. All gold bars are .999 fine gold and 24 karat. Each is stamped with the weight,
purity and manufacturer. The larger bars also have a specific number unique to that bar
stamped on them.

The larger the bar you can afford, the less the premium. Bars are more difficult to sell than
coins however so are more suitable to people who have no intention of selling their gold.

Best Gold to Buy

In truth the best gold to buy is solid gold as distinct to "paper gold". This means buying actual
gold bullion and not stocks or shares in gold. Stocks and shares are subject to other influences
and stock market fluctuations. Some people say that gold does not provide any interest. This
is a good thing since if gold were to pay interest then the return on gold would be dependent
upon other factors instead of it being just pure gold.

Some people say that gold stocks are better than gold itself. This is another fallacy as gold
stocks are subject to other market forces, such as, for example, when there has been a stock
market crash, gold stocks have suffered the same fate, which gold has actually moved up.

Gold could be considered just another commodity, such as sugar or pork bellies. This is
clearly incorrect as sugar and pork bellies are consumed and have to be replaced. All the gold
that ever was is still around either in circulation or stored somewhere. It does not decrease and
alone is accumulated and saved and used as a currency back up.

In fact gold stands by itself. The best gold to buy is solid gold bullion. Either by purchasing
and storing the gold yourself or in bank vaults or through a trusted custodian.

Yes gold bullion in the form of gold coins and bars is definitely the best gold to buy.

Best Way to Buy Gold

probably one of the best ways to buy gold is through

GoldMoney.com. Here you can open an account, send the funds through and purchase a share
of pooled gold, in the form of gold bars and coins, in either a bank vault in London or in
Zürich. The gold you purchase is yours and belongs to you. You have a very small storage fee
but can buy and sell and even use gold as a medium of exchange by simply exchanging it with
another GoldMoney.com account holder for a product or service. You have no transport,
security or storage issues to worry about and your gold can continue to improve in value
against currency. However, GoldMoney now offers the option of taking delivery of your gold
in the form of 1000 gram gold bullion bars if you wish to. One simply goes to the website and
places an order. Of course you have to own the gold in the first place and this is done through
opening an account, as described earlier, and funding it with gold bullion. this is probably the
best way to buy and sell gold.

In addition it is fully secure and GoldMoney.com has audits and a bar count on a regular basis
which can be seen on site.

Sell Gold
Sometimes people have a need to sell gold. If it can be avoided it is better not to sell your gold
coins or bars but if it is a dire necessity then there are two basic ways to do so. One is simply
selling back to a dealer.

Another way to sell gold coins or bars is through an auction, a little more hit and miss as you
may or may not get the value of the gold in your coin or coins. Also selling privately, usually
the best way, as you are selling to someone that particularly wants the gold coin or bar and is
prepared to pay for it. Selling by newspaper ad is known to be the least effective way to sell
gold.

Scrap Gold
The scrap gold price is usually just under the spot price of gold for the day. There are some
variations depending on the type of gold you are selling as scrap. Selling scrap gold jewelry
for example. Much gold jewelry is less than 24k, usually 14k gold, 18k gold and sometimes
22k gold. Obviously you will get different scrap gold prices for each. Gold scrap dealers have
a system for working out what the value of gold is in a gold ring for example./

Also keep in mind that they may be other precious metals in that gold jewelry piece, such as
silver, platinum etc so it is not just the gold value you should be paid for but the value of the
other metals also.

Investing in Gold
What is the best way to invest in gold? Gold investment can be done through stocks and
shares in gold exploration or gold mining companies, gold futures, gold shares in ETFs,
buying and storing actual gold bullion and possibly many other varied ways.

The closer to actual gold you can get is the best way to invest in gold. The optimum is, of
course, owning actual gold bullion.

Stock and shares in mining and exploration companies are subject to external influences, such
as costs involved in extraction, takeovers, buyouts, financial market fluctuations and other
variables.

The same principle applies in general to gold ETFs, the subject of the next section.

Gold ETFs
A gold ETF, also called etf or gold exchange traded fund, is basically a share in a company
such as StreetTracks GLD for example and not dissimilar to owning shares in a gold company
in some respects..
This is where you are betting that the price of gold will rise. You do not actually own the
gold, although your investment is 'backed' by gold, and you cannot redeem the gold. If you
sell you get cash only. This is very different to actually owning the gold yourself.

So, in a gold ETF you do not own gold. Your investment is back by gold instead. Some
people might consider this the same but there are some important differences. You have no
control over the ownership of the gold. Your investment is subject to external influences,
whereas owning gold bullion yourself means you have gold come what may and regardless of
the financial state of the economy.

Gold Futures
Gold futures are precarious things. Simplified, here an individual is betting on what the gold
price will be at some time in the future. Not only that, it is done with a small deposit that
represents a larger amount of money. If your bet is right you get the larger amount of money.
If it is not you will end up paying someone else the larger amount of money possibly
depending on the final result of the gold price on the date specified. Gold futures are more
complicated than that of course and require a great deal of knowledge and experience if one is
to play in that market. 75% of all people that play in the gold futures market lose.

Far safer and more profitable to stick to buying gold where you know what you have got.

Gold Stocks
Under gold stocks can be lumped, junior gold stocks, best gold stocks, gold mining.

All are concerning gold shares or stock in gold mining companies or gold exploration
companies. Again here one is betting that the companies can:

1. find the gold

2. extract the gold with out too much expense
3. process and sell the gold at a satisfactory rate.

All are subject to the costs involved in getting the gold and the current price of gold. Many
mining companies buy what is called forward gold to protect themselves an this can affect the
their share price also since this can amount to many tonnes of gold and they are betting on the
future price of gold in this wise.

Information on mining and exploration, as well as current market forces that affect the gold
price can be found in the various gold news letters and gold stock picks on the internet.
Although substantial profits can be made with gold stocks, it is an area that requires much
study and due diligence before one invests one's funds in possibilities rather than actual gold,.

Buy Gold

Gold has been around for thousands of years. And it will be

around for thousands more. All the gold that has ever been dug up is still around and the gold
you have could have been in an Inca Temple or used on the banks of Egypt during the
Pharaohs. Gold does not tarnish or deteriorate and little is used in industry compared to silver.

Owning gold is a security against the uncertainties of the economy, against the loss of assets,
and as a safe haven for the future. Gold value does not change through the years, only that
currency measured by it.

And when people say "As good as gold" everyone knows exactly what they mean.

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Gold Bar Price

The gold bar price of course changes daily with the price of
gold. Large gold bars are a useful safe haven for storing assets for the long term in economic
uncertainty, while the smaller gold bars can be easily bought, stored, transported and sold for
the short term.

Types of Gold Bars

There are basically two types of gold bars. Cast and minted.

Cast gold bars are produced by pouring molten gold into molds. These are usually called
ingots. They are rough and the markings, such as the foundry or manufacturing mark, gold
purity and registration number are pressed into the gold. Although gold is quite dense it is
nevertheless quite soft and easy to manage.

Cast gold bars are manufactured by around twenty-seven accredited manufacturers around the
world. They produce small cast bars in many gold bar weights including in kilos, grammes
(usually 500g or less) and in twenty ounces or less sizes. The smallest cast gold bar known
weighs 10 grams and is made in Brazil. More popular cast gold bars are manufactured in
Brazil, Europe and Japan, The ounce bars are made in Australia, Europe, UK and the USA.

Minted bars are manufactured from gold that has already been poured into a mound and then
drawn out into strips. The gold bullion bars are then stamped out to the required sizes and
shapes and the markings, in this case, are applied during the minting process.

Gold coins are produced in the same way incidentally, although more care is applied during
the stamping process to produce the finer finish of the coins.
There are four accredited manufacturers of the standard minted bars. These are:
Argor-Heraeus. A subsidiary of Union Bank of Switzerland
Metalor. A subsidiary of Swiss Bank Corporation
Valcambi. A subsidiary of Credit Suisse
Pamp SA
They produce around 35 percent of the worlds minted gold bars. The bank subsidiaries also
issue their bars with the bank brand name so are easily recognisable.

Gold Bar Purities

All gold bars have a purity expressed in units per 100, 1000 or 10000. There is a universal
trend now for bars to be 99.99%, however, there is still some variation in some countries. For
example:
Dubai - 99.9%
Iran - 99.5%
Hong Kong - 99%
Thailand - 96.5%
A new product, called ChipGold, has also entered the market. This is a relatively new form of
gold bar, consisting of a small ingot of one to twenty grams presented in a sealed and certified
package, about the size of a credit card. Chip Gold is designed to be used as a liquid
investment in gold and can be easily stored and transported. The typical weights available
include, one through to twenty grams with a purity of .9999 fine gold.

The granddaddy of all gold bars is the larger 400 oz (12.5 kg) ‘London Good Delivery’ bars.
These are held by central banks and used by banks, governments and large institutions to store
value and to transfer value between banks, They almost always have a purity of 99.5 percent.

Gold Bar Weights

All gold bars are denominated in different units of weight to accommodate the various
cultural preferences of different geographical regions:
Grammes. International
Ounces. Mostly English-speaking countries: USA, UK and Australia
Tolas. Mainly India, Pakistan, Middle East, Singapore
Taels. In the main, Chinese-speaking countries: Hong Kong, Taiwan, China
Bahts. Thailand
Chi. Vietnam
Dons. Korea
One troy ounce is equal to 31.1034768 grams. So if gold was 900 dollars an ounce then one
gram would be worth about 28.935673 dollars.

Gold is measured in troy ounces as distinct to the more common avoirdupois ounce which is
used for food and slightly lighter than a troy ounce. One avoirdupois ounce is equal to
28.349523125 grams.
One tonne = 1000 kilograms = 32,150.746 troy ounces.
One kilogram = 1000 grams = 32.15074656 troy ounces.
One tael = 50 grams. (the official rate of taels in mainland China since the country went
metric. In Taiwan and Hong Kong today a tael is equivalent to 37.429g
Gold Bar Prices
Gold bar prices depend of course on the gold price at any given time. As the value of gold
increases so the value of the gold bar increases. The premium, how much you pay over spot
gold is made up of, the manufacturing costs, the gold bar dealers costs and profit. You also
have to take into consideration the shipping and insurance costs. Their may, in some countries
or US states, be a tax to take into account also.

You should buy the highest gold bar weight you can afford as you will pay less premium per
ounce or kilo that way. As the gold bar price goes up, the premium per ounce decreases also.
However, you may want to buy smaller one ounce gold bars if you think you may need to sell
some of your gold bars from time to time to cover unexpected expenses. Often the premium
for ounce gold bars is not that much higher than for the larger gold bars.

Unless you absolutely have to, I recommend you do not sell gold bars for national fiat
currency as the value of fiat currency (paper money) is deteriorating rapidly and, although you
might get more fiat currency than you paid for your gold, its value will dwindle from the
moment you get it.

Why Buy Gold Bars

Gold bars are a safe haven for asset protection as well as a good future investment. Basically
the value of gold does not change with regard to the goods and services you can get with its
value. And ounce of gold still purchases the same value of goods and services as it did many
years ago. But the amount of fiat currency which the gold value is assessed by does change
and, as the economy goes through recessions and inflation, the apparency is that gold is worth
more when actually it is the currency which is worth less.

A good reason to buy gold bars and not sell them.

But if you do have to sell some gold, bars are good as they are accepted anywhere in the
world.

Where to Buy Gold Bars

You can buy gold bars from gold dealers, mints, foundries even, as well as from private
individuals, auctions and the like.

The same basic principles for buying gold apply regardless of whether you buy gold bars in
New York, Washington or anywhere on the planet.

Here are some basic principles you can use to ensure you get the best deal and the best gold
for your buck.

1. Buy the biggest gold bar or bars you can afford. The bigger the bar the smaller the premium
you will pay per ounce. This will reduce the gold bar price per ounce.

2. Pick established or accredited gold dealers and mints.

3. If you are going to take delivery, ensure you understand the cost of shipping and,
importantly, insurance. Check with the gold bar dealer to find out the shipping costs and
ensure that they provide insurance (which you will be expected to pay) this should be figured
in the gold bar price.

4. Do due diligence on the gold bar dealer or person or company you are buying gold from.
Who are they? Are they easily contacted? Are they accredited? Do you know friends or
associates that have dealt with them before?

5. Lastly it is prudent to have a good understanding of gold and gold bars. How they are
produced and in what form. The weights, fineness and all other aspects of gold bars. How
much premium will you pay?

Taking some time to understand your gold bar investment will pay off in that you can ensure
you get as much gold for you money as possible and that you do not pay a heavy gold bar
price while doing it!

Gold Investment

Gold investment is very much in the news today and to buy

gold as an investment is easy to do provided a few important factors are taken into account.

It might sound obvious but the first rule would be buy the cheapest gold you can. This means
shopping around and a lot of browsing and comparing notes to find the best deals. There is a
difference between dealers when it comes to coins and small bars and also take into account
the shipping and handling charges which can also vary between dealers and mints.

Gold Bars, Krugerrands and sovereigns are perhaps the best buy with gold bars having the
lowest percentage premium over the spot gold price. When comparing dealers and mints,
compare the percentage over the premium and look at what is the bottom line. What is the
total you would have to pay from each dealer for the same coin or bar delivered.

Buying regularly is another little secret to building up a healthy gold investment portfolio.
Even if it is only a small amount each month it is surprising how quickly that small amount
can become a substantial gold investment.

A good and thorough understanding of rare gold coins can also reap some spectacular
rewards. Scouring the auctions and coin clubs can net one a good deal, particular if someone
is in a tearing great rush to sell during a time of economic turmoil.

It is often said that one should buy low and sell high. But for the serious investor of gold who
does not sell this is not the best way to go about it. In fact to continue to buy on a regular basis
is more likely to conserve ones gold assets as the average price one pays for gold will even
out over time.

If one wishes to trade in gold, then this is a different matter. It is more likely that one would
speculate in stocks in gold companies or exchange traded funds and then different rules would
likely apply. Such as, for example, understanding the dynamics of the gold market and its
relationship to inflation, a bear or bull market in stocks, financial instability and so forth.
Regular week to week or even day to day trading is subject to more variables and market
forces and requires a different way of thinking, not for the novice or those of a conservative
inclination.

For the saver, rather than the speculator, coins and bars are a more conservative way of saving
and, when done on a regular basis, can reward the investor with a very nice and healthy gold
investment.

Why Buy Gold and When to Sell Gold

Why buy gold and when to sell gold is not as difficult as it

seems.

On the-privateer.com it states, " In any discussion of the future of Gold, or of the price of
Gold, the first thing that must be realized is that Gold is a political metal. In the true meaning
of the word, its price is "governed".

"This is so for the very simple reason that Gold in its historical role as a currency is
fundamentally incompatible with the modern worldwide financial system."

Throughout history, up to August the 15th 1971, in fact, there has always been a link between
paper money and gold. The history of money is littered with the connections. Either gold itself
was used as a currency, or if paper was used it was backed by or represented a value of gold.

Since that fateful day in August 1971 however, the successful action of having a medium of
exchange was dropped and paper itself was called upon to represent value. But paper
currencies hinge on the concept that the debt on which they are based will be repaid. The only
way this is being done currently is with more paper money.

Richard Russell, editor and publisher of the Dow Theory letters commented in a recent post
on his website:

"Quotes are great if you own stock in a public company in a big bull market. But the great
majority of amateur investors make more money holding their homes over the years than they
ever make in the stock market. And the reason is that if they own a home over the years, and
that home is sensibly financed, they aren’t scared out their home by those damnable quotes
during bear markets.
Holders of gold might mull over the same concept. Sure gold is quoted every hour of the day
around the world. Long-term holders of gold might do well to ignore the quotes. If gold
doubles in price, so what? -- are you going to swap your gold for paper? If gold drops by a
third, so what? – are you going to dump your gold for paper?

Why not just relax and hold your gold? Hold your gold – why? The reason is that gold is the
only true money, it's the only money that remains wealth no matter what happens in the
world. Gold is wealth during the biggest boom and gold remains wealth during the worst
depression. So why dwell on the daily dollar price, even though gold is quoted everywhere
every hour of the day? Forget the bloody quotes, just accumulate gold. It's a good thing to
have in today's unstable world."

So in short, that answers the question, why buy gold and when to sell gold.

Should I Invest in Gold Funds?

If you are asking, should I invest in gold funds, then the first
thing to understand is what gold funds are.

What are Gold Funds?

There are basically two types of gold funds. Mutual Funds and Exchange Traded Funds. Each
have their own advantages and benefits. Each are quite different and may not suit everyone. In
all matters of finance and investment always consult with your own personal finance advisor
before embarking on any investment.

Mutual Funds
A mutual fund is a organized management group where a number of people pool their
investment money and the managers of the fund invest those funds in various investment
instruments such as stocks, bonds, short-term money market instruments, and/or other
securities and by adroit management of those investments, attains a capital gains and collects
the dividend or interest income. If the management is good the investment will realize a
profit. If the investment is poor then the investment will record a loss.

The investor 'buys' units' at a set price and the profit/loss of the investment is reflected in the
movement of the unit price. The value of a share of the mutual fund, known as the net asset
value per share (NAV), is calculated daily based on the total value of the fund divided by the
number of shares currently issued and outstanding.

In the US, this is legally known as an "open-end company" under the Investment Company
Act of 1940 (the primary regulatory statute governing investment companies), a mutual fund
is one of three basic types of investment companies available in the United States. Outside of
the United States (with the exception of Canada, which follows the U.S. model), mutual fund
is a generic term for various types of collective investment vehicle. In the United Kingdom
and western Europe (including offshore jurisdictions), other forms of collective investment
vehicle are prevalent, including unit trusts, open-ended investment companies and unitized
insurance funds.

A good example of this type of fund is the BullionFund.com.

According to their web page:

"The world's first and only open-end mutual fund trust that invests exclusively in equal
proportions of unencumbered, fully allocated gold, silver and platinum bullion."

"The Millennium BullionFund's investment objective is to provide a secure, convenient, low-

cost, low-risk alternative for investors seeking the benefits of capital preservation,
appreciation, portfolio diversification and hedging that only bullion ownership can offer."

"The Fund has a fixed investment policy of purchasing equal amounts of each metal, and does
not employ derivatives, futures contracts, options or leasing. Since the Fund is priced daily at
Net Asset Value, there are no premiums, discounts or liquidity constraints. In this way the
Fund’s assets are not dependent on anyone’s promise, representation or ability to perform.
The Fund’s assets are not someone else’s liability."
In Australia the term "mutual fund" is generally not used, instead the name "managed fund" is
used. But this is more generic as the definition of a managed fund in Australia is any vehicle
in which investors' money is managed by a third party (NB: usually an investment
professional or organization).

Exchange Traded Funds

The other type of fund is the Exchange Traded Fund (ETF). This is quite different in a
number of aspects.

The basic idea of a gold ETF was first officially thought of by a investment company, the
"Benchmark Asset Management Company" in India. In 2002 they filed a proposal for the
basic concept with the Securities and Exchange Board of India. They received regulatory
approval for this some time later and the first gold exchange-traded fund actually launched
was in March 2003 on the Australian Stock Exchange under Gold Bullion Securities (ticker
symbol "GOLD").

Gold Bullion Securities (GBS) are fully backed by gold which is both deposited and insured.
GBS was launched to give financial institutions and private investors the ability to own gold
and gain exposure to the price, without the inconvenience of storing physical bars. So here an
individual invests in gold, not in a pooled activity as in a mutual fund but as an individual.
Whereas the mutual fund might invest in stocks, shares and bonds, the EFT investor is buying
an amount of gold which is represented by an account .

After the launch of Bullion Securities on 28 March 2003 in Australia, a number of associated
gold ETFs were launched on other stock exchanges. These gold ETFs are grouped under the
name Exchange Traded Gold (ETG).

Examples of Gold Funds

Here are some examples of various funds by country in alphabetical order.

Australia
Exchange Traded Gold is listed under:
Gold Bullion Securities (ASX: GOLD)
Lyxor Gold Bullion Securities (LSE: GBS and Euronext: GBS)
Streettracks Gold Shares (NYSE: GLD)
New Gold Issuer (JSE: GLD)
Exchange Traded Gold is run in association with the World Gold Council, and as of January
2007 it held 560.49 tonnes of gold in storage.

USA
The iShares COMEX Gold Trust was launched by iShares on 21 January 2005 and is listed on
the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: IAU). As of January 2007 the fund held 44.45 tonnes
of gold in storage.

Switzerland
The ZKB Gold ETF was launched on 15 March 2006 by Zürcher Kantonalbank and is listed
in Switzerland (SWX). Shares are sold in 1 kg gold units, with a minimum purchase of one
unit. As of January 2007, ZKB Gold ETF held 1.53 tonnes of gold in storage.

Canada
The Central Fund of Canada (TSX: CEF.A and NYSE: CEF) are a public corporation
headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, mandated to keep the bulk of their net assets in a
mixture of gold and silver with a small percentage of cash. The custodian of the gold and
silver assets is the main Calgary branch of CIBC. As of January 2007, the Central Fund of
Canada held 22.79 tonnes of gold and 990.59 tonnes of silver in storage.

United Kingdom
In September 2006 ETF Securities launched ETFS Gold (LSE: BULL), which tracks the DJ-
AIG Gold Sub-Index. Unlike other GETFs, ETFS Gold is not backed by physical gold
bullion.

Should I Invest in Gold Funds?

So when asking the question, should I invest in gold funds, the answer is yes. In terms of what
to invest in? well, for those new or unacquainted with the financial and gold markets as well
as those with little time to devote to long hours of analysis and trying to figure out the markets
movements, the mutual fund, such as Bullion Fund listed above are probably the safest and
easiest way to invest in precious metals.

Abbreviations:
ASX Australian Stock Exchange
EFT Exchange Traded Funds
SWX Switzerland Stock Exchange
GETF Gold Exchange Traded Funds
TSX Toronto Stock Exchange
CEF Central Fund of Canada
NYSE New York Stock Exchange
CEF.A Central Fund of Canada Limited
IAU Ishares Comex Gold Trust
GLD streetTRACKS Gold Trust
LSE London Stock Exchange
BULL ETFS Gold
JSE Jamaica Stock Exchange
Euronext European stock exchange
GBS Lyxor Gold Bullion Securities

Swiss Gold Bars

Swiss gold bars are a very popular way of accumulating gold,

particularly with the rising trend of the gold price.

Gold Bullion Bars

There are two types of gold bars, The cast and the minted. The Cast is manufactured by
pouring liquid gold into a mould to provide the finished form. These types of bars are called
ingots. Most of the larger bars traded between banks and institutions use ingots. They are
usually around 400 ounces each and so quite heavy.

The United States Bullion Depository or Fort Knox, as it is called in exciting adventure
movies, is an example of a fortified vault building used to store a large portion of United
States gold reserves, in the form of gold ingots.

Minted gold bars are made by cutting gold blanks from flat sheets of solid gold.

A newer form of gold, called ChipGold consists of a small ingot (1-20 grams) in a sealed and
certified package the size of a credit card.

Which brings us to the two basic Swiss gold bars. The Credit Suisse one ounce bar and the
"Gold Dream" PAMP produced by the Produits Artistiques de Métaux Précieux gold refinery
in Switzerland.
Credit Suisse
The Credit Suisse one once bar is one of the most popular and are easy to carry and store
during travel and are easy to convert into cash almost anywhere in the world. They are fully
back by the Credit Suisse Bank of Switzerland. Each gold bar is of 24 karat gold purity and
has the exact purity and weight stamped on each gold bar, then sealed for your safety and
security.

"Gold Dream" PAMP

The distinctive “Gold Dream" PAMP Suisse trademark is manufactured by the Produits
Artistiques de Métaux Précieux a gold refinery based at Castel Saint Pietro, in Switzerland.
Originally established in 1977, today it is one of the world’s premier gold refiners and a brand
recognized worldwide as a guarantee of excellence and sound provenance.

The "Gold Dream" PAMP is Accredited by the Swiss Federal Bureau and PAMP Swiss gold
bars begin at the assay facilities supervised by sworn assayers accredited by the Swiss Federal
Bureau for the control of precious metals.

All "Gold Dream" PAMP bars are well accepted by dealers and traders around the world and
these are also fully backed by the Swiss National Bank and the London Bullion Market
Association.

Swiss Gold Bars

Each of the Credit Suisse and the "Gold Dream" PAMP bars are Sealed, Registered and
Numbered in a protective holder along with their official "Assay Certificate" guaranteeing the
fineness of 99.99% pure gold and the one troy ounce content.

The bars do not have a high premium and can be afforded by most collectors and investors.
They are easy to transport and store and, in times of need, easy to sell anywhere in the world.

Buying Swiss gold bars is an excellent way to provide for the future and it is not difficult to
accumulate a respectable amount of gold this way over time.

Anyone who bought one or more Swiss gold bars a year or so ago will be extremely happy
now since the price of gold has risen considerably and looks like to continue its rise into the
distant future.

Investing in Gold Bullion

Should you be investing in gold bullion?

With the current rising trend in the value of gold it is a prudent idea to invest some assets in
gold at least for the long term, if not for the short.

So what gold should one invest in?

One can invest in shares in gold companies, in ETF (gold exchange traded funds), gold in
online gold accounts such as goldmoney.com or in gold coins and gold bullion or bars.

Whereas, in a fickle market subject to pressures not related to the value of gold, shares or
exchange traded funds might go down, solid gold has traditionally held its own in the market
place.

An ounce of solid gold will still buy the same value now as it did 100 years ago. Shares will
not. Probably the best choice by far is to buy actual gold. This can be in the form of gold
coins or gold bars. They are easy to obtain from reputable dealers and mints online and also
have an appealing aesthetic quality admired by most collectors. In addition the gold content is
usually clearly labeled and guaranteed.

Gold coins such as the American Gold Eagle, The Australian Kookaburra, Canadian Maple
Leaf, the South African Krugerrand and others are very popular with collectors and
enthusiasts.

Also the basic gold bars or biscuits, as they are often called, from one gram up to many troy
ounces, can be easily purchased and stored for the future. Perhaps not as popular as gold coins
and a little harder to sell, nevertheless they are still a valid form of bullion for many
collectors.

In times of economic downturn or uncertainty, wise people tend to invest in gold coins which
can be easily sold in just about any country on the planet. Gold coins are easy to hide from
burglars, easy to store and transport and are generally tax free.

So when it comes to investing in gold bullion, gold coins are considered one of the best
investments one can make for the future.

All About Gold

What is gold?

Gold is a rare yellow metal with the designated symbol AU, which is short for the Latin word
'Aurum' and which means literally, "Glowing Dawn". The word gold, however, comes from
the Indo-European root word and means simply, yellow.

Gold has a number of properties useful to man apart from it’s beauty and strange
attractiveness for jewellery and coinage. It is an excellent conductor of electricity and is
resistant to corrosion, not reacting to oxygen or water. It does not tarnish and does not cause
reactions on skin for the vast majority of people. It has a melting point of 1064 degrees, a
boiling point of 2808 centigrade and is a soft metal and very malleable compared to most
metals.
Karat Gold
Gold is measured in karats. These karats are rather different to the ones Bugs Bunny enjoys.
A Karat is a unit of weight which was based on the carob seed or bean used by merchants in
the middle east hundreds of years ago. The Carob seed is from the carob Tree and the Karat
was used as a measure of the purity of gold. Gold is also measured in terms of fineness which
is to say, parts per thousand. 24 Karat gold is considered to be 999.999 parts per thousand on
the basis that there can never be a total and absolute purity of gold. 18 Karat is 18/24th or 750
parts per thousand, the other 250 parts being made up, usually, of copper, silver, zinc or
bronze.

How much gold is there in the world?

Well, at the end of 2001, it is estimated that all the gold ever mined amounts to about 145,000
tonnes. Of course that would have increased by now but even so it is a lot of gold.

Perhaps that is not all there is to know about gold but it is a few interesting facts about the
metal that we all cherish so dearly.

How to Buy Gold Bullion

How to buy gold bullion is very important to know these days

as it is perhaps the best gold you can buy.

Once upon a time the only gold one could buy were the large 400 ounce gold bars or gold
coins such as Krugerrand. Time change and nowadays there is a tremendous variety of gold
bullion in the form of solid gold coins and bars from many mints and countries.

You can now buy gold bullion bars as small as 1 gram or a 20th of a troy ounce. Of course
buying gold in such small quantities is not very practical as the cost is so high. The mark up
on tiny gold bars includes expensive packaging, certificates and the profit margin of the mint
or dealer you are buying from.

What is Gold Bullion

Gold bullion is either gold coins and bars of various types, sizes and weights.

The bars come in a variety of sizes and weights from as small as one gram worth a few dollars
to the one ounce, ten ounce, one hundred ounce and one thousand kilogram bars as well as the
traditional 400 ounce bars or ingots used by large companies and institutions.

All gold, when bought comes at a price and a premium over the spot price (market price), and
this changes day by day. The smaller the bar or coin, the larger the premium. There is a
specific cost to fabricating gold and that does not change very much. Of course the fabrication
costs for gold cons is much higher than bars as they are struck to a much better finish. They
are therefore much more expensive to purchase and not really ideal for a gold investor.

What is the best Gold Bullion to Buy

When buying gold bullion it is better to buy the largest size bars you can afford. The larger
the gold bars you buy are, the closer to the actual value of gold you are likely to get for your
money, with a proportionately less margin to pay. There will always be some margin to pay
but this can be reduced down to virtually 1 or 2 percent with the larger bars. Of course you do
have a rising scale of storage and security to attend to so there is a balance to be drawn.

If you can afford the 400 ounce bars then it is likely you can afford the transport and storage
fees associated with such a large value of gold. Most bars of such size are generally kept in
bank vaults. If you purchase a 1 gram bar then you will likely pay twice the value of the
actual gold. However your security or storage problems will be minor. It will fit in your
pocket or could be hidden in your house and virtually impossible to find.

How to Buy Gold Bullion

Basically it starts with, how much are you going to spend? Then you can check out the
various dealers and mints to see what is on offer. Some things to keep in mind are:

Pick an established dealer or mint. It is not recommended you purchase off eBay unless you
know the dealer is established and has an excellent feedback record a mile long. The Perth
Mint is an excellent place to purchase Australian gold bullion.

Get the current value of gold per ounce or gram in USD. This is the standard used. Compare
this to the price of the bullion bars on offer.

Pick that bar or those bars that more closely match your spending budget and offer the lowest
margins.

Ask yourself, "do you really need a certificate?" This is valuable if you later need or want to
resell the bar. But, with the smaller bars, unless you are prepared to hold onto it for some
considerable time, you are unlikely to get your money back due to the margin you have to pay
unless the value of gold rises remarkably.

Once you have chosen what you want, you simply pay for the bar and await its delivery. Most
people collect gold bullion as a way if preserving or increasing their asset base. Some collect
it just as a rewarding hobby. Whatever your reason, if you are thinking you would like to buy
gold then the above information will assist you to understand how to buy gold bullion..

Buying Gold
 Buying gold can be done in a variety of different ways. Each
have their advantages and disadvantages.

Listing them we have:

 Gold Coins
 Gold Bars or Bullion
 Gold in Escrow (also known as Digital Gold)
 Investing in Gold Producers such as mineral companies(miners), mints and even gold
futures.

Gold coins and gold bars are perhaps the most popular for gold enthusiasts. Gold in escrow,
such as GoldMoney.com for example, are relatively unknown. People who invest in mining
shares do so not so much for the product that a company produces but more for the financial
progress and performance of the company in the market place.

Investing in gold coins and bullion bars has the advantage that you always have your gold.
You can store and/or hide it and the gold value tends to remain stable if not increase over
time. The disadvantage is that it is not always easy to transport if you have a large quantity.
Gold is heavy and can be difficult getting through customs and security in some countries.
That said, you can buy gold in most countries quite easily, even from overseas and have it
shipped to you. It is also relatively easy to sell.

Investing in gold companies, such as miners, mints and so forth is subject to the vagaries of
the stock market and the performance of the company. The company may have an excellent or
poor performance in the mining of gold and also may enter into other activities that influence
their share price. This is not for the gold enthusiast particularly and certainly not for the faint
hearted. It requires much study of the companies and corporations involved and there are fee
and tax considerations to take into account, that would not apply with the simple purchase of
gold coins.

Gold in escrow has some advantages in that the gold never moves from it’s storage facility.
Companies such as GoldMoney.com store gold in bank vaults in the traditional 400 troy
ounce bars and one can simply purchase an amount or portion of that gold. One’s holding is
represented by an account online which details the transactions of buying and selling the gold
or even just plain 'spending' it to other account holders for goods and services which they
provide. In this way it is used more as a transactional medium than an investment. The
advantage with this system is that it can be accessed from anywhere in the world. There are
no storage or security issues to attend to. The value of the gold is retained and moves with the
daily value of gold everywhere. And the transaction and storage fees are relatively low. The
disadvantage, for the gold enthusiast who collects more for a hobby than investment, is
simply that one cannot hold the gold in one’s hand. It is all accessed through accounts, rather
like a bank account but usually much more securely and with little depreciation, unlike paper
money.

Each of these methods of ownership of gold is different therefore, but each has the same
common theme, ownership of gold!

So, whatever takes your fancy, buying gold in whatever form of gold is available for every
enthusiast from shares in mines to gold held in trust to holding gold bars and gold coins in
your hot little hand!

Gold Ingots

Gold ingots are basically gold bars that are cast from a mould rather
than stamped like a gold coin.

They tend to be rougher and thicker than stamped bars, often called biscuits, but still come in
all weights from one gram up to a "London Good Delivery Bar" which is 12.5 kilograms or
400 ounces troy weight.

The London Good delivery bars are really only used for major international markets and are
purchased by banks, large companies and business that wish to store assets this way.

They are usually stored in Bank Vaults around the world and not moved around much
although the ownership of them may be. As they are now worth around 200,000 to 300,000
US dollars, depending on the price of gold, they are not used very much by small investors
who generally will buy and sell smaller bars within their price range.

The cost of manufacturing the smaller 1,2.5, 5 and 10 gram bars does not make them very
good investments as a premium has to be paid and it would take some time, even with the
current increases in gold value, to appreciate any profit from their purchase.
Probably the half kilo and one kilo bars or ingots are the easiest to buy for investors. The
premium is much less than for the smaller bars but they are within the price range of most
investors. Running from around 10,000USD for the half kilo and 20,000 USD for the one kilo
at the time of writing.

Even one, five and 10 ounce bars make quite good investments.

Probably one of the best investments are gold coins, not just for the gold but also for the coin
collection value which, in rare coins, can equal if not surpass the value of the gold in the coin.

Either way, buying gold ingots or bars or coins is a worthwhile activity that, over time, can
quite likely result in a satisfactory investment as well as being a fun activity!

Buy Bars of Gold

Why buy bars of gold? Gold bars are probably one of the best buys
today. Gold has held its value over many years. with one ounce of gold you can still purchase
exactly the same goods and services now as you could 20 and even 50 years ago. The same
cannot be said for currency which fluctuates wildly over the years and is subject to inflation,
deflation and a myriad of other influences.

Gold bars come in all shapes and size from the very small wafer thing 1 gram 'biscuits' to the
heavy 400 ounce ingots, so favored in Hollywood movies. The larger bars are called ingots
and are made by poring molten gold into moulds. This is called casting. The smaller bars are
made by pressing gold with a hugh multi tonne stamp, much in the same way gold coins are
made, and these are usually called biscuits.

All bars of gold should have stamped on them, the weight, the size and the manufacturers
stamp. Also a registration number that corresponds with a certificate which should also
accompany every bar.

The advantage with the smaller bars is of course convenience. They are easier to buy and sell
due to the lower cost involved. Easier to store and transport. The disadvantage is the price.
They carry a higher premium over the value of the gold due to the costs involved in
manufacture.
The advantage with the larger bars or ingots is the premium is much lower and usually a
fraction above the spot price of gold for that day. The disadvantage is that they are more
difficult to move around and store due to their weight and can me more difficult to sell as
there is much more funds involved in the transaction. Most of the larger ingots are stored in
bank vaults around the world.

To buy bars of gold then is dependent largely on the purpose for purchase. If you are
interested in storing assets in gold for the long term then the larger bars may be more suitable.
If you cannot afford the large bars then perhaps you can look at a smaller bar and gradually
build up with smaller 10 ounce, for example, bars which are easier stored and transported.

If price is not a consideration and you like the idea of collecting and owning gold bars the 1
ounce and smaller may fit the bill. The premium is larger and can even stretch to double the
value of the gold but over time this will be recouped as the value of gold against the currency
increases.

In any event, to buy bars of gold can be a lot of fun and there is nothing quite so wonderful as holding a bar of gold in your hand.

Should I buy Gold?

'Should I buy gold?' is a very important question. The short answer is

yes, but it is important to understand why and to look at what form of gold you want to buy.

Traditionally the wealthy aristocrats would keep a large portion of their wealth in gold,
usually in gold coins, bars and jewelry. Gold has always had a fascination for man and seems
to invoke a desire to possess it. It is not the rarest of materials, platinum is rarer and so are
diamonds. But it is gold that holds that magical undefined quality, that desire to be owned,
which other precious metals and stones do not all seem to have.

If, like the aristocrats, you want to preserve some of your assets in gold, or you are keen just
to have some gold bullion in the form of gold coins as a hobby there are various types of gold
to suit any purpose.

Stocks and derivatives are popular with business people who do not want to spend the time
searching for that appropriate gold coin or bar and are not interested in storage or even
aesthetic appeal. One does not see one's gold but only bits of paper that represent one's gold
assets. May be profitable but not quite so much fun.

Gold held in trust, such as in GoldMoney.com is useful for using gold as a transactional
medium or for short term gains perhaps.

Gold Bullion in the form of gold coins and bars is popular with collectors and investors alike.
The advantage with coins and small bars is that they are easy to transport and store, the value
is retained and even increases over time and they are easy to sell. Gold coins, being a medium
of exchange and legal tender in their country of production, rather than a investment vehicle,
attract less tax problems as well.

It is also important that you work out how much or what proportion of your assets you want to
diversify into gold. Of course you can split the funds you are committing to gold between
different gold types as well. Not putting all your eggs into one basket is always a sound
policy.

The answer to the question, 'should I buy gold?' of course is yes and provided you know what
mix you are going to buy and how much you are going to spend, any investment you make in
gold is sure to result in a bright golden future!

When is the best time to buy gold?

Many people ask when is the best time to buy gold as the price keeps changing, almost on an
hourly basis. Currently the gold price is on an upward trend and

Sometimes there is a "trend" either upward or downward. You see on the news each day the
price of gold fluctuating. Usually measured in terms of the US dollar per ounce.

But what is really happening here?

What does this really mean?

Gold Trends
The gold trend goes up and down in relation to the value of the dollar. The value of gold does
not actually change very much at all. In fact if you checked back through history you would
see that the value of gold over the past 200 years has hardly changed at all compared to the
value of other goods. One ounce of gold today will purchase almost the same amount of
goods as it did 50 years ago. The only change is actually the value of the currency not the
gold. Inflation, recession (to use a popular word), all affect the value of the fiscal currency but
generally do not affect gold.

The value of one ounce of gold, for example in the year 1800 was around $19-20US per
ounce. These days it is in the 900 plus per ounce range, and rising. The large fluctuation as a
direct result of the value of the decreasing.

The Value of Gold

A good example of the decrease in the value of the dollar, despite, or perhaps because of it, is
the increase in the quantity of dollars being printed, According to the consumer price index
What cost $20 in 1800 would cost 216.86 dollars in 2005. Also, if you were to buy exactly the
same products in 2005 and 1800, they would cost you $20 and $1.85 cents respectively.
If the government decided top return to the gold standard and back every dollar by gold, there
is so much printed dollars floating around now that it would take a good 50,000 dollars per
ounce to ensure each dollar is backed by gold.

This could still happen and the government can still bring back the 1933 legislation to stop
US citizens from owning gold if they wished. It would be very difficult to enforce and
administer of course but there are other ways to do so. Buy back the gold using more printed
money which becomes even of less value in terms of buying goods and services.

Michael Kosares, of USA Gold, notes the severe declining power of the US dollar in
"Disturbing Trends".

And then, in stark contrast is the value of gold going up as the dollar goes down.

This explains why people purchase more gold during a recession when the value of the dollar
(or whatever other fiscal currency they use) decreases in value. The value of the gold does
not. Gold keeps it’s value and has done so for hundreds of years in fact.

When to Buy Gold

So what is the answer to the question. When is the best time to buy gold?
The best time to buy gold is right NOW! In fact it is always the best time to buy gold. If you
were to purchase a small amount of gold bullion each month for the next 5 years, you would
still beat inflation hands down.

What Happened to the Gold Price in 1980?

In January 1980 gold hit a record 850 US

dollars an ounce. After reaching those dizzy heights it then plummeted down and remained
steady in the 300-400 dollar range for some years before starting to climb again to new levels.

Now gold has broken through the 900 dollars an ounce gold barrier and some investors and
analysts are wondering, is this going to be a repeat of the 1980 gold spike?

In fact, there are many differences between the 1980 spike in the gold price and the current
rise in gold value, not the least of which is the longer term trend currently occurring. In 1980
gold basically shot up like a bullet out of a gun and then, like a bullet, slowed down and
returned to earth.

History
In January 1980 gold was fixed at a record 850 USD an ounce while high inflation, strong oil
prices , Soviet intervention in Afghanistan as well as the impact of the Iranian revolution
prompted investors to heavily buy the metal.

Adjusting for inflation, meant the 1980 record high price was actually $2,079 an ounce at
2006 prices, while, according to precious metals consultancy GFMS, the real average price in
1980 was calculated at $1,503.

As a result of the removal of the gold standard by Nixon in1971, what little life was left in the
Bretton Woods, built during the devastation of World War II to help Europe recover its faith
in credit and currencies agreement was killed off. The result?

"Inflation in most countries at the end of 1979 was running in double digits," writes Peter
Bernstein in his classic The Power of Gold. Pointing to the OPEC-led spike in oil prices, he
also notes that "political conditions were perhaps even more frightening."

"Iranian radicals in Nov. 1979 took over the US embassy in Tehran…At the same time, the
Russians were building up their strength in southern Yemen near Saudi Arabia, near
Afghanistan’s border with Iran, and near Bulgaria’s border with Yugoslavia."

Key Dates in Gold History

Here are some key dates in gold's trading history covering the period from the early 1970s
through to January 2008 including that period when gold rose, fell and, like the phoenix, has
risen again.

In August 1971, took the dollar off the gold standard. With some minor variations this had
been in place since the Bretton Woods Agreement of 1944 and fixed the conversion rate for
one Troy ounce of gold at $35.

In August 1972, United States devalued dollar to $38 per ounce of gold.

In March 1973, Most of the major countries adopted a floating exchange rate system.

Then in May 1973, the United States devalued dollar again, to $42.22 per ounce.

January 1980. Gold hits record high at $850 per ounce. High inflation because of strong oil
prices, Soviet intervention in Afghanistan and the impact of the Iranian revolution, which
prompted investors to move into the metal.

In August 1999, gold fell to an all-time low at $251.70 on concerns about central banks
reducing gold bullion reserves while, at the same time mining companies were selling gold in
forward markets to protect against falling prices.

In October 1999, gold reached a two-year high at $338 after an agreement by 15 European
central banks to limit the gold sales.

During February 2003, gold reached 4-1/2-year high on safe-haven buying in the run-up to
conflict with Iraq.

Then in December 2003 to January 2004, gold broke above $400, reaching levels last traded
in 1988. Investors started to increasingly buy gold as risk insurance for portfolios.

In November 2005, the spot gold rises above $500 for the first time since December 1987,
when the spot hit $502.97.

April 11, 2006, and gold prices then surpass the next big level of 600 US dollars an ounce, the
highest since December 1980, with funds and investors pouring money into commodities on a
weak dollar, firm oil prices and geopolitical worries.

May 12, 2006, saw gold prices peak at 730 US dollars an ounce This was the highest level
since January 1980, with funds and investors pouring money into commodities on a weak
dollar, firm oil prices and political tensions over Iran's nuclear ambitions.

June 14, 2006 gold falls 26 percent to $543 from its 26-year peak after investors and
speculators went on a flurry of profit taking.

Nov 7, 2007, spot gold peaks at a 28-year high of $845.40 an ounce.

Jan 2, 2008, gold breaks above $850 for the first time since 1980.

Jan 8, 2008, gold hits record $875.80. (Sources: GFMS, World Gold Council, Commodity
Research Bureau and Reuters database).

Jan 12, 2008, Now gold has breached 900 dollars an ounce and looks set to reach the magical
1000 US dollars per ounce.

Why Gold
Some similarities can be found between the two highest evers but there is a marked difference
between the two that show this latest high is not a spike but a continuing trend.

In James Turk's "2008 Gold Should Glitter", he comments

"Although gold’s previous record high of $850 reached in January 1980 gets attention, rarely
do people consider that a 1980-dollar had substantially more purchasing power than a 2007-
dollar. Adjusting for 27 years of inflation, it takes $2,208 today to equal the purchasing power
of $850 in January 1980. So by this measure, gold is still far from a true record high."
He follows this on with:
"Another useful measure to determine gold’s relative value can be made by comparing gold to
the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Gold is overvalued when it takes only one ounce to buy
the DJIA. For example in the 1930s, one ounce of gold at $35 bought the DJIA, and it did so
again in 1980 when an ounce of gold was $850 and the DJIA was 800. Though this ratio has
fallen from more than 40 ounces in 2000, it still takes 16 ounces of gold to buy the DJIA,
meaning that gold continues to be a relatively good value while the DJIA is relatively
expensive …."
So gold is still relatively, undervalued, or "cheap" as it were, and there is still a long way to
go for it to catch up to inflation.

The current rise is being helped of course by the current situation in the US and the increased
level in oil price but these are really contributory rather than causative.

What is causative is the general trend of investors having less faith in fiscal currency. Two
component parts of the current economy is the passion by governments for printing more
money to handle debt and debt crisis. And the other is the banking fractional system which
allows banks to 'creatively create money for the purposes of debt. Both these forces oppose
each other creating, in their wake, a rising tide of inflation and recession.

This is perhaps, unconsciously, understood by most people as not a good thing. They see this
in their pockets with prices rising, less money available, and more restrictive practices
surrounding their control of finances.

All this despite hot mint printing presses actively at work printing more money while banks
offering more debt yet at the same time struggling with the debt they have.
This is likely to be the biggest cause of the investors, and even the man in the street's attention
being turned to gold. And this is not something that is going to go away anytime soon.

Golds Future
Many analysis are predicting further increases in gold. Of course there will always be the
inevitable "correction" as it is called. This is where those investors, in for the short term,
decide to take a profit and the price then drops for a while. But with gold currently
undervalued and with the prime economies on what could be called a long term unsteady
footing, there is plenty of room for gold to continue its steady rise to, some say, over the 2000
dollars an ounce mark.

So it seems the value of gold has a lot of catching up to do

Gold Price

The gold price continues to be in the news a

lot due to the steady rise of the value of gold as measured against the dollar.

But what does the gold price mean?

The value of gold actually does not change much. What does change is the amount of paper or
electronic money needed to purchase an amount of gold, most universally measured as US
Dollars (USD) per Ounce.

The gold price is also measured in 'price per kilogram' and 'price per gram'. For example the
jewelry industry usually is concerned with the price of gold in grams whereas investors
usually watch the price per ounce.

For over one hundred years from 1800 through to 1970, the cost of gold remained fairly stable
with a very gradual rise from 19 US dollars an ounce to 38 US dollars an ounce.

Then in 1975 there is recorded a jump to 175 US dollars per ounce! This is a massive jump in
just a few years. Not only that but in 1980 there was an even more massive jump to 641 US
dollars an ounce.

In 1985, however, it plummeted by almost half and was steady in the 270 to 425 range until
recently when it started it's march upward again.

However, whereas in the 1980s there was a dramatic rise, this time, so far, it appears more
steady.

What does the rise in the gold price mean? Does this mean that there is less faith in the US
dollar? Or is it just that people prefer to own something more solid than paper currency?

It was pointed out recently that if the US reverted back to a gold backed currency then, with
the vast quantity of paper money (dollars) currently printed and in circulation, then it would
take $52,000 USD to purchase one ounce of gold.

That gives new meaning to the word inflation!

It seems evident that the gold price demonstrates people's confidence in gold much more than
in the dollar and, for gold owners, that can only be a good thing.

It is likely that in these economic and troubling times people will seek something that remains
stable. And gold has a tradition of being stable come what may and, what ever the gold price,
people will certainly be willing to pay it.

Gold Markets

There are basically five major gold markets around the world.
These are New York, London, Zürich, Hong Kong and Sydney.

It should be noted here that the London Bullion Market is sometimes confused with the
London Metal Exchange which is quite different. Only gold is traded at the London Bullion
Market while other metals, other than gold, are traded at the London Metal Exchange. So gold
is considered as a metal by itself in these terms.

The price of gold is actually determined twice a day in London. Here a group of bankers get
together and 'fix' the price of gold or in other words, decide what the price of gold is going to
be at those particular moments when they decide the price. Of course the price then changes
by the hour and moves up and down depending on various influences and perceptions of the
value of gold. The reason for the fix is more to add stability and as a stable price twice a day
for the banks to work on. A sort of guidepost for the day you might say. The price fix is
actually determined in Pounds Stirling and is then converted, by various markets, into the
currency of their country. Commonly, around the world, the price of gold is perceived in US
dollars and Euros.

Each market have their own operating times depending on the time zones and this means that
gold can be traded more or less around the clock. There is much trading between the markets
as a result.

The value and price of gold varies depending on various factors. Some of these factors are,
The value of various currencies, particularly the US dollar. The price of other commodities,
The oil price, the economic situations and changes in those situations around the world.
World events, such as wars and even dramatic weather influences, such as earthquakes, tidal
waves etc.

The biggest influence of course is the perception of the value of gold as against their currency.
There are hundreds of analysis on a daily basis busy writing on what they think the gold price
is going to do, go up or down or remain steady. In the final analysis no one can predict with
100 percent certainty if the value of gold will go up or down. In the long term, one can see
historically that gold has always gone up. Provided there is inflation, currency manipulation,
economic upturns and downturns it would be safe to say that, in the long term, gold will
continue the trend it has had over the past 100 years. It can be confusing to decide what to do,
either buy gold or sell gold or just keep what one has.

Also you can ask the question, what sort of gold should one buy? Bullion in the form of coins
or bars? Or buy into shares or gold producers or Exchange Traded Funds? Each have their
advantages and disadvantages. Coins and bars are mainly for those keen to store up value and
are really more for the long term storage or investment purposes.

Easier to move on a shorter term such as daily, or even on an hourly basis, are stocks in gold
companies and such items as exchange traded funds where a bank might hold gold stocks and
you buy and sell a slice of that gold which is represented by an account you have with that
bank.

Buying and selling stocks in gold companies and gold producers is more volatile and done on
the markets through share brokers or if you use a fund through fund managers.

Here is a list of the five main gold markets around the world.

New York ACCESS MARKET®

Market hours (local time)
2:00 PM - 8:00 AM Mon-Thu
7:00 PM - 8:00 AM Sun.

After-hours futures trading is conducted via the NYMEX ACCESS electronic trading system
beginning at 2:00 PM on Mondays through Thursdays and concluding at 8:00 AM the
following day. On Sunday, the electronic session begins at 7:00 PM. All times are New York
time. Trading is in US Dollars

London
Market hours (local time)
8:30 AM - 4:00 PM, with Fixing at 10:30 AM and 3:00 PM.

As mentioned before, here the metal prices are fixed twice a day, known as London Fixes,
these are the guidepost for the official gold trading around the world. Trading here is in
British Pounds Stirling

Zurich
Market hours (local time)
8:00 AM - 5:00 PM.
The three biggest banks in Switzerland pool their gold for the purposes of this market. The
Euro is the currency used here.

Hong Kong
Market hours (local time)
8:30 AM - 12:30 PM
2:30 PM - 5:30 PM.

Hong Kong is the center of gold trading for the Far East and the Southeastern Asia region.
The Hong Kong Dollar is used here.

Sydney
Market hours (local time)
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM.

Australia's geographical location is ideally placed time zone wise to maintain the continuity of
the spot gold market after New York traders go home and before the Asian traders wake up.
Sydney opens up just after the NY market closes and is still open when the Hong Kong
market opens. The Australian Dollar is traded here.

In addition the gold price is shown in US Dollars and Euros around the world in all markets.

Gold is, indeed, a very popular metal and the gold markets are very active places with many
millions of dollars of gold being traded on a daily basis.

London Gold Prices

London gold prices are fixed twice a day at 1030am and 3pm London
time. The London Gold Fixing is done by five members of the London Bullion Market
Association. They sit down and discuss the price until they come to an agreement. This has, in
the past, taken some time but these days it usually only takes a few minutes.
According to Wikipedia, the first fixing actually took place on 12 September 1919 among the
five principal gold bullion traders and refiners of the day: N M Rothschild & Sons, Mocatta &
Goldsmid, Pixley & Abell, Samuel Montagu & Co. and Sharps Wilkins. The gold price then
was a princely four pounds 18 shillings and ninepence (GBP 4.9375) per troy ounce. Due to
wartime emergencies and government controls, the London Gold Fixing was suspended
between 1939 and 1954.
The gold fixing was then done twice daily at the City offices of N M Rothschild & Sons in St
Swithin's Lane until May 2004 when it was taken place by the telephone. In 2004 N M
Rothschild & Sons withdraw from gold trading and the London Gold Fixing and was replaced
by the Barclays Bank.
A curious tradition of the London Gold Fixing was that participants would raise a small Union
Jack on their desk to pause the proceedings. Under the telephone fixing system this changed
and participants can now register a pause by saying the word "flag", and the chair ends the
meeting with the phrase "There are no flags, and we're fixed".
The current five participants in the Fixing, who must be members of the London Bullion
Market Association, are now all banks unsurprisingly. They are:
Scotia-Mocatta — successor to Mocatta & Goldsmid and part of Bank of Nova Scotia
Barclays Capital — Replaced N M Rothschild & Sons when they abdicated
Deutsche Bank — Owner of Sharps Pixley, itself the merger of Sharps Wilkins with Pixley &
Abell
HSBC — Owner of Samuel Montagu & Co.
Société Générale — Replaced Johnson Matthey and CSFB as fifth seat
Now even though you will see a gold fix price in dollars it is actually done in British Pounds
Sterling and Euros not dollars. The gold fix in euros is a new venture. Traditionally, the
London gold fix has always been in Pounds Sterling.
Although the London gold fixing is done twice a day and a gold price established, this does
not mean that the price of gold stays at that price until the next gold fix. This is not the case.
The fix price is the price at the exact instant in time at which it is agreed but within seconds it
will be trading at different prices again.
So why have a London gold fix at all? Basically the five members use this as benchmark to
establish a market price fixed for that precise moment when they can balance their sales and
purchase transactions including orders and commissions from their clients. It also serves as a
guideline for other gold dealers internationally.
Because five banks now 'control' the London Gold Fixing, it could be said that the banks are
controlling the price of gold. This would be incorrect. The London Gold Fixing has become
more of an institution and tradition than anything else. The price of gold is controlled by
peoples perceptions of the value of gold, world economic affairs, how much gold is being
bought and sold and other external influences such as new discoveries, sudden large
purchases etc.

The London Gold Fix or London gold quote, as it is sometimes called, simply acts as a
guideline which, in fact, many around the world do not follow. If a new gold strike is
discovered in the outback of Australia, or China decides to buy sa few more extra tones, that
is likely to have a greater impact on the price of gold than any agreement 5 men in an office is
going to make.
Historically it has not controlled the value of gold, which seems to retain its own value
regardless of the many variables that can appear to affect it. There are daily rises and falls and
even weekly or monthly rises and falls which many analysis enjoy discussing and making up
charts for. But in the final analysis, gold has been rising steadily over the past 100 years
against just about any currency you care to name and is likely to continue that trend.
People love gold. People love to own and keep gold. Gold is considered valuable. People will
always consider owning gold a better option than paper currency. Paper currency is a tool
these days used by governments and those that influence them to control economies. This
cannot be done with gold, hence the dropping of the gold standard. A currency will change
and can be the subject of manipulation, inflation and depression (sorry – recession).
Gold stands alone. Offer gold to someone and they will take it. You can buy exactly the same
value with an ounce of gold now than you could 50 years ago. Not something that could be
said about currency.
Regardless of the London Gold prices and the fixing of the gold price each day, gold will
continue to be a favorite and considered valuable regardless of the times and economics of the
day.

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Properties of Gold

The properties of gold have always been a fascinating subject for man
and gold seems to have had an innate attractiveness and allure for man throughout the ages
hence the desire to buy gold and keep it either for investment or simply through a desire to
have and hold gold.

Gold is a precious metal or chemical element. It has the symbol Au which comes from the
Latin aurum which originally came from the ancient Latin word ausom or "yellow". This
word compares to the ancient roman word, aurora or ausoso, The "morning glow, the Eastern
country, the east". The word is derived from an even more ancient word. The Sanskrit word
"hari" meaning yellow.

Apart from its attractiveness for man gold has some very useful properties making it
extremely versatile for use as well as simply ownership.

Gold has an atomic number of 79. It is a soft metal, yellow in appearance and does not react
to most chemicals, with the exception of chlorine, fluorine, aqua regia and cyanide. Gold will
dissolve in mercury to form an amalgam (hence the use of gold in gold teeth) but does not
react with it. Gold is the most malleable and ductile of metals which means one gram can be
hammered or beaten out to cover a square meter or one ounce will cover 300 square feet and
will then appear translucent. The transmitted light through the gold appears greenish blue, as
gold strongly reflects yellow and red. It can also be drawn out to a wire thinner than a human
hair.
This malleability makes it ideal for jewelry where very intricate and ornate shapes such as
filigree can be created.

Gold does not corrode and as it is unaffected by air and is a good conductor of electricity,
makes ideal electrical contacts. It is used extensively in electronic components, particularly
circuit boards and computers, cell phones and similar products. It is highly reflective and has
been used in Space Projects by NASA as well as in medial research.

Gold can even be eaten in minute amounts! Gold leaf is often used as a food decoration and it
can also be found in alcoholic drinks such as Goldschläger, Gold Strike, and Goldwasser. Of
course, like any precious metal, if taken to excess an individual can suffer from heavy metal
poisoning.

Gold is one of the more useful metals as well as being considered one of the most decorative.
It also holds its value against just about any currency you care to name and makes a great
investment for the future for the person who wants to buy gold.

It could be said that the properties of gold include not just its physical characteristics but also
its ability to attract such an enormous interest to itself!

Uses of Gold

The uses of gold are many and varied. So to buy gold for investment purposes
is not the only use to which it is put.

Gold has a number of unique properties which make it ideal in industry and perhaps
contributes to its value thereby.

Gold is resistant to corrosion, has excellent electrical conductivity, is ductile (which means it
can be drawn out to a thin wire) and malleable (able to be flattened out extremely thin),
reflects infra red and has excellent thermal conductivity properties.

It is used extensively therefore in a wide range of manufacturing such as in electronic

products like computers, telephones, cellular phones and home appliances. Even wheelchairs
make use of gold. Gold is used very much in electrical contacts and almost all circuit boards
contain a quantity of gold in the form of smaller that the thickness of a hair wires and other
components.
Golds reflective powers are used successfully in the space industry such as satellites and
spacecrafts where it is used for protection against solar radiation. For example, to protect the
onboard computers in the Galileo space probe from short circuiting as a result of heavy
bombardment, NASA developed a Heavy Ion Counter (HIC). This counter contains silicon
wafers with gold electrodes that detect the heavy ions as they penetrate the wafers. Use of the
HIC allows NASA engineers to monitor the functioning of onboard computers and make
adjustments when necessary.

It continues to be used in medicine due to being biologically inactive and is a vital tool in
medical research.

This means that the demand for gold is ever increasing, not only for gold rings and other
jewelry accessories but also for coins bars and industry.

This makes it an excellent hedge against inflation as well as recessions (a time when gold
traditionally increases in value compared to the dollar). The result being that gold continues to
be in demand and the value continues to rise.

These prolific uses of gold, therefore, contribute in no small way to the stead increase in the
value of gold and are an extra boon for the gold investor who is keen to buy gold.

Gold Information

Gold information is very important when it comes to buying

gold. Knowledge is power and the more you understand and know about gold the more likely
it is you will get a good deal when you buy gold. The more knowledgeable you are the more
money you are likely to make and the more likely it is you will be able to increase your asset
base. Even if you simply enjoy collecting gold coins and bars you can have a lot more fun
collecting those elusive and wonderful gold coins you have been seeking for ages.

Information about gold includes:

Knowing just what gold is, what you can do with it and just how versatile it can be.
Knowing something about the gold price and its movements
Understanding the various types of gold available, such as gold coins, gold bars, medallions
etc.
Knowing where to buy gold, and
Importantly, knowing how much to pay for various gold items.

This website is a veritable gold mine of information and an excellent place to start,. There are
many hundreds of articles on a multitude of aspects about gold from selling scrap gold all the
way through to strange shaped gold coins to investing in gold exchange traded funds and
IRAs.

Getting the basics on what gold is, is an important start. What IS gold? What can you do with
it? How much is it really worth? Which gold coins are the best to buy? When should you sell
gold. Why buy gold? What about gold treasure and how to invest in gold IRAs are just a few
of the questions you can get answered just from this website alone.

It is a good idea to scour the net for information about gold also. Find out what prices there
are for different gold products. Do lots of browsing and, basically, look at everything to do
with gold.

The more knowledge you have the more you will be empowered in your handling of gold.

Knowledge is indeed power and gold information can be worth its weight in gold!

Gold Purity

How do you test for gold purity? How do you know the gold
you have is actually pure gold?

24 Karat gold is the purest gold you can get in gold bullion, coins, bars or gold jewelry.

Coins should originate from a Mint. Smaller items such as rings and other gold jewelry should
have an assay mark, or hallmark to show the purity of the gold.

Bars and ingots should originate from a foundry. Since 1994 all SMALL bars coming out of
modern foundries are100% pure and at the exact weight they are prescribed to be at, due to
various recent advancements in production and accurate weighing. New bars, especially ones
that are polished and are 1kg or less, and are considered jewelry quality, are weighed and
formed while the gold is in a semi-liquid state. Gold at a certain temperature, will flow down
a special ramp at a prescribed speed and can then be cut into exact sizes and weights.

Bars that were made before mid 1994, however, or are above 1 kilo weight (above 5 kilos
after 1997) or are graded pure raw gold are almost never 100% pure gold nor are they the
exact weight.
Hence the Asian foundries always tend to make their bars slightly heavier, adding up to one
gram after the traditional weighing, to make up for any discrepancy in purity. This means that
a kilo bar of 999.9 percent will have more than 1000grams of 100 percent pure gold in it..

But as a result of the .999 purity standard adopted in the 80s, to replace the 24 ct norm, non-
Asian bars had to be made to meet the stencil marks as closely at possible. Prior to that, and
even continued by smaller foundries until the early 90s, in Asia a kilo bar always weighed
more and was stenciled as 24ct pure.
The carat (abbrev ct or K) is a measure of the purity of gold. In the US and Canada the
spelling karat has been adopted solely for the measure of purity and carat referring to the mass
weight. These are two different things. As a measure of weight,

1 carat is one 24th purity by weight. 10 carats are ten 24ths. 24 carat gold is pure gold or
999.999% gold with some possible impurities. 18-carat gold is 75% gold, 12-carat gold is
50% gold, and so forth. There is actually no such thing as absolute pure gold. In the refining
process it is possible and even likely that a tiny amount of copper will be alloyed as part of the
refining process.

However, moves are being made to change the current karat system to the millesimal fineness
system by which the purity of precious metals is noted more accurately by parts per thousand
of pure metal in the alloy. The most common carats used for gold in bullion, jewellery making
and by goldsmiths, for example, are:
24 karat (millesimal fineness 999)
22 karat (millesimal fineness 916)
20 karat (millesimal fineness 833)
18 karat (millesimal fineness 750)
15 karat (millesimal fineness 625)
14 karat (millesimal fineness 585)
10 karat (millesimal fineness 417)
9 karat (millesimal fineness 375)

But this system of calculation gives only the weight of pure gold contained in an alloy.
18-karat gold means that the alloy's weight consists of 75% of gold and 25% of alloy(s). The
quantity of gold by volume in a less than 24-karat gold alloy will be different according to the
alloys used. We know that standard 10 karat yellow gold that standard 18-karat yellow gold
consists of 75% gold, 12.5% silver and the remaining 12.5% of copper by weight. The volume
of gold in this alloy will be 60 percent. As gold is more dense than the silver or copper.

But for most people it is a matter of, how much gold is in the ring or gold jewelry or even
gold bar. And how do you know that the figure given to you is correct?

In addition the various colors of gold also have different mixes of other metals.
Yellow Gold
50% silver and 50% copper

White Gold
Nickel, zinc, copper, tin and manganese

Pink (rose) Gold

90% copper and 10% silver
Green Gold
High proportion of silver or cadmium

Blue Gold
Some iron

Grey Gold
15-20% iron

You can test the purity of gold yourself with the right test equipment. Mostly this consists of
acids which you can purchase for that purpose although electronic testing is now becoming
popular and electronic testers can be found with a little investigation and research and
purchased. The cost of the test equipment means that you would want to test a lot of gold to
warrant the cost of the equipment and along with the other factors such as safety measures,
time involved etc, you would likely be better off just getting an independent jeweler or
laboratory or even a Mint to test the gold for you.

Bear in mind however that any testing of gold with chemicals will mean a loss of some small
amount of gold. For a kilo or more gold bar this may not amount to much but for a ring, it
could be significant.

Many a person has been surprised to find that their bar, coin or ring has somewhat less gold
than they were given to understand. By the same token it is quite possible to buy a ring and
find it has a lot more gold than originally thought.

Gold purity is an important factor when it comes to owning gold!

Tuesday, January 03, 2006

How do you buy gold

How you buy gold is very simple. There are

basically four ways of buying gold and each depend basically on what sort of gold you would
like and why. These are:
  Gold Coins
 Gold bars to take home
 Gold bullion or bars held in escrow
 Gold in the form of Exchange Traded Funds
 Gold coins and gold bullion or bars one can purchase from dealers, auction houses or
even from other collectors.

With gold coins one should look for:

 Type of coin. Eagle, sovereign etc.

 Size of coin. These can vary also. Sometimes measured in value and sometimes in
weight.

 Face value. 1 rand or 10 rands (South African) for example.

 Weight. Usually measured in troy ounces or part of an ounce but grams have also
become a popular weight measurement recently.

 Fineness. (999% fine) Amount of gold compared to other metals, such as silver, Gold
bars are usually measured as 999 parts per 1000. Most gold coins are usually 917 parts
per 1000. Other metal is added to make them easier to mint and give them extra
strength.

 Gold Content in Grams. The weight of the gold contained within a gold coin measured
in grams.

 Gold Content in troy ounces. The weight of the gold contained within a gold coin
measured in ounces.

 Price. How much you would be expected to pay for the gold coin advertised, usually
called 'percentage above spot'. This includes any margin added by the seller and any
tax that might be applicable.

For bullion, unless one is prepared to invest in the larger bars, one should be looking at the ten
gram up to one hundred or more gram bars available from current dealers. These would be at
current gold prices plus a premium to cover the gold dealer's or manufacturer's costs.

The Perth Mint in Australia, for example, will sell you bar sizes from 1 gram up to 100 grams.
A 1 gram bar will cost just over 20USD (30AUD) and a 100 gram bar will set you back about
around 1300USD (1900AUD) including freight. Due to production costs, the smaller bars
carry a higher margin for the Mint and therefore you pay a higher premium than if you
purchased a larger bar.

Probably a ten ounce up to one kilo bar (about 32 ounces) would be the best buy as the
premium is a lot less.

Examples of other established and popular gold refineries include PAMP (Produits Artistiques
de Métaux Précieux) a gold metals refinery based at Castel San Pietro, in Switzerland.
Johnson Matthey, a refinery that has been established for many years and is considered one of
the leading producers of gold bullion. AGR Matthey in Australia and Midwest Refineries in
the US are among many others.

Gold bullion or bars held in escrow is a little different in that you do not actually possess the
gold although you own the rights to it as expressed in an account holding.

GoldMoney.com is an example of this. One opens an account and can fund that account with
any amount of gold from a few hundred up to no limit. The actual bars are held in banks
around the world and you would own a portion of one or more bars depending on the size of
your holding. The advantage with this system is that you do not have to concern yourself with
storage and security issues, particularly if your holding is in the thousands. One can easily buy
and sell gold by this method. The only disadvantage, if one can call it that, is that you cannot
hold the gold bars or coins in your hand if you want to.

Exchange Traded Funds, or EFTs is a relatively new method of holding gold. Similar in some
respects to having gold held in escrow you simply purchase certificates each of which
represent an amount of gold held in a bank. The bank generally issues the certificates and you
buy at whatever the market price is. There is a brokers fee but you generally buy and sell at
the spot (market) price for the gold on that day. Some investors prefer that as there is no
handling of gold, storage or security issues to be concerned with. However it is purely an
investment so there can be tax considerations one would need to discuss with one’s financial
advisors if embarking on a buy/sell activity with EFTs.

So when deciding which type of gold you would like to hold, there are many options to
choose from.

Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Gold Bars for Sale

Where you see gold bars for sale there is an opportunity to buy
gold in an easily stored and transportable form. To do so it is good advice to know something
about gold bars.

Firstly What is a gold bar? Gold bars come in a variety of forms sizes and weights. The
definition of a gold bar is considered to be, 'a bar of gold made by a recognized bar
manufacturer regardless of shape and size and upon which is reported the exact weight and
purity of the gold as well as a registration number.
All gold is measured in troy ounces and the purity is measured in karats (not to be confused
with the weight measurement of carats for diamonds). You can buy gold bars in sizes ranging
from just one gram up to a weighty 400 ounces

Types of Gold Bars

There are two types of gold bars depending on the method of manufacture. Press bars, often
called biscuits, and ingots. The main difference is that ingots are made by poring molten gold
into a mould. This method is usually reserved for the larger bars. The smaller gold bars are
pressed out in a similar fashion to gold coins and they have a better finish than the cast bars
which usually have a rougher surface.

All gold bars are sold with a premium above the value of the gold at the time of the sale. The
size of the premium will depend upon the size of the gold bar. The smaller the bar the higher
the premium. This is due to the amount of work and cost in producing the bar which has to be
factored in the price.

It is a matter of, how much can you pay when you buy gold bars.

The advantages with the larger bars is the smaller premium. 1000 Kg bars or even ten ounce
gold bars carry a much smaller premium than if you were to buy a one kg biscuit. In fact the
one kg bar has a premium that can outweigh the value of the gold and is not a good choice.

Also as the price of gold is rising that means, for the larger bars, the premium is less per
ounce of gold as the cost production does not increase just because the price of gold does.

The advantage with the smaller bars is the less cost of shipping and the ease of storage and
transport. Indeed with the one to 10 ounce bars, these can fit into a pocket or bag.

The cost of shipping is a big expense but actually the cost of the insurance is a bigger one.
The larger the bar being shipped the higher the cost of insurance and this should be taken into
account when you buy gold bars of any size.

Where to Buy Gold Bars

Gold bars can be purchased direct from most manufacturers and mints but also from dealers.
Sometimes from online auctions.

Generally speaking it is better to buy gold bars from manufacturing mints or the larger well
established dealers. Even online as most these days will have online ordering facilities.

Some points to keep in mind when you are buying gold bars online:

Make sure the mint or dealer is bona fide. There are established mints, such as the US Mint,
Canadian Mint, Australian Mint, Mints in Europe and private mints.

Many will have shopping carts and facilities for you to pay by credit card so you should
ensure they have a secure server. You can tell if a server is secure when you look at the
address (URL) instead of starting with a http it will start with a https instead.

Is there a return address and are there contact phone numbers? Is there an 'About Us' page
where you can find out who they are. The larger Mints and dealers will have a fixed address
on their site.

What are the terms and conditions? Is there a returns policy of the bar looks nothing like the
picture on the site or what you ordered? (Order processes can get orders wrong)

As with anything else always check, when you receive the goods, that you got what you
expected and your credit card statement to ensure you were charged the correct amount. If
you are ordering from overseas bear in mind there may be a currency difference as currencies
change on an ongoing basis.

What to Look For in Gold Bars

All gold bars should come with a certificate that gives accurate details of the gold bar so
ensure that the gold bar you order has the same. The weight, size, manufacturer and a number
of the certificate should match the number stamped on the gold bar. Also it should be sealed
in its own container. If not be suspicious and check it over it to ensure it has not been
tampered with. With the smaller bars, unless it is sealed in the original transparent packaging
as supplied by the mint it is better to return it. Of course the larger bars, such as ingots, will
not come in any packaging but, if you are taking deliver, will likely come in a armored van
with a heavy guard as packaging!

Gold continues to retain its value even when currency drops or fluctuates. In fact you can still
buy the same value of goods and services with an ounce of gold now as you could 20 or 50
years ago. Gold was a lot cheaper to buy with currency then, but the value of an ounce has not
changed. Unlike currency, the value of which has deteriorated so much that it now takes a
bucket load of money to buy the same goods or services as an ounce of gold.

So provided some due diligence and a little common sense is applied there is no reason why,
when you see gold bars for sale, you should not get your self a jolly good deal!

Australian Gold Nuggets

The term Australian Nuggets seems to bring back memories of

the old pioneering days when men were men and gold was bright and shiny and in the form of
beautiful nuggets rather than in small bars or coins.

Probably the most famous of the gold nuggets is the very large "Welcome Stranger". Found at
Ballarat in the 1869 it weighs in at 2,284 ounces (71.01 kilos). That, at today’s price of $650
USD per ounce, would be worth $1, 484, 600. Not bad for a day's digging!

Large gold nuggets are now considered rarer than diamonds. Nuggets only form very near to
the surface, and as current mining is underground future finds are unlikely except where
individual prospectors have a lucky day out in the fields. Most nuggets have already been
discovered and even the largest have been melted down.

Despite this, gold nuggets are still available from the Perth Mint in sizes ranging from 1 gram
up to about 10 ounces or more. One can also purchase gold nuggets from eBay.

It is rare however to find any gold nuggets over 14 ounces for sale.

With gold nuggets there is almost always a presentation case or it is sealed in a plastic bubble.
Although this is an additional cost it also comes with a certificate detailing its authenticity and
this cannot be removed from the plastic without damaging it. This tends to ensure that your
nugget is genuine and in prine condition.

Gold nuggets are collected often for their historical value rather than for investment purposes.
Although some people do collect for their future investment value, most people prefer gold
coins and bullion bars for investment purposes.

Gold nuggets have a magic all their own and each gold nugget usually has a story all its own.
How the nugget was formed, discovered and who the original prospector was can form part of
the history of each gold nugget.

A delightful hobby, if an expensive one, collecting gold nuggets is really like collecting parts
of history and you can sit there and feel a part of that history when you hold in your hand an
Australian Gold Nugget.

Buy Gold Nuggets

When it comes to buying gold nuggets, "There’s gold in them

thar hills!", is the exciting cry and indeed, in Victoria Australia, there is still gold in the depths
of the country (or bush as it is known locally).

Gold nuggets are quite rare as they are only found above ground, not in mines, which is where
most gold these days is extracted from. So most nuggets are usually only those found by
prospectors fossicking* around in streams and outlying areas around the hill in many areas of
Australia.

Gold nuggets are an excellent buy and usually increase in value, not just because of the gold
but because of the history and romance attached to them.

The most famous gold nugget is the largest ever found. The Great Welcome Nugget. Found at
Ballarat Victoria in Australia in the 1800s, it weighed in at 68.956 grams and contained an
estimated 68.272 grams of pure gold. That, at today’s prices, would be well over 1088 US
Dollars.

Despite this, gold nuggets are still obtainable from gold dealers, and Mints such as the Perth
Mint in sizes ranging from 1 gram up to about 10 ounces or more. But it is rare, although
possible, to find any gold nuggets over 14 ounces. Most are in the 1 ounce or smaller variety.

With gold nuggets there is almost always a presentation case or it is sealed in a plastic bubble.
Although this is an additional cost it also comes with a certificate detailing its authenticity and
this cannot be removed from the plastic without damaging it.

Gold nuggets are collected often for their historical value rather than for investment purposes.
Although some people do collect for their future investment value, most people prefer gold
coins and bullion bars for investment purposes.

Gold nuggets have a magic all their own. Each gold nugget usually has a story all it's own.
How the nugget was formed, discovered and who the original prospector was, forms part of
the history of each gold nugget.

A delightful hobby, if an expensive one, collecting gold nuggets is really like collecting parts
of history and you can sit there and feel a part of that history when you hold in your hand an
Australian Gold Nugget

*fossicking: Australian. To search for gold, especially by reworking washings or waste piles.

Gold Bars

There are, contrary to what many people think,

more than one type of gold bar, over 30 different types of gold bars in fact. They range from
the 400 troy ounce bars used by banks to the wafer thin fine gold bars of 1 gram made by
Mitsubishi and used heavily in Japan.

A gold bar is generally defined as any gold item, regardless of shape, which means it does not
even have to be in the shape of a bar, and which is made by a bar manufacturer, records the
name of the manufacturer, the precise weight and the precise purity, and is sold at a low
premium above the gold price. There are bars made by most countries in the world today.
Most countries make, or have made gold bars of one sort of another. Also many shapes, not
just the bar like shapes.

Here is a list of some of the gold bars available world wide.

'400' oz ('12.5' kg) bar

Kilobars
'Tezabi' Bars
Tael Bars
Baht Bars
Tola Bars
Chi Bars
Decorative Bars
'Hologram' Bars
'Rainbow' Bars
'Yin-Yang' Bars
'Koban' Bars
'Twin-Coin' Bar'
Gold Leaf' Bars
Fine Gold Cards
'Bone' Bar
'Gold Fillet' Bars
'Pendant' Bars
'Double Pendant' Bars
'Bank' Bars
'Commemorative' Bars
'Heart' Bars
'Kinebars™'
'Bullion Watch' Bars
'Fine Art' Bars
'Bas-Relief' Bar
Full-Colour' Bars
'Cartoon' Bars 'Minted 'Brick' Bars
'Model' Bars
The world's largest - and smallest - bars
Historical Rothschild Bars
Oldest Stamp
Oldest Assay Mark
Bullion Coins
Gold Nuggets
Gold-Bearing Ore
'Dore' Bars
'Garimpo' Dore

A description of the gold bars in this list can be found at: Gold Bars

Collecting gold bars is generally done more for investment purposes as distinct from gold
coin collectors who may also collect for the aesthetic appeal of the coins.

Collecting gold bars does have an appeal however. Some can look quite striking and the cost
ratio to the value of gold the bar contains is usually, for the most part, better than the purchase
of gold coins.

There are no proof or uncirculated considerations to take into account and gold bars are
transportable and saleable anywhere in the world.

Collecting gold bars, as well as an excellent possible investment for the future can also be fun
and provide much interest to the collector.

Buy Gold Bars

When it comes to buy gold bars, all gold bars come in a range of sizes
from 50 grams, 100 grams, 1 kilogramm, 1 ounce, 10 ounces, 100 ounces and 400 ounces, to
give a broad indication. The thinner gold bars are often referred to as gold biscuits or gold
wafers.

Of course the very wealthy can purchase the 400 ounce bars and these are usually stored in
banks, but it is mostly countries and large businesses that would use gold in such quantities as
a means of storing their wealth this way. For us ordinary mortals it is usually the 1 gram up to
perhaps 50 or 100 ounce bars that we can afford.

There are many bars available in the market imported from all over the world. Some of the
more well-known refineries of gold bars are Credit Suisse, Johnson Matthey, PAMP Suisse,
Perth Mint, UBS and Rand Refinery to name but a few.

How Much do Gold Bars Cost?

Firstly it is very useful to have a comparison of the weights of gold. 100 grams equals 3.2151
oz Troy ounces and 31.1035 grams equals 1 troy ounce

Gold always sells at the current market value with a margin from the dealer.

The margin can be high or low depending on the dealer, packaging, any sales tax and freight.
For tiny 1 gram bars the margin is going to be considerable, perhaps even the cost of the gold
again, so this would not be a very viable purchase. Purchasing a 100 gram or 50 ounce bar
would give you a drop in the margin and, as you are getting more into the professional
markets and less into the 'consumer' market, packaging becomes less of an issue. After all you
want to buy a gold bar, not some plastic and printed cardboard with it.

The Fineness you often see, refers to the purity of the gold. Gold purity is expressed in parts
per thousand. So 995 is 995/1000 or 99.5% pure. Today, it is possible to produce gold up to
99.9999% purity and referred to as 999.

This explains why you have two bars of identical weight going for different rates. The
variation would be the fineness of the gold. It would be referred to as either 995 or 999. The
999 being more expensive since it is better refined.

Where to Buy Gold Bars

Most gold and coin dealers online and in shops sell small gold bars. Sometimes one can
purchases them from governmental outlets such as Post Offices. Also from Mints, such as the
Perth Mint in Western Australia, for example.

Check out what is on offer and how it is packaged. Check the prevailing value of gold and
how much you want to spend.

Gold make an excellent long term investment and storage of assets. You could do a lot worse
than buy gold bars!

Buy Gold Coins

Even though "buy gold coins!" is not the cry you will hear from an
investment advisor or your accountant perhaps it is, never the less, a good strategy to follow.
Gold coins continue to maintain their value regardless of the economic climate and even
improve their value over the long term.

Some gold coins have a value over and above the value of the gold content due to the coins
rarity.

When you are buying gold coins these are the things to look for:

Type of coin - Eagle, Sovereign etc.

Size of coin - These can vary also. Sometimes measured in value and sometimes in weight.
Face Value - 1 dollar or five dollar or even 10 dollar (for US or Canadian coins) for example.
Weight - Usually measured in troy ounces or part of an ounce but grams have also become a
popular weight measurement recently.
Fineness - (999% fine) Amount of gold compared to other metals, such as silver. Gold bars
are usually measured as 999 parts per 1000. Most gold coins are usually 917 parts per 1000.
Other metal is added to make them easier to mint. Most gold coin producing mints and
nations now produce 99.9 percent pure gold coins.
Gold Content in Grams - The weight of the gold contained within a gold coin measured in
grams.
Gold Content in troy Ounces - The weight of the gold contained within a gold coin measured
in ounces.
Price - How much you would be expected to pay for the gold coin advertised. This would
include any margin added by the seller and any tax that might be applicable.

The above information should be clearly displayed along with, ideally, a picture of the coin.
Sometimes the date it was minted and the condition is included also if it not a mint coin (new,
never been used, Mint Issue). Proof coins should also have a certificate authenticating their
condition.

Some old coins can have a value far beyond the face value or gold value. Rarity, limited issue
and aesthetic appeal can add value to a coin. Such coins are worth keeping as they will only
continue to increase in value over the years.

Browsing the coins available will give you a good understanding of what coins to collect and
how much to pay for them.

To buy gold coins is a fascinating and often financially rewarding activity for any coin
collector!

Buy Gold Stock

Why buy gold stock now when gold has

already risen 27 percent since 2001 one might ask?
Every year 2500 metric tones of gold are dug out of the Earth. Despite this the demand for
gold still exceeds the supply as evidenced by the growing global gold demand. Estimates
today are that four to five thousand metric tones of gold are sold each year so the demand for
gold is exceeding the supply by at least sixty percent and even up to one hundred percent in
some areas such as India and China where the demand for gold is reaching astronomical
heights.

And this is despite a massive sell off of gold by western governments anxious, over the past
few years, to gain more control over their paper money by removing the gold standard. That
sell off was, in fact, sufficient to make up the short fall between demand and price for a short
time, but now that supply is exhausting itself as the gold is flowing mostly to the Asia markets
and disappearing into its bowles. Eventually a new balance will emerge between the price of
gold and the demand but this is likely to be quite a ways off yet. Demand is quite likely to
exceed supply for some time yet.

So unless there is a massive sell-off by the owners of the world's gold reserves, reducing the
deficit in available gold, we will quite likely see a continuing rise for some time.

So what does this mean for us gold enthusiasts in the street?

It means that, regardless of the buying and selling of gold between governments and large
institutions, the value of gold will remain the same if not continue to increase. Especially as
more paper money is printed and the value of the dollar and other currencies drops with
inflation.

We will still be able to buy relatively as much, if not more, today and in the future, with an
ounce of pure gold as we could 20 years ago.

There are many ways to invest in gold. One can invest in stock, derivatives or buy actual gold
and if you want to take advantage of the current bullish trend one should first consider how
much of one’s portfolio one wants to commit to this enterprise.

Then it is a question of how is might affect a gold company's performance and public
perception for example such as management practices, speculation in the markets and so
forth. There are also tax considerations to be taken into account. Investing in actual gold
however tends to carry less risk as you always have the gold in your hand and, particularly
when in the form of gold coins, carries no tax implications at all.

When you want to buy gold stock then, it is probably more prudent to buy actual gold coins
and bars and 'stock' them away, rather than paper certificates that can give endless problems
and possible unwanted tax issues.

Gold Markets
 There are basically five major gold markets around the world.
These are New York, London, Zürich, Hong Kong and Sydney.

It should be noted here that the London Bullion Market is sometimes confused with the
London Metal Exchange which is quite different. Only gold is traded at the London Bullion
Market while other metals, other than gold, are traded at the London Metal Exchange. So gold
is considered as a metal by itself in these terms.

The price of gold is actually determined twice a day in London. Here a group of bankers get
together and 'fix' the price of gold or in other words, decide what the price of gold is going to
be at those particular moments when they decide the price. Of course the price then changes
by the hour and moves up and down depending on various influences and perceptions of the
value of gold. The reason for the fix is more to add stability and as a stable price twice a day
for the banks to work on. A sort of guidepost for the day you might say. The price fix is
actually determined in Pounds Stirling and is then converted, by various markets, into the
currency of their country. Commonly, around the world, the price of gold is perceived in US
dollars and Euros.

Each market have their own operating times depending on the time zones and this means that
gold can be traded more or less around the clock. There is much trading between the markets
as a result.

The value and price of gold varies depending on various factors. Some of these factors are,
The value of various currencies, particularly the US dollar. The price of other commodities,
The oil price, the economic situations and changes in those situations around the world.
World events, such as wars and even dramatic weather influences, such as earthquakes, tidal
waves etc.

The biggest influence of course is the perception of the value of gold as against their currency.
There are hundreds of analysis on a daily basis busy writing on what they think the gold price
is going to do, go up or down or remain steady. In the final analysis no one can predict with
100 percent certainty if the value of gold will go up or down. In the long term, one can see
historically that gold has always gone up. Provided there is inflation, currency manipulation,
economic upturns and downturns it would be safe to say that, in the long term, gold will
continue the trend it has had over the past 100 years. It can be confusing to decide what to do,
either buy gold or sell gold or just keep what one has.

Also you can ask the question, what sort of gold should one buy? Bullion in the form of coins
or bars? Or buy into shares or gold producers or Exchange Traded Funds? Each have their
advantages and disadvantages. Coins and bars are mainly for those keen to store up value and
are really more for the long term storage or investment purposes.

Easier to move on a shorter term such as daily, or even on an hourly basis, are stocks in gold
companies and such items as exchange traded funds where a bank might hold gold stocks and
you buy and sell a slice of that gold which is represented by an account you have with that
bank.

Buying and selling stocks in gold companies and gold producers is more volatile and done on
the markets through share brokers or if you use a fund through fund managers.

Here is a list of the five main gold markets around the world.

New York ACCESS MARKET®

Market hours (local time)
2:00 PM - 8:00 AM Mon-Thu
7:00 PM - 8:00 AM Sun.

After-hours futures trading is conducted via the NYMEX ACCESS electronic trading system
beginning at 2:00 PM on Mondays through Thursdays and concluding at 8:00 AM the
following day. On Sunday, the electronic session begins at 7:00 PM. All times are New York
time. Trading is in US Dollars

London
Market hours (local time)
8:30 AM - 4:00 PM, with Fixing at 10:30 AM and 3:00 PM.

As mentioned before, here the metal prices are fixed twice a day, known as London Fixes,
these are the guidepost for the official gold trading around the world. Trading here is in
British Pounds Stirling

Zurich
Market hours (local time)
8:00 AM - 5:00 PM.

The three biggest banks in Switzerland pool their gold for the purposes of this market. The
Euro is the currency used here.

Hong Kong
Market hours (local time)
8:30 AM - 12:30 PM
2:30 PM - 5:30 PM.

Hong Kong is the center of gold trading for the Far East and the Southeastern Asia region.
The Hong Kong Dollar is used here.

Sydney
Market hours (local time)
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM.

Australia's geographical location is ideally placed time zone wise to maintain the continuity of
the spot gold market after New York traders go home and before the Asian traders wake up.
Sydney opens up just after the NY market closes and is still open when the Hong Kong
market opens. The Australian Dollar is traded here.
In addition the gold price is shown in US Dollars and Euros around the world in all markets.

Gold is, indeed, a very popular metal and the gold markets are very active places with many
millions of dollars of gold being traded on a daily basis.

Gold Biscuits

What are gold biscuits? Gold bars come in two types. Cast gold made by
pouribng gold into moulds and stamped. The stamped bars are thinner and flatter than the cast
type and are often called gold biscuits as a result.

But most dealers make no distinction between the two types and simply refer to them all as
gold bars.

One of the major dealers of gold bars dealing in both cast and biscuit are austincoins. They
have been around since 1989 and are considered one of the major dealers in the industry.

Here are some important points to consider when you are buying gold bars.
Whether you are buying the cast or ‘gold biscuits’ variety of bars take into account how much
gold you want to store your assets in.

Decide on what type of gold you would like to own based on the price and your personal
taste.

Decide on what type of gold you'd like to own. There are some distinct advantages to owning
different types of gold coins or gold bars.

Try to get private, non-reportable gold. This might involve overseas purchase of course
depending on where you live.

If you pay by check in the same country, you will generally pay less.

Watch for discounts and special offers.

Always select a trusted gold dealer. Ensure you buy from a trusted dealer who has specialized
in precious metals for some time. Working with a trusted dealer is important otherwise you
can never be sure you are not purchasing counterfeit gold. You also want a dealer you can sell
back to in later years perhaps.
Whatever types of gold bars you collect you can have fun! Collecting gold bars is step to a
secure future and it can give you a very satisfactory feeling to know that you have some gold
biscuits in the cookie jar for a rainy day!

Gold IRA

IRA is an acronym for Individual Retirement Account. An

Individual Retirement Account (or IRA) is a retirement plan account or in real basic terms,
investment accumulation for retirement and which provides some specific tax advantages for
retirement savings in the United States. In some other countries, such as Australia for
example, it is called superannuation.

An IRA can consist of various investments including stocks, shares, bonds, securities and
other vehicles. Once an IRA could only be funded with cash or cash equivalents. Attempting
to transfer any other type of asset into the IRA was a prohibited transaction and disqualified
the fund from its beneficial tax treatment.

However, GoldMoney.com have recently introduced an IRA facility specifically for their US
customers so they can now hold gold & silver in their Individual Retirement Account

James Turk, founder and chairman of GoldMoney explained: "We know that our customers
like the ease with which they can purchase and hold gold and silver at low cost, which we
then store for them in secure, allocated storage. Now our customers in the US can take
advantage of these features in their IRA."

More information on this is available at: goldmoney.com.

Nowadays, gold bars and some coins with a purity of 24 karat (0.995+ fineness) are allowed
into an IRA. They must be hallmarked by a NYMEX- or COMEX-approved refiner/assayer.
So one can, these days have a Gold IRA where gold is used as the investment in the IRA
including gold coins and bars

Bars such as the one ounce, ten ounce, one kilo (32.15 ounces), 100 ounces, and 400 ounces
are allowed. But only gold coins having a purity of 24 karat (0.9999 fineness) are allowed in
an IRA, with the exception of the 22 karat US Gold Eagle. Other gold coins allowed are some
from Australia, Austria and Canada. But the South African Krugerrand is not permitted to be
included in an IRA as it is a 22 karat bullion coin.

So why should one have a gold IRA?

An IRA is a long term investment. This makes it ideal for an investment as stable as gold.
Where as currency is volatile and fluctuates due to influences outside of peoples control and
stock and shares, bonds and even securities suffer from the same vagaries, gold has
demonstrated itself to be stable over the past 200 years or so in terms of its purchasing power.
While the purchasing power of currency has diminished steadily over the years one ounce of
gold will still purchase the same value as it did 50 years ago. This drop in the value of
currency is demonstrated by how much more is needed to buy an ounce of gold than was
required many years ago.

This is shown by the following.

One ounce of gold from 2000 to 2005 rose from 280 dollars to over 530 dollars an ounce. The
US Consumer Price Index during that same time showed the US dollar purchasing value went
from $10 dollars to $8.82. Which means that in 2000 it only required $8.82 to purchase what
then required $10 to make the same purchase in 2005.

So while the value of gold was increasing the value of the US dollar was going down. It
makes sense therefore to have gold in one's IRA rather than currency as the gap between them
widens on a yearly basis.

50 years ago the price of gold was 20 dollars an ounce. Now it is between 600 and 700 dollars
an ounce. It now takes about 600-700 dollars to purchase what could have been bought for 20
dollars 50 years ago. Yet the quantity of gold remains the same. One ounce.

It seems evident therefore, that a Gold IRA is likely to ensure that there is a safe and secure
comfortable future down the track provided one invests in gold.

Some useful links.

USA Gold
Austin Coins

Gold Coin Secrets

 Probably one of the best kept gold coin secrets
is that collectors can make money in rare coins by searching for rare coins which are
undervalued and buying these during a time when the market is quiet.

Even when the gold price is rising it is still possible to seek out and find rare gold coins being
sold at the gold value.

Rare coins, of course will tend to have a value in excess of the current gold price due to their
rarity. Being able to buy at the gold price then will ensure a good return.

There are some important points to keep in mind however. One of these is the fact that rare
gold coins are limited, By virtue of being rare there is a limited number available so the value
increases due to rarity each year. this means they are harder to find and so more work is
needed to seek them out.

Known what sort of coins you want to collect and focus on them. There are thousands of gold
coins, rare and recently issued. Very few people are likely to be able to keep a track of each
one so most people tend to specialize in a particular coin or group of coins. It might be a good
idea to focus on a particular type of coin then, such as might interest you most. Such as the
American eagle for example or the Canadian Maple Leaf.

There are also different grades of coins even in the rare variety so it is a good idea to get as
much information and education on the types of rare gold coins there are and what the current
value of each is.

Forming a good relationship with a Numismatic or coin collectors association is a good idea
as one can glean information from them and get into communication with their members and
exchange information, ideas and so forth.

The 1933 double eagle currently holds the record for highest price brought at auction for a
single U.S. coin when it was purchased for US$7.59 million. 445,500 specimens of this Saint-
Gaudens Double Eagle were minted in 1933, the last year of production for the Double Eagle,
but no specimens ever officially circulated and nearly all were melted down, due to the
discontinuance of the domestic gold standard in 1933. So although it is rare, it is possible to
find rare gold coins.
As always, there is no substitute for patient due diligence and study. And probably that is one
of the best gold coin secrets of all.

Buy Gold Bullion

Buying gold bullion is not as common as buying gold coins.

The magic of gold coins far surpasses gold bars in the majority of people's minds.

However, gold bars have an attraction all their own and are an excellent way of accumulating
gold on a regular basis.

According to the Industry Catalogue of Gold Bars Worldwide, there are 50 accredited
manufacturers of small gold bars, producing 338 standard gold bars between them. As with
bullion coins, small bullion bars contain a minimum of 99.5% fine gold. In general, the
fineness ranges from .995 to .9999 gold.

Gold bullion comes in many sizes and from many producers. Gold bullion may be bought in a
variety of weights and sizes, ranging from as little as one gram to 400 troy ounces (1 kilogram
is equivalent to 32.1507 troy ounces) which is the size of the internationally traded London
Good Delivery bar. The term “small bars” refers to bars weighing 1000g or less.

Precious metals are measured by the troy ounce, as distinct from your bathroom or postal
scale ounces which are known as avoirdupois. 14.58 troy ounces equals 16 postal scale
ounces making the troy ounce around 10% heavier than avoirdupois. So this should be taken
into account if you have gold bars, or even gold coins, and decide to weigh them on the
kitchen scales.

Perhaps the most common sizes affordable and manageable for most people are the smaller
gram bars. From 1 gram up to 100 or more gram bars are available at current gold price plus a
gold dealer mark up. the smaller the bar the higher the margin of course.

The Perth Mint in Australia. for example, will sell you bar sizes from 1 gram up to 100 grams.
As at time of writing, a 1 gram bar will cost just over 20USD (30AUD) and a 100 gram bar
will set you back about 1300USD (1900AUD) including freight. Due to production costs, the
smaller bars carry a higher margin for the Mint and therefore you pay a higher premium than
if you purchased a larger bar.

Examples of other established and popular gold refineries include PAMP (Produits Artistiques
de Métaux Précieux) a gold metals refinery based at Castel San Pietro, in Switzerland.
Johnson Matthey, a refinery that has been established for many years and is considered one of
the leading producers of gold bullion. Also minting are AGR Matthey in Australia and
Midwest Refineries in the US among many others.

Today gold bars are also popular and safe because large private manufacturers such as Pamp
Suisse, for example, standardized production and created the polished look which makes gold
bullion bars so enticing and appealing.

Along with gold coins, purchasing gold bullion bars is an ideal way to improve your assets
and besides, its' fun!

Buy Gold Bullion Online

It is real easy to buy gold bullion online. Gold bullion includes

the wealth of gold coins available as well as gold bars, or biscuits, as they are sometimes
called, and gold nuggets. All are available online from online dealers and auction houses.

There are many dealers selling gold coins and gold bars and it is really a matter of browsing
to find the best dealer for you.

There are certain criteria you should take into account when buying any gold bullion online
from a dealer.

Browse the internet for dealers. Also dealers who advertise on this site are worth looking at.

When you pick a dealer ensure you select a dealer who is established and reputable. Such a
dealer will have been around for many years, will have full contact address and names
displayed. Will have a professional and comprehensive site. Many will be authorized by a
Mint. The US Mint, for example, does not sell gold coins or gold bars direct to the public but
through authorized dealers. Some other Mints, such as the Australian Mint and the British
Royal Mint will sell direct to the public however.

Do a comparison between dealers. Sometimes a dealer will offer a discount for a day or
period of time. It pays to be patient and do plenty of searching.

The other method of buying gold bullion online is from auction houses. As well as eBay there
are many gold coin auction houses. One needs to be a bit more circumspect when buying gold
bullion online from auction houses. There are usually no guarantees and it requires some
experience to ensure one is not buying fake coins or bars. A thorough study of the subject is
advisable and a good understanding of the value of the various types of gold bullion is
recommended.

However one buys gold bullion online it is safe to say it can be exciting and a very rewarding
experience. It can, with a sensible approach and some study, turn out to be a very profitable
experience!

Buy Gold Coins Online

One of the best ways to buy gold coins these days is online.
What should you know about buying gold coins online?

Reputable dealers all have comprehensive web sites that are designed to assist the buyer make
the right purchase. Dealers make money, not on the one-off sale, but on the repeat business
coin collectors will bring. Therefore they are keen to do as much as possible to retain your
custom including providing lots of information and an easy interface to work with.

You should also look for a dealer who would be happy to buy back from you at some future
date.

Here are some criteria to keep in mind when you pick an online dealer to buy and sell from.

Select an established dealer who has been around for five or even better, ten years or more.
New companies spring up at the drop of a hat and when the gold market rises a flurry of new
'businesses' will emerge only to sink again when or if the market drops. You want a company
that will be there regardless of the fluctuations of the market place and will continue to serve
you in the years to come. An established dealer that has thousands of clients is not about to
disappear for the sake of a few dollars when they have a multimillion dollar turnover.

Pick an established established gold dealer that has a fixed address displayed on their website.

What sort of associations is the dealer registered with? Better Business Bureau, Coin
Associations, etc. In short, what credentials can the dealer offer to substantiate their
worthiness?
Is it easy to contact the dealer? Do you have to spend hours on the phone only to talk to a
machine? If so it is better to find a dealer with whom you can actually have a conversation
and, importantly, make you feel you are important to their business and not a brush off. Find a
dealer who listens in other words.

Pick a dealer that knows what they are talking about. Can the dealer tell you which are the
best coins to buy? Can they make any suggestions? Do they just try to sell you anything or
would they be selective with a view to assisting you build up a portfolio of gold coins that suit
you?

Do price comparisons between the dealers. You would be surprised at the variations when
comparing apples with apples.

If you can, find out some of the dealer's customers and ask them their thoughts. Ask around at
gold forums for other people's thoughts on the best dealers to buy from. Referral is invaluable
when it comes to first hand experience.

You are looking for a dealer that you work with and build an association with long term so it
is important that you make the right selection. There are plenty of online companies or dealers
out there.

With some serious research on the dealers and companies out there you will certainly find the
best one for you when you are ready to buy gold coins online.

Buy Gold and Silver

To have a balanced portfolio it is a good

idea to include gold and silver bullion. This can be in the form of gold and silver coins and
bars. A balance can be struck between the two depending on a number of factors.

Firstly, how much liquidity is required in your portfolio? This depends on your investment
strategy of course and how liquid you want your asset to be.
Silver is currently around 12-13 dollars per ounce while gold is running at around 650 dollars
US per ounce. So a one ounce silver coin is much easier to buy and sell than a one ounce gold
coin for most people. If you are happy to buy silver and gold for the long term with no
thought of cashing in any of your investment then it would weight more heavily in gold
bullion than silver. On the other hand, if you want to be able to cash in your investment fast
(perhaps travelling around a ot) then your investment would more likely to be heavily
weighed in favour of silver bullion.

Unlike paper currency, both gold and silver are sellable in virtually any country in the world.
Whereas the US Dollar or other paper currency may be refused, such as in Australia for
example, it is unlikely that Krugerrands or silver eagles would be refused by any bank or
dealer around the globe.

Probably for most people 20 percent silver bullion to 80 percent gold bullion would be an
acceptable ratio. It is a fact that gold and silver coins are easier to sell than small bars. In some
countries gold and silver bars when purchased will attract tax but coins generally do not as
they are considered legal tender.

To buy gold and silver is an attractive way of saving and can provide a life saver when it
comes to providing for one’s future while at the same time offering quick access to some cash
when needed.

Buy Gold and Silver Coins

Many a coin collector buy either gold or

silver coins, but some smart collectors buy gold and silver coins.

When it comes to investment, these collectors are taking advantage of a number of points
about collecting coins.

They are diversifying their collection. By not specializing, they are able to take advantage of
any sudden surge in value of a particular metal, coin or range of coins.

Gold and silver coins are easy to buy, store, transport and sell. The silver coins have a lesser
value per coin than the gold, generally speaking. Of course certain antique or rare coins may
be the exception but, by the same token, these are coins you would not ordinarily buy and sell
frequently and they tend to have a more specialized collector.

At the time of writing, a one ounce silver coin is worth around ten US dollars whereas a one
ounce gold coin would be around 550 US dollars. Carrying around some 5000 dollars worth
of gold coins would be easier than 5000 of silver coins but also would be harder to sell on a
one coin basis and one may not want to cash in so much at one time. Having both gives one
the choice so that you can cash in a minimal amount using the silver coins or a larger amount
using the gold depending on choice and circumstances

In both types of coins the best coins to buy, retaining their value best and being easier to sell,
would be the American gold and silver Eagles, the Canadian gold and silver Maple Leaf, the
gold Krugerrand and the Australian gold and silver Kookaburra. The British also have the
gold and silver Sovereign and of course the Chinese gold and silver Panda coins.

All these are fairly common, recognisable and easy to purchase. They are all available in the
one ounce with 99.9 percent fine gold or silver. All retain their value, if not increase it, and all
are aesthetically appealing coins to have and admire.

Always ensure you buy proof or brilliant uncirculated coins and always buy from a reputable
dealer.

It is a smart move to have a diversity of coins in your portfolio and buying both gold and
silver coins will help to ensure you are not caught with your pants down!

Buying Gold Coins for Beginners

For beginners as well as experienced collectors, buying gold

coins can be an exciting hobby as well as a worthwhile investment.

There are many gold coins to chose from and, for the new person starting out, it might look a
bit confusing.
If you stick to a few basic principles when buying gold coins however, then you will not go
wrong.

Firstly, you need to decide what sort of gold coins you would like to collect. This would
depend upon your taste perhaps as well as your economic ability. What do you like and how
much can you afford in other words.

The internet is a good place to browse and see what is available in gold coins. Simply placing
the term 'gold coins' in google.com will give you a wealth of information on gold coins
around the world from the ever popular American Gold Eagles to the Austrian Orchestra sets
and from the Australian Kookaburra to the Euro coins produced by the Dutch Mint. In short
there are over 45 mints around the world currently producing gold coins and this is on top of
the previously minted coins that abound.

You should also check out the dealers online to see what is available and what sort of prices
are being charged. As the value of gold and silver rises so the cost of the coins will rise. It is
good to get in fairly quickly and also to purchase sets as these end up being worth more per
coin than single coins.

It is better, especially when you first start, to collect only proof sets with certificates of
authenticity as these are sure to retain their value and will be genuine coins. Later as you
become more experienced, you can start to collect the rarer coins. One has to be careful of
counterfeit coins, especially when buying from auctions as there is often no certificate or
guarantees of genuineness.

Check out the dealer's terms and conditions so that if you are unhappy with your purchase, the
dealer will accept the coins back.

By sticking to the established and reputable dealers and mints you can be assured that buying
gold coins for beginners will be a pleasurable and lasting hobby.

Where To Buy Gold Coins

Where to buy gold coins is a very important question.

There are literally thousands of dealers, auctions, private sellers, coin clubs and others all
keen to sell you their gold coins. Most of them are genuine and bona fide.

Most people buy from dealers, mints or from auctions, eBay being easily the most popular.

When buying gold coins it is wise to keep the following in mind.

Ensure you buy from a reputable dealer. Ask questions such as 'How long has the dealer been
in business?', 'What is their fixed address?', 'Do they take credit card?', 'Will they accept a
return if the coin is not as described?' and 'What are their terms and conditions?'. Questions
like that.

If buying from an auction you need to ensure the auction seller is bona fide. On eBay you can
establish this by checking the feedback of the seller. Is the seller a power seller or at least
someone who has a history of selling? If so, they are likely to be keen on repeat business and
so will offer good service. Check their feedback rating including the percentage of positive to
negative and read what other buyers had to say about their service. Anyone with a feedback
percentage of 90% or less one should be wary of.

Other auctions may have similar systems to ensure that the seller is bona fide, such as seller
registration requiring sellers to show some credentials to demonstrate who they are. If you are
a serious buyer of rare gold coins then auction houses such as Sotherbys is a good start. One
can get the nearest from the yellow pages and ring to see if there are any auctions pending
with gold coins being offered.

Sometimes you might buy from a private individual. Here it is a matter of faith and trust. Do
you know the person? Often friends and relations can be good because, at least, you know
who they are. Perhaps you might like to work through an escrow company? Here the escrow
company accepts the funds from you the buyer and the goods from the seller or some
variation of that and ensures that all parties are satisfied before completing the exchange.
They usually charge a fee for this service. Don't pick an escrow company the seller suggests.
It might be their own!

Mostly, when you are buying gold coins it is a matter of due diligence and common sense to
ensure that you know your buyer and even, for the buyer, to know the seller.

Where to buy gold coins then becomes a matter of being able to select the best price for the
coins you want.

Gold and Silver Coin Prices

 Gold and silver coin prices will gradually
increase as the value of gold and silver increases. This has been noted already over the past
few months and, provided the increases continue, then the value of gold and silver coin
collections will increase in value also.

Gold and Silver Coin Sets are a good way to increase your gold and silver coin prices. Coins
that form sets tend to be worth more than individual coins. If you have one Chinese panda
coin it has a specific value. But if you have a set of Chinese Panda coins such as China 2005
Panda 5-coin gold Premier Set, for example, then each coin would be worth proportionately
more by virtue of being in a set.

The China 2005 Panda 5-coin gold Premier Set is issued in five denominations from one
twentieth of an ounce through to one ounce and there were only 2000 sets of these coins
issued.

Other sets of gold and silver coins have been issued in the US, UK and Canada among other
countries and these, although the price tends to be high, are an excellent value for coin
collectors.

Collecting the same coin but different issues each year is another way of improving one's coin
collection.

Canadian Maples and the Australian Lunar Series come to mind as typical examples. A new
coin is issued each year and some collectors studiously collect each coin and add it to their
collection. This provides a steady improvement in the value of the entire set and, with the
steady increase in the value of gold and silver, the value of the set takes on a new meaning.

With the time, effort and expense of building up such a set some collectors rarely sell their
coin sets and this tends to add to the value also. many collectors have several sets of different
coins.

As it looks quite likely that gold and silver coin prices are going to continue their gradual rise
in value, it would probably pay to hang on to any sets of coins one has and perhaps even
enhance their value with additional coins where one can!
Wednesday, February 08, 2006
How to Buy Gold Cheaply

How to buy gold cheaply is a question many new collectors often ask.

Actually it is not the right question. The question is 'Where to buy gold cheaply!' In fact cheap
is a relative term and really you will never buy gold at less than the current value of the gold
at the time you buy it plus a premium depending on the quanitity of gold purchased..

The most popular sources of gold for collectors are mints, dealers, auctions, post offices,
shops etc, and how much you pay for the gold depends very much on the following four
factors:

 What type of gold you buy

 Where you buy it

 From whom you buy it

 How much you buy

The best way to buy gold cheaply of course is to buy before the value increases. Then you
have bought your gold cheaply. As gold is currently on a rising trend now would be a likely
time to buy gold.

Here are some points to be aware of when buying gold.

If you buy from Post Offices, shops and small dealers and you buy small coins with little
value of gold but look fanciful and come in expensive looking presentation cases, you are
probably buying the most expensive gold around. The cost of mark up as the coin goes from
the mint through to wholesalers and then the shop plus the shipping, cost of the presentation
case, often more than the value of the gold, will almost certainly guarantee you have paid top
dollar for your gold. It will take a long time for you to recoup the value of your gold this way.

But if you buy solid gold coins and large bars with little presentation, just a hermetically
sealed plastic transparent case, from a mint or established dealer, you will, in all likelyhood
get more gold for your dollar in that you are paying for gold and not plastic, wood or
whatever the presentation is made of.

The premium or mark up you pay for bullion bars is usually less than coins also. A once
ounce bullion bar will attract less mark up than a one ounce gold coin. The Perth Mint, for
example, sells bullion bars of gold by the gram. From one gram up to 10 grams. Guess which
is the cheapest per gram to buy? The 19 gram bar of course. Buying half a kilo or one kilo is
better although you have to outlay more money initially of course.

In other words. the larger amount of gold you buy at one time, proportionately, the smaller the
mark up by the seller. This means laying out thousands instead if hundreds of dollars, but if it
is done for investment purposes rather than just a hobby then it is a worthwhile investment.

Also always buy in at the top end of your budget.

But if you like gold coins, buying established and popular 'in demand coins'. These command
a better resale price and so keep, and can even increase, their value over time.

Buying gold cheaply involves browsing the various dealers and mints, becoming acquainted
with who the best dealers and mints are and what the best coins and bars to buy are. Doing the
due diligence, in other words.

Following the above will certainly give you a grounding in how to buy gold cheaply and give
you also the best chance of building a nice, satisfactory collection of gold bullion in the form
of gold coins and gold bars.

Tax Free Gold

Just about everything is taxed these days but, believe it

or not, it is still possible to buy tax free gold.

This will depend largely upon which country you live in and even which state or province in
that country you reside. The tax laws in the western countries are known to be some of the
most complex in the world and in the US the tax laws and regulations are extremely complex.
Capital Gains Tax on Gold Bullion
In some US states, for example, tax is not paid on the purchase of gold bullion but if you sell
gold bullion you may incur a capital gains tax if you sell gold for for a higher gold price than
what you purchased at.

Sales Tax on Gold Bullion

As far as Sales tax is concerned, gold coins are legal tender in the country in which they are
usually made or made for and sold. Gold Eagles are legal tender in the US for example, and
so do not incur any tax on purchase or sales.

The same applies to Gold Sovereigns in the UK or Maple Leafs in Canada or Kookaburras in
Australia.

In the UK, VAT (Value Added Tax) is applied to the sales of some gold bars. But as gold
coins are not an investment, although could be used for such a purpose, they are legal tender
and of course one cannot tax the currency of a nation. Least ways not yet!

In Australia there is no GST on the sale of pure gold bars and gold coins but there is GST on
American Eagles should you buy them from a gold dealer who is registered for GST, as
American Eagles are not pure gold. You may not have to pay GST if you buy them from a
private seller on ebay.

Understanding Tax Implications

So it would require some study, some financial and tax advise, perhaps before you buy gold
bullion. Knowing which is the most appropriate gold bullion to buy may make a big
difference to your own tax situation.

It is said that only two things are certain in life and that is taxes and death. It is possible that
some gold bullion could be exempt from tax and this would certainly be welcome news to
gold enthusiasts.

A tax free status does not apply to investments, stocks or even exchange traded funds, all of
which may incur a tax of some sort, either on the investment or on the interest or ‘profits’
derived from such.

One should always consult with ones tax and financial adviser when it comes to any
investments or the purchase or sale of any gold bullion or gold coin collectibles.

Regardless of any tax implications in buying gold, it is an excellent idea to put at least some
of one’s hard earned money in gold coins and take advantage of any tax free gold bonus
where one can!

Allocated Gold or Unallocated Gold – That is the Question

What is the difference between allocated and unallocated gold? Why should there BE a
difference? And what benefits are there for the gold investor when it comes to the security of
allocated and unallocated gold accounts?
Firstly let us look at how the allocated and unallocated system works.

Allocated Gold Account

An Allocated gold account means that the gold is owned outright by the investor or account
holder. Usually this will be in a size comparative to the holding of the investor. It might be
small bars and coins for a small investor but large 400 ounce gold bullion bars for a large
investor. The account holder pays a storage and sometimes an insurance fee.

Most importantly the holdings are secured against the account holders name and the serial
numbers or other identification is registered to that account holder. The account holder can
redeem, or take out, the gold he has in their name at any time and have it shipped else where.

It should be noted that gold exchange traded funds do NOT include allocated gold.

Unallocated Gold Account

Unallocated gold accounts are an entirely different story. Here the account holder does not
own specific physical gold but only a value 'backed' by gold kept in storage by the bank or
company, such as GLD for example, who hold the gold 'in trust'.

This is the exchange traded funds at work. The gold is not secured to any gold account and
there is no guarantee of ownership of any gold. In fact the LBMA description of unallocated
gold disturbingly points out:

"Unallocated accounts. This is an account where specific bars are not set aside and the
customer has a general entitlement to the metal. It is the most convenient, cheapest, and most
commonly used method of holding metal. The units of these accounts are one fine ounce of
gold and one ounce of silver based upon a .995 LGD (London Good Delivery) gold bar and
a .999 fine LGD silver bar respectively."

It also states "The client is an unsecured creditor." Which is somewhat contradictory to the
previous statement. Whereas the client who has an allocated gold account can point to some
gold and say, "This is mine!" The unallocated gold account owner can only say they have lent
money, at cost mind you since they have to pay for the privilege, to the institution who
promise that those funds are backed by gold and the price is index-linked to gold. But the
resemblance to owning gold stops there. You cannot redeem unallocated gold since you do
not actually own any of the gold in the first place.

The institution may or may not have sufficient gold to cover the total value of all unallocated
gold accounts and even if they do, they are also not bound to NOT use that gold elsewhere for
another purpose, neither do they assume any responsibility for the safe deposit or storage done
by a third party on their behalf.

This enters into the fractional system of using Paul to pay Peter. A common pastime of banks
in general.

Conclusion
Our recommendation, if you want to have or own or hold actual gold, is to buy gold, and not a
representation of it. Buy physical gold and have it stored. You can buy small bullion bars or
large one depending on your own personal financial situation and one can buy on a regular
basis to build up a gold store. But certainly we do not recommend you buy unallocated gold
as, really, you are only buying a piece of paper that says your account is worth the same as the
futures gold price. Not actually gold.

Gold ETF

What is a gold exchange traded fund (Gold ETF)?

A Gold EFT is an exchange traded fund with gold being the principle and only commodity
being traded. When you "buy gold" via a GOLD ETF it is very different to the general
practice to buy and sell gold which most people are familiar with. To understand what gold
ETFs are we need first to have some idea of what an exchange traded fund (ETF) is.

Exchange Traded Funds

Exchange traded funds (ETFs)were first introduced on the Toronto, Canada, Stock Exchange
around the early '90s. They were then introduced in to the US and other markets during the
90s.

A simplified definition would be: An exchange traded fund has funds and stocks in one
product and trade is made on the particular fund. Prior to ETFs, stocks and funds, were
traditionally kept separate to reflect liquidity issues.

The purpose of an ETF is to be able to invest in the growth of an industry or even commodity
that was not easily available to the market prior to ETFs.

Some benefits of an EFT include:

No stamp duty to pay (duty already paid on the underlying investments)
Flexibility in the timing of purchases and sales
Availability online.
Some disadvantages include:
No control over the activities or the content of the ETF.
Different costs associated with trading ETFs as distinct to ordinary shares
Tax implications
Hidden annual management costs ( the costs are built into the fund pricing)
No guarantee that you actually own gold.
The investor cannot redeem the gold or take delivery of the gold, only cash.
Gold Exchange Traded Funds
Gold ETF or gold exchange traded funds, are similar to trades, then, of other commodities and
resources except that the shares "reflect" the price of gold, usually gold is stored by the Gold
ETF in the form of ‘400 oz’ London Good Delivery bars.

The institutions administering the fund, such as StreetTracks for example, the biggest gold
EFT in the USA, hold gold bars in bank vaults "backing" the holdings of their clients. This is
taken to mean that, instead of having to own and cart around gold bars to buy and sell, the
EFT fund holds gold bars in trust and you buy a proportion of that gold holding when you
open an account with the custodian which is reflected in your account statement.

A closer look, however, shows some disparities in this as discovered by James Turk, the
editor of Freemarket Gold & Money Report and the founder of GoldMoney.com

StreetTracks, the Biggest of the Lot

On the gold ETF fund (GLD)website of StreetTracks it states, " The objective of the Trust is
for the Shares to reflect the performance of the price of gold bullion, less the Trust's
expenses." This is quite different to stating that, "We act as a custodian and hold gold for our
clients ." Their statement does not indicate one is trading in actual gold but that when you buy
into a StreetTrack Gold EFT you are buying into a trust that is designed to "reflect" the share
price of gold. And although one has 'shares' these shares do not come under the normal
safeguards provided to shareholders of ordinary companies as is stated in their prospectus.

James Turk, in an article about StreetTrack, points out, "Its objective is not to provide
investors with the opportunity to own gold bullion by investing in the shares of an Gold ETF.
Rather, GLD is designed to track the price of gold. That objective is no different than what is
accomplished by a gold futures contract or any of the dozens of numerous gold derivatives
available these days. More to the point, futures and derivatives are sold even if the seller does
not own the underlying gold bullion needed to deliver on its obligation. They are in practice
fractional reserve systems, which allow liabilities for gold to far exceed the quantity of gold
owned by the seller of that liability."

He also added, "Without strict controls over the assets of the fund, almost anything is
possible. What if, for example, GLD were double-counting the same bar of gold? Impossible,
you say, but James Turk goes on to say…

"Well, the GATA army has done it again, and thanks go to Stephen Marney. He analyzed the
gold bar list reported to investors that shows the gold supposedly owned by GLD.

Last week Stephen brought to my attention that of the 6,981 gold bars reported on the list,
there are 78 duplicate bar numbers. This result is staggering. It means that the genuineness of
156 bars, or 2.2% of the total assets of GLD, is called into question."

So questions investors should be asking themselves before they commit their fund is, does this
mean that StreetTrack does not actually have as much gold as was first thought? In addition, it
states quite clearly on the web site that a member of the public cannot actually take possession
of the gold, 'they own'. Does this mean that there are some situations where an investor could
potentially lose their funds?
What does all this mean? Well basically it means that an investor has to do some due
diligence and really understand what a Gold ETF really is and what it isn't. Clearly an
investor is not buying actual physical gold and they would be if they buy gold coins or bars
from a gold dealer.

An investor has to ask themselves the question, then, "Do I want to actually own gold, or
simply shares in it?

When you own actual physical gold, either in your hand or in a bank vault, properly audited
and your account shows ownership of actual physical gold, there is no disputing the fact.

So, despite the hype and push to sell the Gold ETF by excited brokers, I will still be keeping
my value in real gold coins and bars that you can hold in your hand!

Gold ETFs or Gold Coins?

The extraordinary and popular expansion of gold ETFs

(Exchange Traded Funds) in the gold market has prompted the question 'Are gold ETFs
taking over the gold money market?' It has even been said that the increase purchase of gold
by ETF funds has partially driven the current bull market.

The apparency that gold ETFs give the smaller investor a better spread on their investment is
somewhat outweighed by other factors.

The buy in and sell out cost on gold EFTs is smaller than on purchasing actual bullion. With
bullion you have the dealer mark ups on the buy and a reduced below actual gold cost per
ounce on the sell. Bullion is somewhat of a longer term market but with gold being a bull
market currently, the concept of being able to buy gold and even sell it for a nominal broker's
fee seems very attractive for the small investor.

What is often over looked however is that gold ETFs are considered an investment activity
and therefore subject, in many countries, to a capital gains tax or income tax. Accumulating or
buying and selling gold coins however are usually not as they are actual legal currency.

There are some exceptions however as in some US states it seems a capital gains tax may be
charged if one sells gold bullion coins. So in all situations when it comes to any investments
or the buying or selling of gold in any form, and potential tax considerations, one should
always consult with ones own financial advisors.

In addition, regardless of being backed by gold, other influences affect the gold ETF which is
in reality a just a share backed by gold rather than the gold itself. This is demonstrated by the
fact that you cannot take delivery of solid gold if you cash or trade in your ETFs. You will
only be paid in cash..

There is a vast difference between owning actual gold and owning a certificate or piece of
paper that says you own shares in a gold pool.

If that gold is not in your possession it is subject to the influences, such as governmental and
bank regulation, in whatever country and bank it is deposited.

It is subject to the short term frame of mind where investors buy in to make a quick buck and
sell out. This does nothing to increase the stability of the precious metal.

Of course there is nothing wrong with gold EFTs. They have wriggled themselves into a niche
in today’s gold market by providing a platform for investors to invest in gold who ordinarily
would not, without exerting too much effort.

It is probably too soon to say if they have found their level playing field. Hard gold bullion is
still the favorite of die hard gold investors, especially for the long term. Eventually a balance
will be found as those that want to 'play' investment will be satiated and the gold 'nuggets' of
the industry will still be around buying and selling actual gold coins and bars.

So in the game of gold EFTs vs Gold Coins, it is unlikely that gold ETFs are taking over the
gold money market. Just providing a lazy way for investors to jump on the gold band wagon.

Gold Derivatives

Many people believe that buying gold derivatives are an easy way to buy gold. After all, you
don’t need a lot of money to start with and you can make a quick profit if you do it right.

However one can also make a terrible loss. Derivatives operate on the basis of not actually
delivering a product or service. The very name tells you there is no product.
What are Gold Derivatives?
A derivative is something that is based on another source. Derivatives derive from a product
but do not actually represent that product, in this case gold. When you buy a derivative you
are not buying gold but, instead, buying a paper representation of gold. Examples of
derivatives are futures, option, or warrants. So gold derivatives include the following:

Gold Futures
A gold future is simply a deal to trade gold at a specific amount and price, decided now but
with an agreed settlement day sometime in the future. That means you don't have to pay up
front, except for a sort of deposit amount that stakes your claim as it were. And the seller
doesn't need to deliver you any gold before that agreed upon date either.

A gold futures contract is usually for three months and on the settlement day at the end of the
contract the actual exchange takes place and the buyer pays up, and the seller delivers the
gold.
Now most futures traders use this delay to speculate. Both ways. The intention is to sell or
buy back anything they have contracted, before settlement day is reached. At which point they
only need to settle any gains and losses. This means they can trade in very large amounts.
They take bigger risks of course but the rewards are much higher. Of course any losses are
magnified also as they have to make good on them if they judge wrong.
Gold Options
A gold option is a contract to buy gold or sell gold bullion at a future date at a set price. The
delivery date, quantity and price are all predetermined and the option is simply that. An
option. It involves a choice and the purchaser is not obligated to actually excise the option and
buy (or sell) The similarity to the gold futures contract is that the price, date of settlement and
the amount are all preset at the start of the contract. The main difference is that the option
involves a choice whereby the futures contract is an obligation.
Because there is no gold backing either a gold futures contract or an option, and therefore no
responsibility or ethics involved, gold derivatives have escalated to the ridiculous sum of at
least $1.1 quadrillion world wide. This is far in excess of the total actual gold world wide and
so such contracts are impossible to fill. People are buying and selling contracts for gold
which they do not have.
Gold Warrants
Similar to a long call type of option. Warrants however are issued by companies and usually
as a private placement. That means most are privately held and not traded on the open market
place. Warrants are usually traded and not exercised.
Warrants are a very tiny part of the gold derivatives market. The bigger slice is help by gold
futures.
Conclusion
One could call gold derivatives fake gold. They are not based on gold, but use the concept or
word even of gold to represent a paper trade. Gold is being used in name only. You could
quite easily trade say, banana derivatives, or Bunsen Burner* derivatives and gleefully trade
away 1.1 quadrillion Bunsen Burners and never see a banana or a Bunsen Burner in your life.

Gold derivatives bear no relationship to gold at all. Eventually, like any house built of cards,
this will come crashing down eventually and all hell will break lose. The winners out of all
this will be those banks, commercial institutions and individuals who actually hold real gold.
And the price of gold is going to sky rocket when the gold derivative house comes crashing to
the ground.
Hence the importance of buying gold now as no one can be quite sure when the gold
derivatives crash will occur and the price of gold will escalate.

Gold IRA

IRA is an acronym for Individual Retirement Account. An

Individual Retirement Account (or IRA) is a retirement plan account or in real basic terms,
investment accumulation for retirement and which provides some specific tax advantages for
retirement savings in the United States. In some other countries, such as Australia for
example, it is called superannuation.

An IRA can consist of various investments including stocks, shares, bonds, securities and
other vehicles. Once an IRA could only be funded with cash or cash equivalents. Attempting
to transfer any other type of asset into the IRA was a prohibited transaction and disqualified
the fund from its beneficial tax treatment.

However, GoldMoney.com have recently introduced an IRA facility specifically for their US
customers so they can now hold gold & silver in their Individual Retirement Account

James Turk, founder and chairman of GoldMoney explained: "We know that our customers
like the ease with which they can purchase and hold gold and silver at low cost, which we
then store for them in secure, allocated storage. Now our customers in the US can take
advantage of these features in their IRA."

More information on this is available at: goldmoney.com.

Nowadays, gold bars and some coins with a purity of 24 karat (0.995+ fineness) are allowed
into an IRA. They must be hallmarked by a NYMEX- or COMEX-approved refiner/assayer.
So one can, these days have a Gold IRA where gold is used as the investment in the IRA
including gold coins and bars

Bars such as the one ounce, ten ounce, one kilo (32.15 ounces), 100 ounces, and 400 ounces
are allowed. But only gold coins having a purity of 24 karat (0.9999 fineness) are allowed in
an IRA, with the exception of the 22 karat US Gold Eagle. Other gold coins allowed are some
from Australia, Austria and Canada. But the South African Krugerrand is not permitted to be
included in an IRA as it is a 22 karat bullion coin.

So why should one have a gold IRA?

An IRA is a long term investment. This makes it ideal for an investment as stable as gold.
Where as currency is volatile and fluctuates due to influences outside of peoples control and
stock and shares, bonds and even securities suffer from the same vagaries, gold has
demonstrated itself to be stable over the past 200 years or so in terms of its purchasing power.
While the purchasing power of currency has diminished steadily over the years one ounce of
gold will still purchase the same value as it did 50 years ago. This drop in the value of
currency is demonstrated by how much more is needed to buy an ounce of gold than was
required many years ago.

This is shown by the following.

One ounce of gold from 2000 to 2005 rose from 280 dollars to over 530 dollars an ounce. The
US Consumer Price Index during that same time showed the US dollar purchasing value went
from $10 dollars to $8.82. Which means that in 2000 it only required $8.82 to purchase what
then required $10 to make the same purchase in 2005.

So while the value of gold was increasing the value of the US dollar was going down. It
makes sense therefore to have gold in one's IRA rather than currency as the gap between them
widens on a yearly basis.

50 years ago the price of gold was 20 dollars an ounce. Now it is between 600 and 700 dollars
an ounce. It now takes about 600-700 dollars to purchase what could have been bought for 20
dollars 50 years ago. Yet the quantity of gold remains the same. One ounce.

It seems evident therefore, that a Gold IRA is likely to ensure that there is a safe and secure
comfortable future down the track provided one invests in gold.

Some useful links.

USA Gold
Austin Coins

The Canadian Maple Leaf Gold Coin

First minted by the Royal Canadian Mint in 1979, the Canadian Maple
Leaf is a pure .9999 (24 Karat) gold coin with no additional alloys added due to a special
minting process by the Royal Canadian Mint. This has resulted in the Canadian Maple Leaf
gold coin being the purest of gold coins.

The Canadian Maple Leaf gold coin is considered to be one of the most beautifully designed
gold coins in the world. On the obverse (head) side there is a bust of Queen Elizabeth II,
designed by Arnold Machin. On the Reverse (tails or flip side) we have the famous Canadian
Maple Leaf symbol.

Canadian Maple Leaf gold coins are official legal tender and can be bought from most of the
major coin dealers.
Only gold mined in Canada is used and the gold coins are issued in 5 different sizes or
weights.

 1 Troy Ounce
 1/2 Troy Ounce
 1/4 Troy Ounce
 1/10 Troy Ounce
 1/20 Troy Ounce

This makes the Canadian Maple Leaf gold coin an excellent investment and very easy for just
about anyone to collect. The cost is little more than the value of gold and you know that you
are getting all gold when you purchase a Canadian Maple Leaf gold coin.

In addition, the Canadian Maple Leaf gold coins are also valued highly not just by collectors
and investors but also by jewelers since they are easy to convert into jewellery, being pure
gold.

The Canadian Maple Leaf gold coin is an excellent all rounder. It makes an ideal investment
or gift or can be collected simply because you just like the beauty of the coin.

In addition, you will be happy knowing that the value of your coins will continue to improve.
As well as the gold content such coins usually improve in value over the years from a
collectors point of view. So you can’t really go wrong collecting the Canadian Maple Leaf
Gold Coin!

Tuesday, December 20, 2005

American Eagle Gold Coins

American Eagle Gold Coin is probably the most popular gold coin in the
world. They are official legal tender gold coins in the US and, by law, are produced from gold
mined only in the US. They are often considered one of America's most beautiful coins.
Americans purchase more American Eagle Gold Coins than any other gold coin.

On the obverse (front) of each coin there is a graceful Striding Liberty design inspired by the
Augustus Saint-Gaudens original design of the $20 Double-Eagle gold coins minted from
1907 to 1933. The reverse (back or flip side) of the coin displays a nest of American Eagles.

The coins are struck with 91.67% (22 Karat) fine gold. The total gold weight of the coin is
stamped on the reverse of each coin. Special dies designed to show minute details of the
coins, are used and this imparts the coins with a radiant golden shimmering glow in the light.
All American Eagle Gold Coins are minted to exacting standards and are of the finest quality.
They are available in 4 sizes, 1/10th, ¼, ½, and 1 ounce, suitable to fit any budget. As gold is
a comparatively soft metal, most coins contain a very small amount of alloy of copper and
silver, as well as the stated amount of gold, to improve hardness and resist scratching.

One unique aspect of American Eagle Gold Coins is that it is the only coin where the weight,
gold content and purity are all guaranteed by the US Government, which means that investors
can buy and own the coins with confidence knowing that they do truly own the stated amount
of gold.

One can purchase American Eagle Gold Coins from most major coin dealers as well as
brokerage houses and even banks.The American Eagle also the most traded gold coin in the
US and one can just as easily sell as well as purchase American Eagle Gold Coins. They are
easy to store buy and sell and many people keep them for a 'rainy day' or in case of severe
hardship or economic duress.

American Eagles are also available in silver and platinum but, by far, it is the American Eagle
Gold Coin that people love most of all.

Gold Eagle

The Gold Eagle is an American gold bullion coin known as THE

AMERICAN GOLD EAGLE.

Details of the coin are:

Fineness: .916
Actual Gold Content: 1 troy ounce
Diameter: 32.7 mm
Minted face value: $50
Each coin shows the official weight and denomination on the reverse. American Gold Eagles
are authorized by the United States Congress and are backed by the U.S. Mint for weight and
content. Although the face value is only $50US the coins are worth much more due to the
gold content. On the obverse side is the Liberty design by Augustus Saint-Gaudens and on the
reverse is the ‘Family of Eagles” which gives the coin its name.

These coins were first struck in 1986 and are produced by the United States Government Mint
in both proof as well as uncirculated condition.

The coins actually come in 4 different sizes.

1/10th oz with aminted face value $5. - 16.5mm in
1/4th oz with a minted face value $10 - 22mm in diameter
1/2 ounce with a minted face value $25 - 27mm in diameter
1 ounce with a minted face value $50 - 32.7mm in diameter
You cannot buy these coins direct from the United States Government Mint. You will need to
go to an Authorized Dealer.

You can buy both proof and uncirculated coins. The proof coins are considered more valuable
as they are produced to a much higher standard than uncirculated coins which are simply
coins that have not yet been in circulation. Uncirculated coins can still have scuff marks, edge
knocks and other imperfections, whereas proof coins are produced to a higher quality standard
and are issued mint. These come pre-packaged and should never be removed from their
packaging. Originally proofs were simply minted as pre-production samples but have, over
time, been made available to collectors and have become very popular as a result.

Which ever you prefer, Gold Eagles are wonderful coins to collect and can give many happy
hours of enjoyment.

Uruguay 5 peso gold coin

The Uruguay 5 peso gold coin, also known as the Uruguay 1930 Constitution
Centennial 5 Peso NGC MS-62 Gold Coin is a much sort after collectors coin.

During the Great Depression The Uruguay government decided to produce a quantity of 5
peso gold coins ostensibly to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the republic but more
likely to aid in boosting the economy at that time since the effects of the depression was being
felt world wide including, of course, Uruguay.

The coin itself has an effigy of José Gervasio Artigas 1764-1850). He was a national hero of
Uruguay and is sometimes called "the father of Uruguayan independence", and is much
revered as Uruguay's greatest national hero. In his youth Artigas was a gaucho in what is now
Uruguay. Allied with the Buenos Aires junta, he fought for independence from Spain and won
a brilliant victory at Las Piedras.

His insistence on federalism against the efforts of Buenos Aires to assert control over the
entire region led to civil war. He ruled over a portion of what is now Uruguay and central
Argentina until a Portuguese invasion forced him into exile in 1820 in Paraguay. Uruguay
achieved independence in 1828. The constitution was approved officially on July 18, 1830,

Each 5 peso coin contains a quarter ounce of pure gold, slightly more than a US 5 dollar gold
coin.

These are obtainable from many dealers online including Uruguay 5 peso gold coin who have
a fair sized collection of these coins.
As with any gold coin purchase online always do due diligence and ensure the dealer you are
working with has a returns policy and can be easily contacted online, by phone and has a
fixed postal address.

The coins should come sealed in their own protective wrapper. Of course the coins are not
mint or proof coins but should still be in good condition or at least match the description
given of the coins so you know what you are buying.

The Uruguay 5 peso gold coin makes a great collectors coin with its unique colorful history
and its pure gold content and would be a pleasure to have for any coin collector.

Investing in Gold Coins and Gold Bullion

Investing on gold coins and gold bullion can be a fun and

intensely interesting activity. Gold coins and gold bullion have been an alluring attraction for
man throughout the ages. Wars have been fought over it, love has been won by the use of it
and merchants have been made wealthy because of it. It has been said that gold attracts people
to it almost with a life of its own!

Gold has always been regarded as a precious metal and the first recorded use of it is in Varna,
Bulgaria around 5000 BC. Melting point: 1063° C, it is a bright shiny, soft and malleable
metal primarily used in coatings for electrical connections. Pure fine gold is 24 Karat
(abbreviated K). Alloys of gold are calculated on a basis of 24 parts. 14K is 14 parts gold and
10 parts other metals. Gold colors are created by alloying other metals that impart their color
characteristics to the gold.

It is not difficult to see why gold has been such a favorite choice over the years. It does not
tarnish or rust. It holds its value relative to the value of goods and services.

With the advent of the internet the buying and selling of gold coins and gold bullion has
become big business. Tons of gold are now moved around the planet literally at the speed of
light.

Here are 5 good reasons for owning and investing in gold coins and gold bullion:

 INDEPENDENCE. The security offered by gold is provided by its very independence.

Gold is independent of states, currencies, productivity and credit worthiness. Some
economic or political influences may affect the price of gold, but its value and its
acceptability remain independent of them.
  RESERVE ASSET. Many experts advise private investors to hold between 5 and 10
percent of their wealth, in the long term in precious metals. Experience has shown that
the regular purchase of gold coins helps to protect the smaller investor against price
fluctuations.

 SECURITY. Gold has always been prized as precious and valuable. Over the years
gold has proven itself to be one of the most reliable stores of value.

 STABILITY. Despite possible price fluctuations on the open market, the value of gold
has remained remarkably stable and has shown repeatedly the tendency to rise.

 LIQUIDITY. Gold is traded around the globe 24 hours a day. With gold you possess
an international currency which can always be sold around the world at any time.

In these uncertain times investing in gold coins and gold bullion can be a truly worthwhile
investment for the future.

What are Gold Sovereigns?

Gold sovereign coins first made their appearance in the UK under King Henry the VIIth in the
15th century. Such coins are now rare and can fetch over $12,000US.

Fortunately modern Gold Sovereigns are available at a much more affordable price.

There are basically two types of Gold Sovereigns today. Australian and UK Sovereigns. The
UK coins were usually struck in the Royal Mint although some have been struck in Canada
and Australia. The Australian Gold Sovereigns were usually struck at one of the mints either
in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth or Adelaide.

Many of these have a value over and above the value of the gold content due to their rarity
and the regard people have for them. Early Australian Gold Sovereigns, for example, have
increased in value almost 10 fold since 1977.

Both Sovereigns have had a similar history in that they have been struck initially, then
production halted for a few years before being struck again, usually with different obverse and
reverse details. This has improved their investment value which yearly continues to climb.

When choosing Gold Sovereigns important factors such as the date it was struck (or made),
the condition of the coin, weight and the usual factors relating to gold coins should be looked
at.

Sovereigns tend to be collected more for investment value than trade. The quality of the coin
has become more important here with an attractive and perfectly minted coin having a much
higher value than one which has been worn or chipped. It is important to be able to ‘grade’ the
condition of gold coins when seeking coins for investment purposes.

Sovereigns are a useful source of portable money. Soldiers often carry Gold Sovereigns with
them when going to war. Gold Sovereigns can be cashed in and are accepted just about
anywhere.

Much better than savings in the bank, Sovereigns have continued to increase over the years
and a good collection of Gold Sovereign coins can be expected to improve in value very
nicely over the medium to long term.

Thursday, December 15, 2005

What are Krugerrands?

The Krugerrand gold coin is named after Stephanus Johannes Paul Kruger. Known as Uncle
Paul, Kruger was a former South African President and famous figure in the formation of the
South African Republic. His head is on the obverse, or “heads” side of the coin. The reverse
or “tails” side shows a Springbok Antelope, one of the national symbols of South Africa.

The Krugerrand was first minted in 1967 and was the first gold coin to contain exactly one
ounce (31.1.55 grams) of fine gold. The Krugerrand was produced to provide a way for
individuals to own gold. By bestowing legal tender status upon the coin, Krugerrands could
be owned by citizens of the United States where, at that time, private ownership of bullion
was prohibited but ownership of foreign coins allowed.

In 1980 smaller sized coins were produced including a half, quarter and one tenth ounce
coins. All sizes have continued to be minted every year since. As a result of this the original
kruger, as it is often called, is referred to as a “full” or “one ounce” kruger and people in the
coin trade understand the kruger or krugerrand to be the full size original coin.

Krugerrands are available through the usual coin dealers and coin auction houses. When
purchasing krugerrands or ‘krugers’, ensure that the size is mentioned clearly. Also ensure the
date of mint, price and condition are clearly stated.

Although a matter of taste, the krugerrand is not generally considered aesthetically pretty but
it was never really designed to be. It was designed to be just a lump of gold an individual
could own. More tastefully design coins are available if looks matter, such as the British
Sovereign or the Canadian Maple for example.

If you are interested in a solid gold coin that clunks satisfactorily in your hand and the gold
content is guaranteed, you would be hard put to go past the pioneer of modern gold bullion
coins - the now famous krugerrand gold coin.
Thursday, December 15, 2005
Which gold coins are the best?

There are many different types of gold coins. Which are the
best? Some of the more famous gold coins include:

American Eagles
Australian and UK Sovereigns
South African Krugerrands
Canadian Maple Leafs
Chinese Pandas

The criteria one looks for in a gold coin are such items as:

 Type of coin. Eagle, Sovereign etc.

 Size of coin. These can vary also. Sometimes measured in value and sometimes in
weight.
 Face Value. 1 rand or 10 rands (South African) for example.
 Weight. Usually measured in troy ounces or part of an ounce but grams have also
become a popular weight measurement recently.
 Fineness. (999% fine) Amount of gold compared to other metals, such as silver. Gold
bars are usually measured as 999 parts per 1000. Most gold coins are usually 917 parts
per 1000. Other metal is added to make them easier to mint.
 Gold Content in Grams. The weight of the gold contained within a gold coin
measured in grams.
 Gold Content in troy Ounces. The weight of the gold contained within a gold coin
measured in ounces.
 Price. How much you would be expected to pay for the gold coin advertised. This
would include any margin added by the seller and any tax that might be applicable.
This is often referred to as 'price above spot'.

When buying gold coins the information should be clearly displayed along with, ideally, a
picture of the coin. Sometimes included is the date it was minted and the condition, if it is a
mint coin (new, never been used, Mint Issue).

In fact, if the quality of the coins are up to par then it is really a matter of personal taste what
coins one collects. American Eagles appeal to some people, Sovereigns to others. One simply
picks those coins that appeals to one’s taste and collects those.
So the criteria for which coins are the best is the quality of the coins on offer including the
value of gold contained, its condition and weight compared to the price.

Once you can establish that to your satisfaction, you are ready to collect the best gold coins
which of course are the gold coins of your choice and have fun doing so!

Should you buy gold online?

If asked, should you buy gold online the answer is that it is

quite safe to buy gold and gold coins online and there are many places one can do so provided
one follows a few rules.

Obviously one should be sensible about it and ensure that one is dealing with a reputable
dealer as well as understanding what you are buying. Is it the right type of gold for you? Is it
the right price for you?

Here are a few guidelines that can help you to buy gold on the internet.

First ensure that you know exactly what you want in terms of gold. Is it gold coins? If so,
which ones do you want? Sovereigns, Eagles, Krugerrands or others? Or are you looking for
gold bullion? What size or weight?

Next, work out how much you can spend on a particular transaction. This should be an
amount you can afford. It is nice to browse but easy to overspend. Especially when
purchasing gold! Be aware that there may be shipping and insurance costs to add to the total
payable.

You should ensure you purchase from a reputable dealer. Most dealers on the internet are
reputable but there are a very few who would not be considered reputable.

If you find a dealer that has:

 No contact details other than a generic email, such as hot mail, or contact page.
 No security for credit card payments. In other works the lock does not appear in your
browser when going to the payments page and the http does not change to https.
 No information about delivery.
 Poor looking and/or unprofessional site.
It is advisable not to buy from that dealer no matter how enticing the products appear to be.

Generally, you can safely purchase gold coins or gold bullion from internet dealers. Usually
the larger dealers will also have shops or outlets so you know they have a location and are
here for the duration and not just for the night!

Always thoroughly check the web site. Study the products and prices. Read the terms of
service (so few people do) and make sure you understand what you are buying and from
whom. Ensure you know how much the total cost is, including such costs as shipping and
insurance, and you should be right!

Gold and gold coins are a great buy online!

When is the Best Time to Sell Gold?

It has been asked, when is the best time to sell gold? Apart
from traders who buy and sell, most people actually hold their gold in a number of ways.
Bullion, gold coins, gold held in trust or escrow for them and visible through an accounting
process are some of the ways.

Shares in gold mining companies (miners) are also available but this is not quite the same as
holding gold and the value of such shares can depend more on the activities of the company
than the value of gold itself.

There is nothing quite like having and holding gold in your hot little hands.

The trend of gold since the 1800s to present time is, overall, stable and now rising. From 1800
to the 1970s the value of gold compared to the US dollar remained stable at around 29 to 31
dollars per ounce. From the 1970s to the 1980 is rose to over 600 dollars per ounce. A very
dramatic rise and many will remember this. It has since dropped and stabilized in the range of
around 300 to 500 dollars per ounce but appears to be rising again.

Unlike the US dollar or any other floated fiscal currency, gold (and silver for that matter)
maintains a stability not subject to the same manipulative forces as currency is. Gold is not
subject to inflation or depression. In fact when the Dollar drops gold is seen to be more
valuable because it does not follow the drop suffered by the fiscal currency but maintains it’s
own integrity and value.
Of course if one needs the money one can sell gold, but that is not dependent on the value of
the gold or the investment value.

Apart from that scenario which is more dependent upon one's own circumstances than the
circumstances of gold price movements, when is the best time to sell gold?

The very best time to sell your gold bullion or gold coins is ... well ...Never!

Scrap Gold Price

The supply of recycled gold, or scrap gold, is an important part

of the dynamics of the gold market and depends largely on economic circumstances and on
the behavior of the gold price. It has been noted that the gold scrap supply typically rises in
times of economic distress or following a price rise.

What is the Scrap Gold Price?

The scrap gold price varies from day to day. As the price of gold climbs, the value of scrap
gold climb also.

To sell your scrap gold you need a scrap gold price and someone to buy it.

The first thing to find out is, what is the current price for spot gold?. This can be found in the
charts at the top of the page.

Second you need to find a dealer who buys scrap gold. There are many of these around and
most of them will pay you about 10 to 20 percent less than the current market value of gold.
There is a penalty for selling your gold at scrap price. The dealer has to process the gold you
sell him and wants to make some money on the deal as well.

Keep in mind that alloyed gold (less than 24 karat) will fetch proportionately less. In other
words you will not be able to sell a 9 karat gold necklace for the same price as a 24 karat gold
necklace. The closer to pure gold you are selling the better price you will get of course. Apart
from the fact that for a lower carat item there is less gold, there is also an extraction process to
pay for.

However, to off set that there is often other precious metals which may be extracted. Silver,
platinum, rhodium. If you suspect that other precious metals are present with the gold then
you would be looking to get a price on those also. For example, with gold fillings often you
will find platinum and palladium. Get a price for these are platinum, for example, has a higher
price per ounce than gold.
How to Sell Gold Scrap
It is quite possible to get a very good scrap gold price for all your old and unwanted gold.
Gold is virtually indestructible so unless it has been lost, all the gold ever mined still exists.
With the right equipment, it is very easy to recover gold from even the most complex mixes.
from most of the uses it has had since it is capable of being melted down, re-refined and
recycled.

The type of scrap gold one can sell includes the various karat densities as found in jewellery,
such as rings, chains, bracelets and earrings for example, from 8, through to 22 and 24 karat
gold. Also the 16K dental fillings, gold teeth, bridges, crowns, etc. Other gold such as gold
nuggets, pure gold coins and bars are also welcome at gold scrap dealers. In fact just about
anything that has gold in it will be accepted.

Remember also, the scrap gold price will change from day to day and when you decide to sell,
you should make an agreement with the dealer to accept a specific price otherwise some
dealers will only pay upon receipt of the gold and if it has dropped you would lose out.

Of course, on the other hand, it may rise. In any event, you can easily find a scrap gold price
for your old unwanted gold and recoup some value from it.

If you have a dealer willing to buy close to home it is simply a matter of taking the gold and
getting a price for it. If there is no one suitable you will have to send the gold away for a
quote. There are many reputable dealers who will do this and mostly they will, when
requested, send you a special envelope to put the gold in. this envelope should be registered
and require a signature when you return it and , of course, should be insured.

After the gold scrap dealer has assessed the gold you sent, you will get a phone call or email
to contact their representative who will then discuss the price they will pay for your gold. If
you are satisfied with it, they will simply send you a check. If you are not they will return the
gold.

How to Buy Gold Scrap

Of course it is possible you may want to buy gold scrap.

In this case you would probably be interested in pure gold, unless you have the facilities to
extract gold.

However most jewelry, for example, comes with the gold mixed with other metals, such as
silver, copper, even platinum and palladium and rhodium (in the case of white gold). The gold
purity is expressed as follows:
24 karat is 999.99 fine
22 karat is 916.6 fine
18 karat is 750 fine
14 karat is 585 fine
9 karat is 375 fine
24 carat is pure gold with nothing added. This is the purest gold available. Also has a fineness
of 1000 but this is expressed as 999 being 999 parts per 1000. This is because it is very
difficult to get real pure gold with absolutely no impurities and possible is for legal reasons
also. This applies to gold coins a lot. Canadian maples, for example are listed as 99.999%
purse gold.

There are other hallmark standards available as well as the above but these are the most
common. It tells you how much gold there is in a gold piece. 14 carat, for example, is 585
parts gold to 415 parts other metal. This is important if you buy gold scrap, or any gold for
that matter.

18 carat gold is more popular for gold jewelery with a 75 percent gold and 25 percent other
metals ratio, usually silver or copper or a mixture of both.

The 14 carat standard is used more extensively in industry and for such things as pen nibs,
circuit boards etc. It is also used in such jewelery as bracelets where more durability is
required due to more use.

There is also a 10 carat, containing 41.7 percent gold and known therefore as 417. This is
really just a cheaper version of the 14 carat and used for cheaper jewelery.

When it comes to the gold scrap price, whether you buy or sell gold scrap, it is important to
know how much gold there is in the piece.

Selling Scrap Gold

Selling scrap gold is an interesting area of

gold most people have not been aware of until recently. Since the value of gold has risen more
and more people are becoming aware that they can sell scrap gold and make a tidy profit from
it.

But how do they do it?

What is Scrap Gold

Scrap gold can include any products that are made of gold or include gold in its manufacture.

Bent/Broken Jewelry
Bracelets or chains that are inextricably tangled
Broken and unwanted gold scrap
Casting gold and grain
Cluster Rings
Gold alloys
Gold bracelets
Gold bullion
Gold chain
Gold class rings
Gold Coins
Gold coins and bars
Gold dental crowns and bridgework
Gold dust and sweeps
Gold Earrings
Gold findings
Gold flake
Gold ingots
Gold nuggets
Gold Pins/Brooches
Gold screen and mesh
Gold sheet
Gold sheet,
Gold shot
Gold sizing stock
Gold solder
Gold sponge
Gold wedding bands
Gold wire
Gold-filled scrap
Goldsmith's bench filings and sweeps
Items with missing stones
Karat gold jewelry
Melted gold
Old gold watches
Placer gold
Polishing and buffing dust

The condition is immaterial. Old gold that cannot be restored to its former glory is ideal and
the gold can be recovered.

Usually it would not be economical to repair such articles but they can easily be sold as scrap.
One would not necessarily get the face value of the item, such as a coin for example, but one
would get the gold value less a small margin from the dealer accepting your scrap gold.

Scrap gold can also be found in computer mother boards, old cell phones, scrap electronic
boards. High grade scrap such as gold plated integrated circuits, gold plated connectors, gold
plated fingers, pins, connectors etc.

How to Sell Scrap Gold

There are plenty of buyers for scrap gold. And they will jump over each other to get your
gold!

The better ones will offer a special gold kit. This basically consists of a prepaid envelope and
some kits may also consist of forms for describing the items you are sending in and various
other details.
You simply fill in the forms and enclose the item with the form in the special bag and post it.
It is advisable to make a copy of all the details you have entered on the form (a photo copy is
a good idea) before you send it.

Usually the envelope is covered by insurance up to a certain amount by the company issuing
the special kit. You can check out the details of this on the website. If you consider the gold
you are sending is worth more than the insurance offered you might need to come to some
other arrangement with the scrap metal merchant.

How Much Will You Get?

Generally speaking you will get the value of the gold the moment it is assessed by the dealer
less a handling fee. It is important to note that the price a dealer may pay will not reflect the
retail price of that item. It reflects merely the value of the gold by weight and quantity only.
What that fee is, is difficult to say as it can vary with the type of gold and the quantity you are
offering and the terms under which the dealer operates.

The dealer, when they have made an assessment, will advise you either by phone or email or
letter, depending on your mode of communication, and you can then decide if you want to sell
it or not. If decide to sell you simply advise them and they will send you a check. If not they
will return the gold.

Before you send the item off it is a good idea, if possible, to get an idea of what the gold is
worth.

How much gold is there in the item? what is the price of gold on the day? At the top of this
web site are charts giving the current price of gold. That is pure gold of course 24 karat. Gold
is generally priced at USD per troy ounce. If you have old and battered gold coins, weigh
them. Apart from some minute alloy such as copper or silver, they will be mostly gold and if
they are Canadian Maple Leaf Gold Coins, will be gold only.

The item you are selling may be of a lesser karat, such as a 18 or 22 karat ring for example,
and so would be worth proportionately less as there is less gold in the ring.

Tips and Hints for Selling Scrap Gold

It is a good idea to remove anything of value from the gold you are sending in. With rings, for
example, prise any stones out of the item or remove the gold from the rest of the piece so one
can weight the gold separately. Keep in mind that other alloys such as silver, platinum and the
stones may have a value also. If you can separate them, all the better. If not ensure it is clear
that there is other precious metal there and get a price for that also.

The purer the gold with less of other extraneous matter, the better. I may pay to spend some
time extracting the gold yourself if possible and can be done safely.

In any transactions with gold, it is prudent to make a complete copy of everything you do.
Copy all forms you send off. Photograph the piece you are sending if possible. Make notes on
phone calls made with names and dates. Keep all emails.

Ensure you understand the complete process with the dealer from start to finish.

What to do with the Money?

So you have sold your scrap gold and have received a check. As gold continues to increase in
value against the dollar you might like to look at investing that money in some gold coins or
bars.

That way you are likely to keep your funds. But of course that depends upon your
circumstances and the reasons why you are selling scrap gold.

Sell Gold

This articles is about how and why one would sell gold. The
need or desire to sell gold can be just as important to some people as it is to buy gold. Some
daily investors buy and sell gold on a regular basis. They tend to be more professional rather
than just the guy in the street who is not so familiar with the ins and outs of the gold market.
So how does the ordinary person sell gold and why should they?

Why Sell Gold

Some times the need arises to sell gold. For example, if circumstances demand that we need
funds for some emergency or we see some potential in the market that demands quick action
which we cannot resist.

People keep gold for various reasons. Asset protection, catching a good opportunity when the
value of gold increases. Preserving assets which others cannot access (ex spouses, creditors
etc). Even just liking the idea of keeping ones assets in gold rather than in a bank.

So the reasons to sell gold may vary also. Cashing in some assets to recover funds for some
purpose such as pay bills, buy that car you have always wanted, take advantage of a dramatic
increase in gold value. Seeing an opportunity elsewhere and selling your gold to utilize those
funds elsewhere.

How to Sell Gold

How you sell gold can depend on what types of gold you have.

You might not want to sell all of your gold so if you have bullion in the form of coins and
bars, these are easy to sell. You can sell all or even just a portion of your total gold holding
this way. Most dealers and even private individuals are willing to buy gold. Generally you
will get, from a dealer, just below spot. The dealer also wants to make some money and he
has to on sell the gold to do so. Selling privately you can get the spot price and sometimes a
little more. Gold sold by online auctions, such as eBay generally sell for over spot. But if the
price of gold moves up quickly the buyer can still get a good deal. Timing is everything here.

Here are a few points worth remembering also.

Coins are easier to sell than the larger bars. Basically people do not have to pay so much
money for coins. A ten ounce bar is a lot of money for many people and comes under the
category of big ticket items. Such bullion bars would really be sold to dealers who have a high
cash flow. Individuals will buy coins however and generally pa over the then current value or
price of gold..

Of course, the price you get for selling your gold is dependent on the prevailing price of gold
at that time.

If you are going to select a dealer, ensure you select a reputable one for your gold coins or
gold bullion. The larger dealers online have a reputation to consider and also have a standard
process for buying gold. It is good advice, also, to check a number of established reputable
dealers as the price offers may vary.

When it comes to selling by auction, such as eBay, it will be easier if you have an established
eBay account with a track record as expressed in the feedback pages. However, if you are
selling large quantities of gold coins you might want to consider one of the larger auction
houses such as Sotheby’s for example.

But if you are simply selling one or two gold coins then a dealer would most likely be your
best option. Some coins are easier to sell that others. Canadian Maple Leaf Gold Coins,
American Eagle and Sovereigns are always popular with buyers and consequently very easy
to sell.

Should you Sell Gold

For most of us, the entrance point into the fascinating world of gold is actually owning gold in
the form of coins of various types and sizes or perhaps, if we are more fortunate, gold bullion
bars,.

Most people like to save their gold coins and bullion not just for the looks or for the
knowledge that they "own some gold", but also for investment purposes. One can quite easily
accumulate a healthy investment in gold which, over time, does not diminish but in fact
improves in value.

The best advice for selling gold is of course don’t sell gold but instead buy gold.

But if you absolutely must sell gold, rest assured that at least you will get top value for your
gold coins or gold bullion!

Gold Price Dropping

 Sometimes you will see the gold price dropping. There has
been a substantial rise and then, suddenly,it turns around and drops. Many people then
frantically sell gold but in fact it is those that buy gold (from those selling of course) who
benefit the most. They get the gold at a reduced price because, sure as eggs are eggs, the gold
price will rise again.

Gold price has traditionally risen, in the long term, and with small dips occasionally, has
enabled the astute to make a tidy profit here and there. Anyone who has purchased gold over
the past 10 years and not sold it, will be sitting back congratulating themselves with a
proverbial pat on the back and a somewhat healthier asset balance.

More importantly perhaps, the value of gold has not changed over the past 50 -100 years.
How could this be? You ask. It is simple. The value of gold does not change. But the value of
the currency you use to buy and sell gold does. An ounce of gold will still purchase the same
goods now as it did fifty or one hundred years ago. But you need an awful lot more dollars to
make the same purchase with currency.

Keeping one ounce of gold for 10 years say and the cost of one ounce of gold in dollars at the
time of purchase will quickly show the disparity in the value. One ounce of gold 10 years ago
was around 300 dollars per ounce. These days it is running at around 750 to 850 dollars an
ounce. but whereas the purchasing power of 300dollars has reduced over 10 years, the
purchasing power of an ounce of gold has remained stable, in fact increased slightly.

Examples of inflation and the drop in the US dollar over the years are demonstrated below:

A postage stamp in the 1950s cost 3 cents; today's cost is 41 cents - 1,266% inflation;
A gallon of 90 Octane full-service gasoline cost 18 cents before; today it is $3.05 for self-
service - 1,870 % inflation;
A house in 1959 cost $14,100; today's median price is $213,000 - 1,400% inflation;
A dental crown used to cost $40; today it's $1,100 - 2,750% inflation;
An ice cream cone in 1950 cost 5 cents; today its $2.50 - 4,900% inflation;
Monthly government Medicare insurance premiums paid by seniors was $5.30 in 1970; its
now $93.50 - 1,664% inflation; (and up 70% past 5 years)

However one ounce of gold continues to purchase the same regardless of inflation since it is
not the cost if living that has risen but the value of the dollar than has dropped.

In this way it can be seen that it pays to retain at least some assets in gold, regardless of any
day to day or week to week fluctuations. In fact when the price of gold drops slightly, that is a
good time to increase ones holdings in gold by taking advantage of a temporary lower price.
So, even with the gold price dropping, to buy gold can still be seen as an astute and successful
action!

Sell Gold Coins

As the price of gold rises many people start to consider they would like to
sell gold coins. They may have accumulated some gold coins over a period of years and now
the price of gold is higher might be looking to make a profit.

Although it is not difficult to find someone to buy gold, of course it is better to keep ones gold
coins as it looks very likely that gold will continue to rise as the dollar and economy drops
into a decline.

But ff you are keen to sell gold coins either because you have a large stock of them or because
you are interested in trading or making a living selling gold coins, there are two basic ways
you can do so.

Gold Bullion Dealer

First you can become a coin or bullion dealer. If you have a very large quantity of gold coins
this might be the way to go. It would, however, require some considerable expertise in the
subject of gold coins and gold bullion. There is some investment in time and marketing and, if
you are selling on line, then a website and all that that entails. It can also require a heavy
investment up front in additional stock and, if you are opening a shop, some expenses in
setting up the shop. There is also the question of licenses and or governmental approvals
which may be required in some countries. Also there are tax considerations to consider. What
sort of company will you have, private or public, individual or a limited company.

Yes if you want to be a coin dealer, there are many things to take into account just to sell a
few coins.

Sell Gold Coins Privately

An alternative, if you have just a few coins or a one off sale, then you can sell your coins
either to another individual, by auction or to a coin or bullion dealer. The individual will
usually give you the best price, usually the spot or just above. But it is harder to find an
individual who is willing to buy a simple gold coin. Auction is another possibility. You can
get a good price or a not so good price depending on the current market and who is actually
online bidding. The coin or bullion dealer will give you the spot gold value of the coin(s) you
are selling less their margin as, of course, they want to make a profit when they resell the
coins.
Gold Coin Auctions
On the auction option. This has been taken up by many people around the globe, and a few
have turned it into a business. If you enter the words ‘gold coins’ in the search field at eBay
you will get something like 80 pages of gold coins for sale. The thing to look for here to find
out what gold coins sell is to look, not so much at the coins for sale as the number of bids.
Some coins will have heaps of bids and some very few if any. Those that do not have many
bids are not so popular and if you have those sorts of coins you are not likely to sell then very
well. If you have the same sorts of coins that are attracting lots of bids well you can be sure
you will get lots of bids too and a good price for the coin.

To summarize, some pointers to look for here are:

What coins attract the most bids?

Who sells the most coins?
How do they promote and sell their coins?

As this is an established field it is an excellent way to find out all the ins and outs of selling
coins. Being a public auction such information is exposed and, whereas a bullion or coin
dealer might be reluctant to help you be a competitor in the business, here you can simply
watch and observe the various ways coin dealers on eBay and other auction houses sell their
coins.

Probably the biggest advantage is when you have a track record and ideally, are a power
seller. But all power sellers were new once and everyone has to start somewhere. You may
only wish to sell a coin or two or you may be keen to start up a career selling coins. Either
way, provided you are honest and demonstrate this with your eBay feedback, you will surely
sell your gold coins to your and your buyers satisfaction.

Should You Really Sell Your Gold Coins

Really one should only sell gold cons when one needs to. Gold is still under valued and has
some way to go to hit the real price of gold and, although, you are likely to find someone who
will buy gold there is more to be gained by keeping your gold coins and watching them
increase in value.

Sell Gold Coins Online

So you would like to to sell gold coins online! Sometimes it

can be necessary to sell some gold coins, either for economic or other reasons and this can
easily be done online.

There are a few factors to keep in mind however, when selling gold coins online.

If you have been buying your coins from the same established dealer, then he would be the
first place to go to sell them. He will have a record of the coins and know the current value
and, as you are an established customer, he is more likely to give you a good price.

But you may have purchased your coins over time from here and there and not through one
established dealer.

Then you basically have three choices. You can either sell to a dealer you can visit, sell to a
dealer online or sell through an online auction.

Selling to a dealer you can visit is the easiest as you can take the coins with you and the dealer
can give you a price on the spot. However it may not always be the price you want. With an
online dealer you may have to send the coins in and wait for a price. Some dealers will offer a
price unseen for popular established coins. But if you have coins that are rare or unusual the
dealer will definitely want to see them before making you an offer.

Selling by auction requires a bit of thought and preparation if you wish to ensure the sale and
to get the best possible price. As well as eBay there are also a number of coin auctions
available online and it only requires registration and some study of the process in order to get
started selling your coins.

If you like the excitement of auctions and are prepared to take a bit of a risk in terms of how
much you will get for your coins, auctions are the way to go. People have been known to get
fabulous prices by selling at online auctions. But if you do not want any fuss and simply want
to offload the coins as quickly as possible then the dealer is the way to go.

Which ever way you go, browse around using google.com and look at what options you have
available to you.

Gold coins are very easy to sell and to sell gold coins online can be a fun as well as a very
profitable experience!

Sell Gold and Silver

 More and more people are becoming aware of the fact that
they can buy and sell gold and silver.

The drop in confidence by people in fical currency, as governments print more paper money
to solve the problem of inflation and debt caused by the printing of more paper money, also
inspires them to seek 'hard' currency and asset storage in the form of solid gold and silver.

In times of economic crisis or heavy government control, people gravitate towards something
they feel has a solidity and a stability proven over many years and that is usually precious
metals and jewelry.

When the value of printed currency fluctuates wildly, the value of gold and silver still holds
it’s own and an ounce of gold or silver still purchases the same, if not more, than an ounce of
gold or silver did 10 or 20 years ago. Many people than accumulate gold and silver in the
form of coins and small bars.

The question then arises, when should one sell gold or silver? Of course when the value is at
its highest. This will most likely not happen for some time. Both metals are rising steadily as
governments violate the most basic of economics resulting in increased debt and inflation. If
one can get by without selling gold and silver, then one gets to retain one’s assets and most
likely, even increase them as the value of gold and silver increases against the value of the
printed dollar.

Gold and silver hold their value, regardless of the economic climate. An ounce of gold will
always be an ounce of gold. It will always purchase what an ounce of gold purchases. The
same with silver. Accumulating gold and silver coins and bars is an excellent way to store
one's assets for the future.

Don Stott at Sell Gold and Silver gives a good rendition of the importance of when not to sell
gold and silver.

The point then is, if you want to sell gold or silver, don’t, unless you absolutely have to do so
to survive.

When To Sell Gold

 When to sell gold is an important question. Much
depends on why you bought gold in the first place and why you have it.

If you bought gold coins for pleasure because they look nice then it is unlikely that you would
even consider selling your gold. However if you bought gold bullion in the form of bars or
antique gold coins or even proof sets, then it is quite likely you bought your gold with a eye to
the future.

Then the question, when to sell gold, becomes an issue.

The value of gold, as against the various currencies, goes up and down. At the top of this
website you can see the gold price in USD and Euros. See also the gold price per ounce page
for the gold price in your local currency.

So the next question becomes, Are you holding gold for the short term of the long term? If the
short term then the value of gold on a day to day basis will assume a bigger importance. If the
long term then it is the long term trend that will be of most interest.

For some people when to sell gold is when they need the money. For others it is when the
value of gold rises well above the value it was when they purchased it. So the reason why one
is selling gold can be important too.

Taking all these factors into consideration and leaving nothing out will give one a good
indication of when to sell gold.

It may not always be when you think. And of course one should consult one’s financial
advisor if one is buying and selling more for investment purposes than as a coin collector.

Whatever the reason why you have gold coins, knowing when to sell gold is just as important
as knowing when to buy it.

Selling Gold on eBay

 Selling gold on eBay is now subject to some new rules and it is
wise to take note of them, especially for a power seller.

Nothing can be more devastating to a power seller than to have your products removed or,
worse, be removed yourself, from selling on eBay for violating eBay's rules.

The new rules cover the terms "gold-plated," "gold-filled," "gold-electroplated," "gold
overlay," and "rolled-gold". These may be used provided the alloy used for the plating is
greater than or equal to 10kt gold.

From now on sellers must spell out the qualifier - such as "plated" -- throughout the body of
the description wherever the word "gold" is used.

According to eBay, "The term "gold vermeil" may be used as long as the item consists of a
base of sterling silver coated or plated on all significant surfaces with gold, or a gold alloy of
at least 10kt fineness, and substantial thickness and minimum thickness throughout equivalent
to two and one half (2 ½) microns (or approx. 100/1,000,000ths of an inch) of fine gold.
Sellers must spell out the qualifier "vermeil" throughout the body of the description wherever
the word "gold" is used."

Sellers are still permitted to describe an item that is gold or silver in color as “gold-tone” or
“silver-tone” in the item title (with or without hyphen is permitted) and throughout the
description but sellers may not use the word “golden”.

Items that are not solid gold must not be listed in categories for solid gold, but should be listed
in the "Gold, Plate/Fill" categories. This was actually effective from January the 4, 2005.

In addition all sellers are required to use industry-standard abbreviations in the item title, such
as "gf", "gp", or "gep," when listing these items.

So when selling gold on eBay it pays to take note of these new changes and ensure that
descriptions of gold products and gold related products have a proper and accurate description
for buyers.

What are my gold coins worth

 Sometimes, when you look at your prized collection of coins so painstakingly
collected over many years you might ask yourself, "What are my gold coins worth?"

As the value of gold, and even silver, increases in value and the rarity of you coins increase,
especially if you have collected those of a limited mintage or older, rarer coins in near perfect
condition, it is very likely that your coin collection will have increased in value quite
satisfactorily.

Provided of course that you have kept the coins in the same condition as when they were first
purchased. Never taking them out of their sealed packaging so they do not get damaged or, in
the case of silver, tarnished. Never clean them and keeping them out of direct sunlight.

Now there are various sites one can go to to get a good idea of the value of your coins.

What’s my gold coins worth?, and What are gold coins worth are two such sites and there are
many others.

One can also check out the various coin auctions and eBay and see what the same coins are
fetching on the open market.

Of course one can get a valuation done of various coins or even the entire collection and
really one should on a regular basis at least yearly. This is a good idea for insurance purposes
among others. In this way one would get a registered coin dealer to do a valuation and give
you a written official result.

Whatever you do it is safe to say that the answer to the question, "What’s my gold coin
worth?" is, "more than it was when I bought the coins!"

Gold vs. Silver

 Sometimes, when it comes to what to buy, it
is a case of gold vs. silver. Both are equally a good investment but which one could you call
the best?

There are two prime factors that will influence whether to buy gold or silver. They are
affordability and taste.

Gold
For some people it is gold all the way. Even if they cannot afford the one ounce gold coins or
gold bars there are smaller coins such as the one tenth gold coins, which are more affordable.
Unfortunately they also command a higher price in proportion as the mint's or dealer's mark
up has to be added, plus expenses, shipping etc. Usually, the smaller the coin, the higher the
additional costs are in relation to it.

The cost of the gold if you are buying 5 ounces or a kilo of gold coins or bars is much less
than if you buy a one tenth ounce gold bullion bar.

Silver
Economically for some people, silver is the way to go. An ounce of silver is affordable for
just about anyone. Silver is currently running at around 12 USD per ounce. A big difference
to gold at 550 to 600 USD an ounce. It is possible to buy one kilo silver coins as well as one
or two ounce coins. If you are buying silver purely for the silver sake and not interested in it
from a coin collector's point of view, then junk silver or bags of old silver coins may be the
way to go. Keep in mind that there is usually a higher margin above spot price for buying
silver from a mint than for buying gold.

The other option is to strike a balance and buy both gold and silver. Perhaps buy some gold
coins to keep for the long term maybe more infrequently and, on a more regular basis, buy
silver coins. This can be a happy medium. If the need ever comes to sell but you do not want
to sell your gold you can always sell small amounts of silver to tide you over and still retain
your most valuable asset.

So when it comes to gold vs. silver, there really is no contest. Each have their place and each
have their advantages.

Why Buy Gold

 'Why buy gold?' is a question often asked
by potential gold bullion collectors.

As we know, gold has been steadily rising since last year and has recently experienced a fall
and has stablised out currently. However it appears it may be on the rise again and reaching
for a new level.

In actual fact, in the long term, gold has proven over the past 200 years to be very stable. The
value of gold as a purchasing power, distinct from the purchase power of the US dollar for
example, still remains very much the same or better.

If you look back through history you would find that one ounce of pure gold has hardly
changed at all. One ounce of pure gold now still purchases the same as it did 200 years ago.
The change in paper currency however, due to manipulation and removing the gold backing
from currencies world wide, has been dramatic and can be shown by the consumer price
index. What originally cost 20 dollars in 1800 cost 216.86 dollars in 2005. Yet one ounce of
gold still purchases today what it did 200 years ago. In fact it is tending to purchase more.

It is likely that this scenario will continue and over the next 200 years, inflation, recession etc.
will continue as more paper money is printed. Yet the value of the pure gold troy ounce will
remain the same in terms of purchasing power.

This is a good reason to purchase gold.

The next question is 'what sort of gold should one buy?'

Out of the possible four types, stocks, exchange traded funds (ETFs), futures and bullion, it is
the bullion that will retain its value. Stocks can crash, futures can change wildly and exchange
traded funds, although based upon actual stocks, rather like the dollar when it was backed by
gold, still has the volatility of trading in a similar way to stocks and futures.

Bullion has a history of remaining stable, whether it be gold bars or gold coins, both have the
stability of being actual gold rather than a representation of it. Both have the assurance of
retaining their value even when there is a stock market downturn or an economic recession
and both have an instant salability at the value of gold at the time of the sale.

Plus, gold coins and gold bars can be easily transported and stored making them the ideal
medium to invest value in.

This then, for the collector as well as the investment or even just the hobbyist, is the answer to
the question, why buy gold.

Which Gold to Buy

Which gold to buy can be an important question for the gold

enthusiast.

There are so many types of gold one can buy. These can include gold investments such as
stocks in mining companies or gold futures, gold accounts such as goldmoney.com or gold
bullion such as gold bars or coins.

Firstly, gold investments, stocks and futures are very much a professional market and not for
the hobbyist, more for the speculator in gold. For this one needs experience and a very good
and trustworthy commodity broker. In addition there are some tax considerations to be aware
of which may not apply with buying gold coins for collections.

Gold accounts can be held with banks in some countries but not all. This is an area banks are
moving away from. However there are private companies that store actual gold in escrow for
those who have accounts with them and this is one way one can own and store gold, usually
purely for investment purposes.

Then we have gold bullion. This is in the form of gold bars and gold coins. When it comes to
which gold to buy, this is probably the best way for most people. It is easy to obtain gold
coins and small bars. They are not difficult to store and, best of all, they retain their value
even in times of crisis or economic need.

However, sometimes it is a matter of personal choice which gold to buy. Either way there are
some criteria to be aware of.

 Learn as much as you can about the various type of gold you can buy.
 Select your plan of which gold to buy and what your budget is.
  Do an extensive browse on which gold you want to buy.

Which gold to buy is your choice, but which ever type you choose, ensure you have fun and
enjoy your gold, whatever form it may take!

Which Gold to Buy

Which gold to buy can be an important question for the gold

enthusiast.

There are so many types of gold one can buy. These can include gold investments such as
stocks in mining companies or gold futures, gold accounts such as goldmoney.com or gold
bullion such as gold bars or coins.

Firstly, gold investments, stocks and futures are very much a professional market and not for
the hobbyist, more for the speculator in gold. For this one needs experience and a very good
and trustworthy commodity broker. In addition there are some tax considerations to be aware
of which may not apply with buying gold coins for collections.

Gold accounts can be held with banks in some countries but not all. This is an area banks are
moving away from. However there are private companies that store actual gold in escrow for
those who have accounts with them and this is one way one can own and store gold, usually
purely for investment purposes.

Then we have gold bullion. This is in the form of gold bars and gold coins. When it comes to
which gold to buy, this is probably the best way for most people. It is easy to obtain gold
coins and small bars. They are not difficult to store and, best of all, they retain their value
even in times of crisis or economic need.

However, sometimes it is a matter of personal choice which gold to buy. Either way there are
some criteria to be aware of.

 Learn as much as you can about the various type of gold you can buy.
 Select your plan of which gold to buy and what your budget is.
 Do an extensive browse on which gold you want to buy.
Which gold to buy is your choice, but which ever type you choose, ensure you have fun and
enjoy your gold, whatever form it may take!

Gold Shortage

There is a gold shortage coming up.

The world is running low on gold and here's why.

As the standard of living in China and India increases more and more people there will be
demanding gold. As an example, the Chinese middle class has been increasing and although is
a tiny percentage of the overall Chinese population it is still bigger than the entire population
of the US now. The Chinese government is actively encouraging their population to buy gold.
This is a lot of gold demand in China alone. The same is happening in India and their demand
for gold is continuing to increase.

This is on top of the extra demand by cautious and impatient investors who are not getting the
results they expect from bonds and investments.

The world's biggest gold miner, Barrick Gold has noted that finding more and more viable
gold deposits is becoming harder. The chart above shows how gold deposit discoveries are
rapidly declining and we know what that means. The value of gold, quite apart from the
decreasing dollar, is going to go up as demand outstrips supply.
According to Barrick,

"Current global mine production is in the order of 85 million ounces per annum, whereas…
the last time the industry found that many ounces in a year was 1999."

And

"This dearth of new discoveries is despite the significant increase in exploration spending
since 2002. Particularly disconcerting (to the larger mining companies at least) is the decline
in discoveries since 2006 notwithstanding exploration spending has more than doubled from
$2.5 billion to over $5 billion."
But what about gold mining profits I hear some ask? Surely with the rising gold price there is
more room for profit in existing mines. Well, like in other areas, the costs of mining gold have
increased also. Not just explorations costs but also fuel, labor, infrastructure have all more
than doubled over the past few years. It takes millions of dollars to start up a new mine and
that is assuming it is feasible. The average is a two year wait on investment returns for a new
gold mining company. Investors will not wait longer than that.

In addition all the 'easy' gold has been found and there is a chronic gold shortage.

There are large deposits but they are in either inhospitable or remote areas and expensive to
reach. The Seabridge Gold KSM Deposit, for example, is very large but being in a far off
corner of British Columbia in Canada it would cost far in excess of the return to even reach it,
let alone extract the gold and ship it out.

Such a chronic gold shortage means that the gold price will continue to increase and this is
probably the very best time to buy gold.

Not enough gold to go around

Is there not enough gold to go around?

A few indicators seem to point that way and if this is so then the current and future demand
for gold is only going to drive the gold price up even further.

The SPDR Gold Trust GLD is in the news over their bumbling PR effort to assuage investors
fears regarding how many gold bars are held in trust for GLD investors. The bar offered up as
a GLD bar apparently turned out to be someone else's gold bar. So the rumors of GLD
applying a 'fractional system' and not holding as many gold bars as needed to cover all the
investors accounts continue. The fact that total ETF holdings now exceed total world
production of gold is another indicator. Where are they getting their gold from?

And, by the way, if you have any 'shares' in the GLD, you do not actually own any gold.

Quote from the GLD website:

Can you take physical possession of the gold?

The Trustee, the Bank of New York Mellon, does not deal directly with the public. The Trustee
handles creation and redemption orders for the Trust’s shares with Authorized Participants,
who deal in blocks of 100,000 shares. An individual investor wishing to exchange shares for
physical gold would have to come to the appropriate arrangements with his or her broker.

This conveniently prevents a run by investors demanding their gold. As Mike Maloney, CEO
of GoldSilver has pointed out, "If you can't hold it, you don't own it!"

Another indicator is the suppression of the gold price known by the Chinese and recently
made public by WikiLeaks as follows:

"The U.S. and Europe have always suppressed the rising price of gold. They intend to weaken
gold's function as an international reserve currency. They don't want to see other countries
turning to gold reserves instead of the U.S. dollar or euro. Therefore, suppressing the price of
gold is very beneficial for the U.S. in maintaining the U.S. dollar's role as the international
reserve currency."

Shorting the futures gold price is one way to do this. Also applying a fractional system to
imply there is more gold available than there actually is, is another.

Just a few days ago Precious-metals trader Dan Norcini noticed that 4,000 gold contracts --
representing about $740 million worth of 'virtual' gold bullion -- changed hands on the
COMEX within just one minute. Norcini stated, "If it is not obvious by now, it should be -- an
attempt by the Central Banks of the West to derail the rise in the gold price is currently
underway."

If it becomes generally known and accepted there is not enough gold to go around, imagine
what that would do to the price of gold AND the value of the dollar and euro?

Here is a speculative thought. Gadaffi held billions in gold. What if the western banks wanted
that gold to make up a shortfall knowing that with the diminishing confidence in the dollar
and euro, more countries would be demanding their gold back in the future? That future being
now of course.

Hey who was it that demanded their gold back recently? Oh yes that Venezuela's chap, Hugo
Chavez, President of the country. Venezuela owns 99 tones of gold in the UK and wants it
back. That is 11 billion dollars worth. AND they are not the only ones.

Not long ago, the US Treasury annoounced it ran out of blanks for one ounce $50 American
Gold Eagle coins (currently worth around $1900). How can you run out of blanks?

In addition, Robin Griffiths, of Cazenove recently make some interesting remarks in an

interview with King World News. Cazenove, a British stockbroker and investment bank
founded in 1823 by Philip Cazenove, is widely regarded to be the appointed stockbroker to
Her Majesty the Queen.

Griffiths was asked about a recent trip to Hong Kong and responded, by stating that he
considered Asia will be the principle buyers of gold for the rest of this year. He also indicated
that the move into gold is being led by high net worth individuals.
He also indicated, "If I had to make a list of the great bubbles I am going to live through, I
think gold is going to be one of the big ones. All of the gold ever mined in history just fills
one Olympic swimming pool. There's not enough for all of those Indians and Chinese and
central banks to have it. It is just genuinely in short supply."

Pension funds are now starting to accumulate gold to help stabilise their investments.
However Pension funds buy in large amounts and this is likely to contribute to a bigger
shortfall in gold availability.

In view of the above and other indicators to numerous to mention, perhaps there is not enough
gold to go around.

Gold Price to reach $6000 dollars an ounce

According to Urs Gmuer, the Asset Manager of Dolefin, an authorised collective investment
funds manager, 'Gold prices may reach $6,200 per ounce in a bull run which will end all
major bull markets.'

'Gold prices have risen over the last few years, as the macroeconomic picture has become
worse. The deterioration of the fundamental situation has now gone even further.'

'Purchases by investors of gold will be based on fears of systemic risk or banking crashes,'
Gmuer said.

Gmuer's prediction is based on the events in the last major dramatic gold boom in the late
1970s in which gold rose from 35 to a heady 850 dollars an ounce.

'The ultimate currency, which has stood the test of time, which has no political support behind
it, is gold. Nobody can print gold out of a machine or a PC.' He stated.

Noting that this time round there is much more economic instability and, investors will
continue to seek for safe havens.

He also said that there were no safe currencies remaining, particularly with, 'What the Swiss
National Bank did two-and-a-half weeks ago, increasing the supply of the Swiss franc, means
the safe currencies are all gone. That is why gold will have a revival.'

He added, 'This bull trend will end all the other major bull markets,' and pointed to debt
capital as an asset class where demand and prices are going to continue to decline.

Coupled with a further 500 billion in debt now being created guaranteeing an even further
decline of the dollar and a poor showing of interest rates, gold and silver are now the only true
safe havens available to cautious investors.

Under these circumstances the gold price reaching $6000 dollars an ounce
Is not out of the question.
Spike in the Gold Price

In India it is the wedding season and love is in the air. From now until the end of December
gold will be the dowry, savings and investment of choice. Could this be what is causing the
spike in the gold price? Yes according to some analysts.

But there is likely to be much more to it than that. Yes India and China are the biggest buyers
of gold in the world and as the standard of living for many increases, especially in China, this
buying frenzy will only continue.

Gold has always been the traditional metal for security in Asia. Gold dealers in Singapore are
noticing more buyers in the market but fewer sellers. This is also contributing to driving the
price of gold up. But is it really a spike in the gold price?

According to one gold dealer:

"Most sell orders are parked close to the $1,900 level, and so long as we stay in the range of
$1,800 to $1,900, the bullish trend is pretty much intact."

In China the growing middle class are being urged by the government to buy gold. In
Indonesia the smaller gold bars are now very much favoured as a hedge against rising
inflation. In Vietnam more and more business and trading is done with gold than ever before
and more and more gold is being hoarded

Since the end of June the gold price has rallied 400 US dollars and demand in Asia is now
outstripping supply.

So contributing to the a rising price of gold is a weak global economy, fears of recession, the
Chinese policy of converting the ailing dollars they have into the safety and security of gold
and not least the Wedding Season in India.

And when the wedding season is over in late December weak global economy, fears of
recession, the Chinese policy of converting the ailing dollars they have into the safety and
security of gold will still be there and supply will still be trying to catch up with demand, so
the spike in the gold price will likely not be a spike at all but just the steady continued rise of
the price of gold.
The Unofficial Gold Standard

There may not be an official gold standard but there is certainly an unofficial one. This is
conformed by the heavy buying of gold by banks, gold fund managers, the wealthy and even
small buyers. All want to preserve their wealthy in gold.

Central banks have shifted from being fairly consistent net sellers of gold to net buyers in
2009 and 2010, a trend that seems likely to continue. Mature economies seem to be satisfied
with the amount of gold they own, and have withdrawn from selling. Countries that run trade
surpluses, including China, India and Russia, are now putting some of that surplus into gold,
big time.

More vaults are being opened or constructed by banks to store gold. This is not a cheap
activity so the small premium banks get for storage indicates that they are expecting a high
volume of gold to be stored in order to make it worth their while.
The Bank of Korea is purchasing gold in regular sizable amounts in an effort to reduce its US
dominated holdings.

And not just banks either. US States are getting in on the act. Utah was the first, enacting
legislation to make gold and silver coins legal currency, Other States seem to want to follow
with Minnesota leading the charge.

And not just US States either. Entire Countries want to hold gold stocks. Venezuela has
demanded all its gold back from Western Banks, China, as we know, is hoarding its own gold
production as well as buying as much gold as it can from overseas and encouraging its
citizens to buy gold. Same with India, and many other countries. Switzerland has been
looking keenly at a proposal to introduce the Swiss gold Franc. Even Greece is adding to its
gold reserves despite its crippling debt issue.

Romania's central bank is looking hard at increasing its gold reserves. The bank's Governor
Mugur Isarescu. Has indicated 'the bank's policy board will discuss a proposal made by
President Traian Basescu to double the country's gold reserves to almost 200 tons in the
following period, after developing the Rosia Montana gold mine, together with Gabriel
Resources Ltd. (GBU), Isarescu said in a speech in the south eastern city of Constanta,
according to Mediafax.'
The list goes on.

Gold bulls, such as gold-fund manager John Paulson, can foresee much higher prices for gold
in the future on the premise that currencies hold little or no future for safety whereas gold
continues to retain its value come what may.

And, there is a waiting list for buyers of gold bullion and small quantities. Production is only
just keeping up. Even eBay is acknowledging the market interest in gold with a special area
now set up for gold buying and selling.

Some analysts are stating that gold has a long way to go yet with figures around the 2550 to
5000 dollars an ounce being waved around. And this is not unbelievable. What is evident is
that gold is not yesterday’s child anymore. It is today's adult and is fast becoming the standard
by which other stored value and currency are measured. Currencies may go down on a giddy
roller coaster ride but gold continues to hold its head up high, at least in the Unofficial Gold
Standard

China Exposes US Gold Suppression

Perhaps inadvertently China has exposed the Gold Suppression practiced by the US
government and Federal Reserve and may go a long way to explaining the increased focus on
China's increasing its gold reserves.

According to a recently leaked WikiLeaks Document:

"China increases its gold reserves in order to kill two birds with one stone"

The China Radio International sponsored newspaper World News Journal (Shijie Xinwenbao)
(04/28): "According to China's National Foreign Exchanges administration China’s gold
reserves have recently increased. Currently, the majority of its gold reserves have been
located in the U.S. and European countries. The U.S. and Europe have always suppressed the
rising price of gold. They intend to weaken gold's Function as an international reserve
currency. They don't want to see other countries turning to gold reserves instead of the U.S.
dollar or Euro. Therefore, suppressing the price of gold is very beneficial for the U.S. in
maintaining the U.S. dollar's role as the international reserve currency. China's increased gold
reserves will thus act as a model and lead other countries towards reserving more gold. Large
gold reserves are also beneficial in promoting the internationalization of the RMB."
Ref: http://cables.mrkva.eu/cable.php?id=204405

The only people that do not seem to be aware of this it seems is the mainstream media, or
perhaps that is just an induced coma on the subject to assist bolstering the US dollar. Never
the less the cat is certainly out of the bag and with a shortage of gold to meet demand, the
failing US dollar, mounting debt and an impending QE3, all contributing to the ever
increasing demand for gold, the increasing value of solid gold as set against unbacked paper
currencies is certain to continue its climb.

China's Exposure of US Gold Suppression just goes to show. Truth will out.
China & India demand for gold is half the rest of the world.

The world Gold Council reports in their Gold Demand Trends report for 2011 second quarter
that China and India account for over half the worlds gold demand. China and India also make
up 52 percent of investments in the world for gold bars and coins.

Also the two nations made up the major portion of jewelery and gold investment demand with
almost 920 tonnes worth around 44.5 billion US dollars. This is the second highest quarterly
value on record the report stated.

"These two markets accounted for 52 per cent of global bar and coin investment and 55 per
cent of global jewellery demand and year-on-year volume growth in total consumer demand
was 38 per cent in India and 25 per cent in China, compared with a global growth rate of 7 per
cent," according to the WGC Report.

It went on, "for the remainder of the year as optimistic". In volume terms, the demand was 17
per cent in the 2011 second quarter as compared to the year-ago period. While in terms of
value, the demand rose by five per cent during the same time."

"After setting a new record at USD 1,552.50/oz, gold retreated back towards USD 1,500/oz,
providing a final boost to demand at the close of the quarter," the report added.

Since then gold has climbed to over 1800 and looks set to attain the magic 2000 dollars an
ounce.

With the Chinese and Indian markets buying gold like there is no tomorrow, this must be the
right time to buy gold.

Gold is in a Bubble

"Gold is in a bubble" is the catch cry.

In fact this has been a catch cry for years! When gold reached three hundred dollars an ounce,
"Gold is in a bubble." We were told. Later when it reached six hundred dollars an ounce,
"Gold is in a bubble" The headlines screamed. When it reached one thousand dollars an
ounce, "Well that's it! Gold is a bubble." It was said authoritively. Then, when gold recently
reached one thousand five hundred dollars an ounce, the bubble pronouncers must had a fit
when gold, oblivious of the bubble pronouncements over the years, continued on its merry
way to even more stratospheric heights.

If gold is in a bubble, this is the longest bubble in the history of man.

Of course, every time gold hits a new high, profit takers cannot resist and move in for the kill.
A correction ensues and there is a drop. The bubble pronouncers then move in for their turn to
announce, in ominous and authoritive tones, "Gold is in a Bubble."

Then, after the pause, gold starts up again and continues its steady climb.
Contributing in no small measure to the climb is the ailing dollar. The American Institute of
Economic Research cost of living indicator shows that the cost of living has risen over 900
percent in the UIS since 1950. What cost 100 dollars in 1950 now costs 913 dollars and 69
cents. Like anything else, cars, bread, clothes, gold simply cost more now than it did in the
1950s. The intrinsic value of the gold itself has hardly changed. But the number of the dollars
needed to buy gold, as well as silver, bread, cars, houses, telephones and all the other bric a
brac humanity needs to live, has increased nine times.

If anything, currency is in a reverse bubble and every time gold goes up, perhaps we should
be saying, "Oh Oh! The reverse bubble of currency is at it again!"
So why do people buy gold? Well people are not ‘stoopid’, They know which side their bread
is buttered AND how much they pay for it. As the value of currency deteriorates and the
amount of interest available by putting money in the bank deteriorates, in their own defense
people will buy gold.

So when the bubble pronouncers say, "Gold is in a bubble!" Say, thank God! And buy more
gold. It means gold is on the rise again.

Storing your gold

For people who like to take delivery of gold they have bought, storing your gold can be an
issue.

How you store your gold depends largely on how much you have. If you have gold bars by
the dozen then bank vaults are the way to go. One must be sure, however, to take step to
insure that the gold is registered to you and that it is classified as your property and not the
banks. Banks around the world have been known to 'confiscate' gold so it is important in this
instance to pick your bank wisely.

There are also private companies that will store gold for you and of course the same rules
apply. You will be up for storage fees, but then, if you are holding such quantities of gold
these will be immaterial.

Most people, however, will be holding or storing small quantities of gold or silver, usually
just a few ounces of gold and or of silver. These can be stored at home or with friends and or
relatives, IF you trust them implicitly of course.

If you are storing valuables, and that include gold and silver, where to store it can be
important. Many people have safes they use. Of course this is the first place thieves look, so it
has to be a very strong and secure safe. Built in to the wall is best otherwise it can be simply
carted off and opened at leisure. Of course it can be well hidden and difficult to find. There
are also security and alarm systems one can buy to assist in protecting ones valuables in a
safe, or elsewhere for that matter.

Some people like to spread their valuables around, some in this sock, something else in that
draw, some under the floor boards and so on. Spreading valuables such as gold and silver
around makes sense as thieves often think they have found your stash and do not think to look
elsewhere. Thieves often have time constraints also and want to get in and out fast before they
are caught.

Then there are the issues of transport and insurance. Gold, and even silver, is heavy and
shipping costs can be mighty large. Insurance is an additional cost one has to bear also. There
are ways around these too.

If you do not feel comfortable storing your gold or silver in such a way there is another
alternative. One can buy gold through the auspices of GoldMoney. Here one has no storage,
insurance or shipping problems to worry about. One simply opens an account much as one
would open a bank account. Send funds to the account and then use those funds to buy gold or
silver. The precious metal you buy is allocated to you specifically and stored in any one of
three bank vaults in London, Zurich or Hong Kong. You can choose. One can buy gold
through the auspices of GoldMoney

Insurance is for all the metal stored and of course there are no shipping charges to worry
about. There is a small regular storage fee but this is much less than it would be if you’re
storing your gold or silver with a bank.

Storing your gold need not be a problem then with solutions available for even the most
secure conscious and discerning gold lover.

Will Gold Crash?

Gold is rising at a meteoric rate and some media are predicting that gold is going to crash, that
it is in a bubble and cannot sustain such a rise.

This looks like a true possibility on the face of it but lets look closer at what is happening.
Much of the rise in gold is not an increase in the value of gold. It is a decrease in the value of
the currencies by which the value of gold is measured. Anyone can check this themselves by
looking at the amount of currencies needed to purchase any item over a period of time.

How much did groceries, white goods, even newspapers, fuel, even real estate cost 5, 10 20
years ago. The value of the dollar has decrease steadily over the years and with the recent
debacle over debt, credit ratings also affecting the value of the dollar, for example, this has
been exacerbated resulting in more and more people seeking safety for their assets in their
own defense.

Over hundreds of years, gold has proven to be a save house for people wishing to preserve
their assets and savings. Gold does not change. It remains gold and remains a perceived value.
Currencies, not backed by anything more substantial than fast fading confidence have
demonstrated a failure to be a safe haven. Not only are interest rates now at an all time low,
bonds are not the 'safe' investment they onces were considered to be and it is hard metal that
retains its intrinsic value.

So will gold crash? Under the circumstances it is most unlikely given that it is not gold that is
losing its value but the currency by which it is measured.

For gold to 'crash' the value of the currency would need to jump up markedly and with the
rising and almost unsurmountable debt accumulated by the US and Europe it is most unlikely
that currencies are going to inspire any confidence again anytime soon.

Even if profit takers move in and there is a drop in the price of around 10 to 20 percent, that
will still leave gold in a far better position than the dollar or euro. Besides which, as the debt
continues to mount and value of currencies continue to deteriorate, gold will go not go
anywhere but up.

Regardless of the price of gold, it will still be able to buy goods and services to the same
extent as it ever did. And that is what is important. Not the 'price of gold.'

Gold Price to Reach 2000

The gold price will reach 2000 by all accounts within days or weeks at the most. At the time
of writing it is over 1850 and only 8 percent away from the magic 2000 dollars an ounce.

Some of the contributing factors to this include the current economic climate. Both the major
financial forces, the US and European economies are under the hammer with deteriorating
currency values. Also the USA and Europe heavily laden with debt as they are means that
many investors are seeking a safer harbour for their assets and, of course gold always comes
through there.

"With the Indian wedding season just beginning, demand for gold from Asia is only going to
increase in the next few months," says Bill Hionas, CEO of Pan American Metals of Miami.
"Investment demand is also huge at the moment."

China is also continuing its strategy of massive build up of gold reserves.

According to the World Gold Council, India and China account for 52% of total bar and coin
investment and 55% of global jewellery demand.

"Despite a higher gold price, Indian and Chinese demand grew 38% and 25% respectively
during Q2 2011 compared to the same period of 2010. This growth is likely to continue, due
to increasing levels of economic prosperity, high levels of inflation and forthcoming key gold
purchasing festivals."

And,

"Central banks are likely to remain net purchasers of gold. Purchases of 69.4t during Q2 2011
demonstrated that central banks are continuing to turn to gold to diversify their reserves."

The Bank of England (BOE) recently received a request from the Venezuelan government
about transferring the 99 tons of gold Venezuela holds in the bank back to Venezuela. A
spokesman from the Bank of England declined to comment whether Venezuela had any gold
on deposit at the bank."

Venezuela may be starting a trend also with its desire to pull all its gold out of the Western
banking system. Hinde Capital CEO Ben Davies, speaking at GATA's recent Gold Rush 2011
conference in London this month, pointed out that Venezuela's plan to withdraw its gold
deposits from the Bank of England and several bullion banks is "the game changer" in the
gold market, exposing the fractional-reserve gold banking system and likely hastening the
stampede from "unallocated" gold to "allocated" gold. Gold's explosion in price amid
Venezuela's withdrawal of gold is also, Davies says, vindication for GATA, as "this is
everything they've been talking about."

All these factor indicate a world wide gold rush in the making which is sure to bring the gold
price to reach 2000 if not more by the end of the year. Some Forecasts are predicting gold will
reach 2500 without any trouble.

There is still plenty of leg room then for investors wishing to retain the value of their assets,
by simply buying gold while the gold price is continuing its upward trend.

Gold Resource Corporation Minting its Own Gold Coins

Gold Resource Corporation has just announced it will be minting its own coins.

The Board of the junior US based Gold Resource Corporation has stated it will be holding
some of its in house treasury in physical gold and silver in the form of coin bullion rather than
cash.

The Company’s board have stated it has approved the company minting around one million
dollars with of its own gold and silver into one ounce coins with this increasing
proportionately as production increases. They will also possibly offer shareholders the chance
to receive their dividends in silver and gold also rather than cash.

In a release issued by the company on the move, the company's President, Jason Reid, stated,
"Holding physical gold and silver in our treasury provides an excellent means of
diversification in light of today's world economic conditions and not only provides that
diversification to shareholders but underscores Gold Resource Corporation's commitment to
precious metals.. Minting Gold Resource Corporation's Double Eagle precious metal coins,
currently underway, not only marks the next Company milestone but takes a large step
towards potentially offering our shareholders a future in-kind dividend. With the
unprecedented printing of fiat currencies around the world and the potential negative impact
of governmental policies of various nations around the globe, Gold Resource Corporation
provides investors excellent precious metal exposure from an increasing production profile,
from dividends and now with physical exposure in the Company's treasury."

In its recent press release, the Company states it "is focused on its comprehensive business
plan to become the “go to” gold investment (see image below). Part of that multipronged
approach consists of holding a portion of its treasury in physical gold and silver as well as
possibly offering shareholders holding certain minimum positions the ability to someday
receive their dividends in-kind."

The Company has returned over $22 million to shareholders in special monthly dividends
since declaring commercial production July 1, 2010.
The Real Price of Gold

The gold price you see every day on the news is not the real price of gold. Although it often
says, "gold price", the price you see each day in the media is NOT the true gold price but the
futures gold price and reflect what buyers of future gold dealers expect the price to be.

The REAL price of gold is actually higher. This can be seen on ebay, for example, where the
price of gold coins and bullion bars is substantially higher per ounce that the gold futures
price.

Buying gold has become so popular now that eBay has set up a Bullion Center where gold
and other precious metals can be bought and sold. A lot of this has to do with the gradual
devaluation of currency and much to do with the mounting debt that the US and Europe have
been accumulating over the years. This mountain of debt does not translate into good savings
and people are very much aware of this. It does not take an economics degree to understand
that debt has tom be paid at the end of the day and cannot be starved off forever with further
debt. Hence the massive scrabble to own gold and other precious metals. At least with gold
you have something solid that is not going to deteriorate, does not wrack up debt and,
importantly, keeps its value in times of crisis and the bullion Center is doing massive business
as people flock to convert their life savings into gold.

So the REAL price of gold is not some market force manipulating gold for a nefarious or
other reason. The real price of gold is, to put it plainly, the street value of gold, and that is
around 10 to 20 percent higher than the futures gold price offered at the end of the news daily
by the media.

In the summer of 2008 gold was trading around 900 dollars an ounce prior to the GFC being
revealed. Since then it has risen to $1,600 in late May and then over $1,800 just recently
before pulling back to $1,784 a day or so later.

American Gold eagles are now selling for over 1800 dollars an ounce. Checking the
http://goldprice.org/ebay-gold-prices page, you can see the actual gold price in as much as
what price people are prepared to pay to buy gold.

Chandler, of Great Southern Coins for example, said the company is selling more gold lately,
and its silver sales remain strong, too. He estimated his business almost quadrupled during the
past month or so an, ‘ it appeared to be up about five or six times during the past week, with
most of this growth coming from sales on eBay.’
Daniel Hirsch, a New York-based statistician who purchased over a dozen gold coins on eBay
from Great Southern Coins, state that he started buying gold less than a year ago in an effort
to expand his investment portfolio.

It is a fact that people wish to invest in a stable option and when it comes to shares, the stock
market, bonds and gold, gold wins hands down.

And when you have gold and can assess the value in terms of the real price of gold you can be
sure your asset is going to retain its value come what may.

The fortieth anniversary of NO gold standard

Monday the 15th of August will mark the 40th anniversary of the abandonment of the Gold
Standard in the US.

What has this meant over the past 40 years? On that day gold was marked at 35 US dollars an
ounce. Now it has peaked at 1800 US dollars an ounce and looks set to increase further. That
is over 50 times increase in the value of gold expressed in US dollar terms. And other
currencies fair not much better.

What has changed? Certainly not gold. It is still the same yellow shiny metal it has been for
thousands of years. Its purchasing power has not changed at all in fact. One ounce of gold
would buy a good quality suit forty years ago. It STILL buys a good quality suit. The amount
of dollars you need to buy a good quality suit has changed significantly over the past forty
years however. The purpose of removing the gold standard, whatever it might have been, has
served only to immerse the US into a bottomless pit of debt it will take decades to get out of if
it ever does.

In an interview given at Business Week in 2005, James Turk, Founder of GoldMoney stated,
"Gold has been rising against all national currencies, and that's significant," he continued,
"When there are problems with a national currency... people begin to worry about the value of
their money, whether they're going to lose purchasing power because of inflation or other
problems. As a consequence, they look for safe havens."

And just recently he told Reuters this week, "My long-standing forecast, made in a Barron's
interview in October 2003, is that $8,000 per ounce will be reached sometime between 2013-
2015. I've stayed with that forecast over the years and see no reason to change it."

"Politicians and central bankers are making decisions that debase national currencies, and the
resulting bad monetary policies they are following are causing the gold price to rise," he said.

Gold’s latest meteoric rise probably has a lot to do with the plunging of Wall Street stocks to
the lowest in almost a year and the gradual erosion of the purchasing power of the dollar, but
it is more than that. With interest rates the lowest ever and Government Bonds precariously
perched on a precipice, gold is seen as a solid and secure safe haven for investors.

Long-term gold bull David Beahm, vice president of marketing and economic research at
New Orleans bullion dealer Blanchard and Co recently stated, "The best investment right now
is gold. By diversifying one's portfolio with a negatively-correlated gold, investors can protect
themselves from deep plunges in the equity market."
"There is no news in the market today or over the coming few months likely to stop the
current gold bull market, as the fundamentals are firmly in place for gold to continue its rise,"
he says.

Traditional investment commentators have dismissed gold -- which, with no "intrinsic" value
of its own, is only really as valuable as a buyer thinks it is -- as a classic bubble.

Many have predicted gold’s crash saying, "It's a bubble. It's a bubble!" How long is a bubble
one analyst asked, "Gold has been rising for 40 years, I don't call that a bubble."

Said Jeffrey Nichols, the managing director of American Precious Metals Advisors and senior
economic advisor to Rosland Capital, "I believe the price of gold will rise irregularly over the
next several years, possibly reaching $1,850 an ounce by the end of this year, breaking above
$2,000 in 2012, and possibly $3,000, $4,000, and even $5,000 in years to come,"

As the fortieth anniversary of NO gold standard draws near investing in gold for the future
seems to be the way to go to hold onto your value.

The Chinese Fútè nuò kè sī (Fort Knox)

Is China building a Fort Knox of its own? One could be forgiven for thinking so given the
heavy emphasis China now has on the acquisition of gold.

The biggest buyers these days are not private investors such as hedge funds or the likes of
George Soros, but heavy weights such as nations like China India and Russia. In 2010, the
central bank of Russia bought a mind boggling two thirds of the nation’s production.

India, the grandmother of all gold markets, purchased almost 750 tons, breaking the record of
the previous year by a massive 40 percent!

Now China, the granddaddy of all gold markets has stated their intention to increase the
national gold reserves by, get this, eight hundred and forty nine percent. That is an estimated
10,000 tons of gold, worth around half a trillion U.S. dollars, by the end of the decade.

That would be a Chinese Fort Knox if ever there was one.

And to substantiate this, in the first two months of 2011 China increased their national
holdings by around 200 tons of gold.

This trend will almost certainly change the world order as far as government gold holdings are
concerned. China will be in a position to start backing their currency with gold and become
the first nation, this side of the US dropping the gold standard, to have a gold standard.

Although currently the US holds the top spot with 8,133 tone of gold in Fort Knox, if the US
Government is to be believed, this will very quickly change if China's does indeed achieve
their plan for gold holdings.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, both India and Russia are not sitting on their laurels either but
are industriously working over time to assure them a place in the new gold standard world by
buying up as much gold as they can get their hands on. India is achieving a highest ever in
gold demand and Russia is following a close second.

Perhaps these three heavyweights are learning the lesson the US and Europe have not seemed
to grasp. That printing currency to get out of debt simply creates more debt and inflation.

Even in Greece, the bankrupt country of Europe, many wealthy are pulling their money out of
the bank and buying gold. In Europe, in times of crisis gold has always been considered the
ultimate safe haven.

The World Gold Council just recently released a new report, which has shown China
overtaking India as the largest purchaser of gold in the world. The World Gold Council
considers a rise in the disposable income of the Chinese middle class has participated in the
rise in demand. Although this could be as a result of economic acceleration due to the reforms
taking root in China there is also the added factor that the Chinese government is actively
encouraging citizens to buy gold when and wherever they can.
In 2005, just 15 million households in China had an annual income of more than $4300 per
annum giving them more disposable income to buy gold.

In a recent interview on King World News, John Hathaway of the Tocqueville Gold Fund was
asked about state owned Citic buying a large stake in Gold One. Hathaway replied, "They (the
Chinese) know that they have to have gold, so this is just one manifestation of a strategy to
increase exposure to gold by taking a significant position in a public company which
conceivably could be used to acquire other mining properties. It’s an incipient foray into the
mining equity space which from my point of view as a manager of gold equities, I’m just
delighted."
Hathaway continued

"The Chinese have a tiny amount of gold; it's less than 1.6% of their $3 trillion of foreign
exchange. They are very open in their public commentary about the fact they don't need as
much in the way of FX. That’s going to translate into doing things like we just talked about
(mining acquisitions) and they are trying to figure out a way to own more physical gold,
there’s no question in my mind about that."

When asked if Chinese acquisitions of gold companies would be used to increase China’s
gold reserves keeping that gold production out of the free market Hathaway responded, "Yeah
definitely, we’re going to read about it after the fact. They are never going to go advertise that
they are going to go and buy gold companies or buy physical gold, but I think the next five
years you are going to see them being a very important bid in the gold space."

"They will have multiple strategies one of which is what we just saw with this acquisition of
Gold One. I wouldn’t be surprised to see similar acquisitions by Citic and maybe some other
arms of the Chinese state companies."

China are also embarking on a strategy of buying up, or at least a significant share, in
overseas mining operations to assure them of first pickings on gold and other mineral
deposits.

This will probably be one of the factors driving up the demand and the gold price over the
coming years and with the US and European economies faltering the demand for gold and the
gold price is likely going to sky rocket over the coming decade.

Chinese Fútè nuò kè sī (Fort Knox), here we come!

Chinese households buy gold

Chinas multi million households are buying gold. Once banned by Mao Tse Tung during the
fifties, private gold ownership is now actively encouraged by the Chinese government and the
Chinese people have taken up gold ownership with great enthusiasm buying gold by the
tonne. In fact china's gold reserves jumped by 600 tonnes in the second quarter of 2009.

Local production of gold in China has risen to 340 tonnes per year and, with the demand in
place, could well rise to 700 tonnes per year.

Imported gold exclusively supplies the retail market and at 350 tonnes of gold this is a lot of
gold for the retail market indicating that it is not just the Chinese government that is buying
up all the gold it can.

In addition the Chinese government is licensing local and foreign banks to import gold from
outside of China and it looks like the Chinese are buying local gold for their central bank
reserves.

As the Chinese government encourages this demand, China looks set to overtake India and
eventually become the largest market for private gold sales in the world.
In the first quarter of this year Chinese households and investors in China bought 93.5 tonnes
of gold in the form of coins, bars and medallions, more than double the amount of last year
over the same period. This is a massive 55% jump from the previous quarter.

It will not be long before China overtakes India as the largest buying of gold products
annually. China has a per capita individual income higher than India and an ever expanding
middle class and a growth rate of around 20 percent can be expected.

This does not mean that India is any slouch either. India is continuing to increase its private
gold buying which is already reaching record heights and both countries will eventually form
the largest gold buying group on the planet.

So while the US and European financial markets crumple under massive unsustainable debt,
the mysterious east is industrially buying up gold for the future. It is evident who is going to
come out on top.

And as Chinese householders buy gold and Indian householders buy gold, the question will
be, how many US and western householders will hold some gold in their nest egg for the
future?
Indian Gold

India is estimated to be the largest user of gold in the world.

According to an analyst at Standard Chartered bank, Sudhir Chakraborty, India imports an

average of 22 billion dollars worth of gold and silver in a year.
Just recently India imported almost 9 billion dollars worth in a single month. A 500 percent
surge from April to May according to Mineweb. May’s imports were up 222 percent
compared to 2010.

What is happening here?

A rapidly rising inflation of 8.65 percent is being attributed to the hungry demand for precious
metals.

"Rapid inflation is eroding the earnings of the common man. One has to understand how the
import of gold has reached $9 billion for a month, while the yearly average is around $22
billion," said Sudhir Chakraborty, bullion analyst at Standard Chartered bank.

"Even as inflation and a widening trade deficit to $15 billion in May continues to weigh on
the minds of Indian investors, the demand for fresh gold has continued to grow. This is very
confusing, especially when one sees it against the backdrop of a 400% rise in the value of the
rupee over the last decade." said bullion analyst Anand Patnaik with a brokerage firm.

And India's central bank, the Reserve Bank of India's decision to grant licenses to seven more
banks to import bullion has contributed to the demand.

And just recently, Karur Vysya Bank, State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur, State Bank of
Hyderabad, Punjab and Sind Bank, South Indian Bank, State Bank of Mysore and State Bank
of Travancore were added to the list. In fact, since the start of this year some 30 banks in India
have been granted permission to import gold and silver.

As jewellers are now getting easy supplies, this is also helping to push up demand.

India's commerce and industry minister Anand Sharma releasing some trade figures recently
and pointed out that imports in pearls and precious stones, have risen 24.6% to $ 5.20 billion,
gold and silver by 222% to $ 13.5 billion and iron and steel by 13% to $ 1.80 billion.

Rajesh Shukla of the centre for Macro Consumer Research recently pointed out, "People in
India have accepted high inflation as a reality of life." Noting that Indians use gold as a hedge
against inflation, Shukla said this would be partly responsible for the spike in imports and
added that high imports reflected a strong demand for the yellow metal, despite the weakening
of the rupee.

"The gold story is puzzling," added A. S Kirolar, a financial analyst. "Consumers are shying
away from stocks and bonds and heading to safe assets like gold and real estate, but one
cannot understand this given the meagre 12% growth in imports of petroleum and oil
products."

Another analyst Shabir Lakdawala, stated that demand for precious metals in 2010 was way
stronger than in previous years. "In 2009, India had reported a 19% decline, when the worst
monsoon in nearly four decades had dented bullion sales." he said.

According to the World Gold Council in their new publication 'India: Heart of Gold', Indian
gold demand has grown steadily 25 per cent despite a 400 per cent price rise of the rupee in
the last decade, India is reaffirmed as a key driver of global gold demand, with an expected
increase by over 30 per cent in real terms.

This research indicates that by 2020 the cumulative annual demand for gold in India will
increase to excess of 1200 tonnes or approximately Rs. 2.5 trillion, at current prices and
Indian gold looks set to be the biggest gold holding in the world in the not to distant future.

Buy Gold at your Local ATM

"Today, there is no government agency, that would pay for the payment promises of
Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Louis XIV, Peter the Great, Napoleon or Hitler. They
were powerful men in their time, but no bank will cash their checks today. If you take a gold
bar, however, that once lay in their treasuries, you will receive its equivalent value anywhere
in the world. The durability and universality of gold gives it a money-like authority, that no
other money has." (William Rees-Mogg – former chief editor of the London Times)

It will not be long now before one can buy gold at your local ATM.

Currently there are 50 or so ATMs around the planet in which one can deposit cash and watch
the machine spit out a small gold bullion bar. These are dotted over the planetary landscape
with most currently being in Germany and Abu Dhabi.

In Abu Dhabi the cheapest gold ingots range between Dh450 and Dh550 (500 Dh or AED
equals around 133 US dollars) depending on the existing gold price.

The general manager of the Emirates Palace hotel, Hans Olbertz, stated how happy he was to
introduce the gold-plated Gold to Go machine to the luxury hotel's marble lobby a year ago.

"The Emirates Palace is already a very attractive venue for guests and visitors, and the gold
machine adds another dimension of attractive luxury within the hotel," Mr Olbertz said. "We
have a lot of people taking pictures in front of the machine, and buying gold with the Emirates
Palace logo as a fantastic souvenir to take back home and give as a gift."

Any day one can see the constant flash of cameras as people stop just to take a picture of the
gold ATM. Nour Yahya, 29, was just one who was impressed by the concept. "I wasn't going
to buy the gold, but I really couldn't resist, it's just such a cool idea," she said.

Each day around 150 transactions are made by tourists and guests of the hotel according to Mr
Olbertz pointing out that it is, "a significant rise from the 50 to 100 pieces of gold that were
sold daily a year ago." Mr Olbertz went on, "It hasn't lost any of its attraction over the past
year, even with the rise in the price of gold," he said.

"When we have big groups of tourists coming in, they just love it, and if one of them buys
gold, the others are quick to follow."

Tourists also do not view their purchases as investments, Mr Olbertz commented, despite gold
selling for about US$1,500 (Dh5,509) an ounce in today's market.

"This is more about buying a souvenir with beautiful packaging and the logo of the hotel;
something they cannot get anywhere else in the world."

Thomas Geissler, the chief executive of Ex Oriente Lux AG and managing director of Gold to
Go, said the 2.5 gram piece of gold, engraved with the hotel's logo, has proven to be the most
popular of all the machine's offerings.

"The 1-gram piece is no longer available, because we have plans to replace it with something
even more special," he said indicating that a 1-gram gold coin will be introduced into the
machine in coming weeks. It is considered to be the only one of its kind that can be used as
legal tender, but is more popularly a commemorative coin.

"There are plans to place two more Gold to Go machines around Abu Dhabi, in undisclosed
locations. The machines are ready," Mr Geissler said, "and we are just waiting for the final
paperwork before we reveal our plans."
Earlier this year, the machines were placed on the ground floor and the 124th floor of the Burj
Khalifa, as well as in the Dubai Mall, in the Mall of the Emirates and in the Atlantis Hotel.

"We are really happy to have come to the UAE, where there is so much interest in our gold
vending machine," Mr Geissler said.

"And although we have plans for more machines in Abu Dhabi, our love and respect will also
go to the first one we installed, in Emirates Palace."

The GOLD to go® gold vending machines come in a variety of versions. Each machine can
either be safely bolted to the floor or to a back wall. The location of each machine is chosen
with great care and must fulfil a number of criteria before being accepted as a secure location.

The special gold leaf finishing is a true eye catcher. Menu navigation is works with a 19″ inch
touch screen. The ATM can be delivered with optional advertising screens.

All GOLD to go® gold vending machines accept the standard credit cards and one can also
pay cash anytime.

The software application of the GOLD to go® ATM's is controlled by an internal which is
connected to the German system-network via a secure VPN tunnel. Data connection is
conducted via a LAN.

Each Gold ATM can issue up to ten products. It is easy to use with a Self-explanatory user
interface via a 19 inch touch screen in the local language or multilingual. It also has a
windowed showcase of all the products available for verification of purchase decision. There
is money laundering and fraud protection incorporated into the machine.

The cost of the gold bars are updated every ten minutes and there is Comprehensive security
mechanisms for goods issue and charging and you also get a receipt with the gold bar when
you purchase.

Gold ATMs can be currently found in:

Germany:
Augsburg, Augsburger Aktienbank
Berlin, Galeries Lafayette
Bretten, Pohl und Lawetzki GbR
Essen, Einkaufszentrum Limbecker Platz
Metzingen, Galizia Factory Store
Munich, DAB Bank AG
Nuremberg, FONDS-ZENTRUM GmbH
Reutlingen, Juwelier Depperich
Wiesbaden-Schierstein, Deutsche Golf AG

United Arab Emirates:

Dubai, Atlantis The Palm Hotel
Abu Dhabi, Emirates Palace Hotel
Dubai, Burj Khalifa – AT THE TOP, 124th level
Dubai, Burj Khalifa – AT THE TOP, ground floor
Dubai, Galeries Lafayette – The Dubai Mall
Dubai, Ski Dubai

Italy:
Bergamo, Orio al Serio International Airport

USA:
Las Vegas (NV), Golden Nugget Hotel and Casino

There are plans to introduce the gold ATM in major cities around the world. The Gold ATMs
are not just a novelty anymore, but a serious availability to buy gold on the spot and it will not
be long now before you will be able to buy gold at your local ATM.

China outstripping India in the buy gold market

China is now outstripping India when it comes to buying gold.

According to the world gold council, “Gold imports by China may increase after investment
demand more than doubled in the first quarter, with the country overtaking India to become
the largest market for gold coins and bars.”

"China produced 340 metric tons of gold last year and consumption was about 700 tons,
leaving a gap of 350 tons to 360 tons." Said Albert Cheng, Far East managing director of the
council recently.

"...China's investment demand jumped 123 percent to 90.9 tons in the first three months,
compared with an 8 percent rise to 85.6 tons for India."

As can be seen from the accompanying chart, since 2001 China's demand for gold has jumped
from zero to over 150 metric tones last year, and this year looks set to increase on that. China
is indeed buying gold with a vengeance.
"Gold has taken on a new role in China amid concern about inflation," Song Qing, a director
at Lion Fund Management Co., said. "It is increasingly being seen as an asset allocation
choice. Just imagine the total wealth in China and even a small percentage of that choosing to
buy gold. This demand is going to be enormous."

Both the central banks, as well as citizens, are buying gold and not just bars and coins. As
wages increase gold jewellery is now at the top of many shopping lists.

China, which has just 1.6 percent of its reserves in gold, may invest more than $1 trillion in
bullion, [Michael Pento of Euro Pacific Capital] said. "China wants to be an international
player, and they need to own more gold than they currently have."

"China is out to have more gold than America, and Russia is aspiring to the same," Robert
McEwen, the chief executive officer of producer U.S. Gold Corp, recently pointed out in an
interview in New York. "When you have debt, you don't have a lot of flexibility. China wants
to show its currency has more backing than the U.S."

Century Weekly reported this week that China, with more than $3 trillion in foreign-currency
reserves, plans to set up new funds to invest in precious metals. Russia also purchased 8 tons
of gold in the first quarter this year.

So China is not the only large investor deciding to invest in gold, India continues to buy gold
on a massive scale.

The World Gold Council reports that Argentina bought 42 tons of gold bullion recently,
possibly to starve off potential future woes of inflation and crushing debt.

Others include Belgium, Austria, Spain, and Lebanon among many others. When you find
countries buying gold as security in inflationary times you know that something is afoot.

This is one time when it is a good idea to jump on the band wagon and buy some gold oneself.

The Great Gold Race

It seems, in an attempt to defend and back up currency, there is a race on as to who can own
the most gold. Currently the USA owns the most gold with over 1800 tones, but Switzerland
owns the most gold per person with a staggering 1040 tones per citizen! On a per person basis
the USA is right down at number 9 below such countries as Lebanon, Portugal, Austria and
others with only 8,134 tones per person. Of course this is somewhat of a misnomer as the
population do not own the gold and most of it is that which is held in banks either by the
governments concerned or as a holding for others.

But there are indicators that the accumulation of gold, once considered passé, is now
considered in a much more serious vein.

China and Russia are now hell bent on accumulating more gold in their coffers. One analyst
believes China may use a third of their $3 trillion in foreign reserves to purchase gold to back
up the Yuan.

China currently has 1.6 percent of its reserves in gold and is considering investing more than
$1 trillion in gold bullion.

Michael Pento of Euro Pacific Capital stated. "China wants to be an international player, and
they need to own more gold than they currently have." he continued, "China is out to have
more gold than America, and Russia is aspiring to the same,"

According to Robert McEwen, chief executive officer of producer U.S. Gold Corp in a recent
interview in New York. "When you have debt, you don’t have a lot of flexibility. China wants
to show its currency has more backing than the U.S."

And Century Weekly recently reported, "...China, with more than $3 trillion in foreign-
currency reserves, plans to set up new funds to invest in precious metals."

Russia has purchased eight tones of gold bullion in the first quarter of this year.
According to Adam Sharp of Wealth Wire,

"This is a big reason gold and silver are headed higher. Occasional dips are inevitable, of
course. When they happen bears will declare the bubble popped (after a one-week correction).

"Then the uptrend will continue, intact. And they'll say, "bubble, bubble bubble bubble
bubble, bubble!", again.

"And gold bugs will be laughing all the way to the vault.

"That's how I see it, anyway. Could be wrong, it's happened before. But, I did say the same
thing when gold was $1140 in Why I'm Buying the Gold Dips in December 2009."

Now Steve Forbes, founder of Forbes Magazine, states although it may seem crazy today, a
return to the gold standard is likely in America. Steve Forbes, the founder of one of the
nation's premier economic magazines and onetime GOP presidential contender, says he
believes the nation will return to the gold standard within five years because doing so would
solve a number of economic, fiscal and monetary issues.

"What seems astonishing today could become conventional wisdom in a short period of time,"
Forbes said in an interview with Human Events magazine, a conservative publication.

According to Forbes, returning to the gold standard would mean stabilizing the U.S. dollar,
restoring foreign confidence among foreign investors in U.S. government bonds and dissuade
lawmakers from engaging in reckless spending habits.
If the standard had remained in place, Forbes said, the dollar would not be under assault now
and federal spending would have been curbed.

"When it comes to exchange rates and monetary policy, people often don’t grasp” what is at
stake for the economy, he said. "If the dollar was as good as gold, other countries would want
to buy it."

So there you have it. Could a return to the gold standard be the US's only defence against a
massive gold buy from the eastern and Asian blocks? It certainly does look like the Q's are
working to impelling China and Russian to buy more gold bullion in their own defence.

When to Buy Gold and Sell Gold

With all the fluctuations in the gold price one can sometimes wonder when to buy gold and
when to sell gold.

Many factors influence the gold price. The change in value of the currency against which the
gold price is set. Forward hedging by gold mining companies to protect their gold sales,
massive buying and selling by institutions, as well as other variables can all affect the price of
gold.

In any trading situation for every sale there is a buyer and a seller. If the price is falling and
people are selling gold like crazy, what is sometimes over overlooked is, who is buying at
those lower prices? When there is a big fall in the stock market, the price do not just ‘go
down’ as is implied in the media. For every sale there is a buyer. A person who thinks it is
worth while buying a falling stock or share. The same principles apply with buying gold as
they do with any other share, stock or commodity.

So when does one buy gold?

Warren Buffett (arguably the world’s best investor and 2nd wealthiest man) once said, "Most
people get interested in stocks when everyone else is. The time to get interested is when no
one else is. You can't buy what is popular and do well". This is what the buyers of falling
stocks, shares and commodities understand. While everyone is frantically selling in a sort of
‘group think’ or agreement, the buyers with the smarts move in to buy up cheap,
understanding that the market for those stocks, share or commodities will eventually rise
again. Of course, with stocks and shares this might be considered a bit of a gamble. But with
gold, ah, this is somewhat different.

Gold is not just any commodity. It is also money. Gold does not get used up like silver or
agricultural commodities. All the gold in the world is still there. It is just moved around or is
stored. Gold is used as storage of wealth and as a replacement for currency when the
confidence in currency is wavering. It is used, not just to buy and sell. In Addition gold has
continued to increase in value over the past 20 years or more. There have been peaks and
valleys and regular drops, but even with the drops it has always like a phoenix, risen again to
newer and more spectacular heights.

A major part of the reason is probably the falling value of currency. As the currency drops in
value it takes more of it to purchase the same over a time period. If one separates value from
currency this is easily seen. One year it takes 10 dollars to buy item x. A year later it takes 12
dollars to buy the same item. Over the past 100 years the dollars has dropped in value to
around five percent. What you could buy for 5 dollars a hundred years ago now costs 100
dollars. Yet this is not the case with gold. Once ounce of gold still purchases exactly the same
quantity or goods or quality of services as it did one hundred years ago. Other factors such as
short selling, hedging, and the periodic Asian demand for example, all affect the price to some
degree.

So although gold may fall occasionally it cannot help but eventually rise.
So the time to buy gold is very much anytime. When is a good time to sell gold? That really
depends on the purposes for which you are holding gold and your individual circumstances.
One of the purposes for holding gold is to retain your asset value. Of course a time may come
when you may need to utilise some of your asset at which point you sell some gold. Selling
gold does not have to depend on the price of gold. Only on the use to which one puts the
asset.

A falling or rising 'price' of gold is not a reason for selling gold. Only the utilisation of the
asset contained therein for a purpose.
Buying gold can be done any time. That also does not depend on the price of gold. It only
depends on the ability to buy and retain gold as an asset.

One can buy large amounts or small amounts on a regular basis. It is the steady accumulation
of gold that increases ones asset, not waiting for gold to 'come down' in order to buy it. The
upward trends of gold are far greater than the downward trends so, in the long term, anytime
is a good time to buy gold.

The Great Gold Buy Back

As the US currency continues to slump, now reaching the lowest since 2009, the great gold
buy back has began.

Where as banks were at one time selling off gold as fast as they could, now they are falling
over themselves to buy gold back again.

Gold has reach a record highest ever no less than 14 times this month (April 2011) and
Central banks are now buying gold to reduce their reliance on the dollar as a reserve currency.
In other words the banks are changing their reserve currency from dollars to gold.

Robert McEwen, the chief executive officer of producer U.S. Gold Corp indicated that as
developing countries accelerate purchases, gold may very well reach $2,000 an ounce this
year, compared with a record of $1,569.80 today in New York. "China is out to have more
gold than America, and Russia is aspiring to the same,” McEwen said in an interview recently
at a Bloomberg Link conference in New York. “When you have debt, you don't have a lot of
flexibility. China wants to show its currency has more backing than the U.S."

In 2010, central banks started to buy gold and became net buyers for the first time in two
decades. 87 tons of gold in official-sector was purchased by countries including Bolivia, Sri
Lanka and Mauritius, according World Gold Council information.
China, with just 1.6 percent of its reserves in gold, is expected to invest more than $1 trillion
in bullion. Euro Pacific Capital's Michael Pento said. "China wants to be an international
player, and they need to own more gold than they currently have."

And Michael Cuggino, who helps manage $12 billion at Permanent Portfolio Funds in San
Francisco stated, "Until monetary policy changes, you’re going to continue to see gold go up,"

As of April, China was the sixth-largest official holder of gold, with 1,054.1 tons, while the
U.S. has the most, with 8,133.5 tons, or 74.8 percent of the nation’s currency reserves
according to World Gold Council estimates.

The Fed recently stated it would buy $600 billion in U.S. Treasuries through June. This will
certainly have an affect on inflation, spur other nations to divest themselves of the dollar and
increase their buy gold strategy.

"The Federal Funds rate would have to rise to 'Volcker' levels before gold enters a bear
market …" said Gold Corp.’s McEwen, who is expecting the metal to rise to $5,000 an ounce
over the next three to four years.

The value of gold has increased by 10 percent this year, continuing a ten year record of gains.
Gold has risen sixfold from a low in 1999 and the all-time inflation adjusted record is now
$2,338.92, based on the value on Jan. 21, 1980, according to the calculator on the Federal
Reserve Bank of Minneapolis web site.

Although former Fed Chairman Paul Volcker ended gold's rally to a then-record $873 by
raising borrowing costs to 20 percent in March 1980, Bernanke is very unlikely to attempt
that strategy given the current level of sovereign debt, and so the great buy gold back by the
central banks lead by China will continue.

5 Good Reasons to Buy Gold

I am often asked, why should I buy gold? Why not buy stocks or shares or currency or even
other commodities such as seed or pork bellies for example.

Today the US dollar is worth some 80 percent less than it did 40 years ago. This trend in the
decreasing value of the dollar means that it now buys less than 5 percent of what it did some
40 years ago. Currency is not a good buy under these circumstances. Stocks and shares are
subject to so many variables such as market trends, company director and management
decisions and so on. Agricultural commodities are subject to unpredictable variables such as
the weather for example. Few commodities have consistently managed to retain their value
come what may. One of these is gold.

Unlike other commodities, gold keeps it purchasing power. Whereas each year it takes more
dollars to buy the same amount of goods or services, this does not apply to gold. An ounce of
gold will buy today exactly the same amount or quantity of goods or value of service as it did
40 years ago. Against a backdrop of decreasing value of currency it can be clearly seen that it
is not the value of gold that changes, but the quantity of currency needed to buy that gold.

Here are five good reasons to buy gold

1. INDEPENDENCE. The security gold offers, is provided as a result of its very

independence. Gold is independent of states, currencies, productivity and credit worthiness.
Some economic or political influences may affect the price of gold, but not its value which
remains independent of them.

2. RESERVE ASSET. Many experts advise private investors to hold between 5 and 10% of
their wealth, in the long term in precious metals. Experience has shown that the regular
purchase of gold and silver coins help to protect the smaller investor against price and
currency fluctuations.

3. SECURITY. Gold has always been prized as precious and valuable. Over the years gold
has proven itself to be one of the most reliable stores of value. It does not tarnish or
deteriorate. It has no used by date and keeps in exactly the same condition as it was when first
emerged from the refinery.

4. STABILITY. Despite possible price fluctuations on the open market, the value of gold has
remained remarkably stable and has shown repeatedly the tendency to rise.

5. LIQUIDITY. Gold is traded around the globe 24 hours a day. With gold you possess an
international currency which can always be sold around the world at any time. Currency will
fluctuate in value compared to other currencies but gold remains stable in actual value
regardless of the currency use to measure its worth.

Gold bars and rounds are probably the most economical and easiest way to buy gold. The
larger bars one can buy the cheaper they will be due to the smaller premium per ounce one
has to pay. Gold rounds are coins or coin shaped gold manufactured by private mints. They
are not legal tender and the value of these is contained within the gold content. One can store
small bars and rounds oneself or have them stored in a bank vault.

In today’s uncertain financial world it is good to know that there is some stability still in the
offing and that it is still obtainable. It is sage advice indeed to say, buy gold.

Why is gold considered so valuable?

Why is gold considered so valuable?
Gold has had an alluring attraction for man throughout the ages. Wars have been fought over
it, love has been won by the use of it and merchants have been made wealthy because of it.
But why has gold, almost without exception, been a favorite with men and women over the
years? What causes this strange attraction?

Some contributing factors might be that gold does not tarnish, rust or deteriorate in any way,
but remains shiny and golden at all times. It keeps its value even when the economy is taking
a dive. Gold remains steadfast and true relative to the value of other goods and services. In
fact, the decline in confidence in world currencies contributes in no small way to the
continued popularity of gold. With the advent of the internet, the transfer of funds by the use
of gold has now become big business and millions of dollars worth of gold is moved around
the planet literally at the speed of light and Asia, of course, never did lose its focus on the
value of gold both economically and culturally.

The European exploration of the Americas was fuelled in no small part by reports of the gold
ornaments displayed in great profusion by Native American peoples, including Central
America, Peru, and Colombia. The desire for gold was so strong that ships flooded to the
Americas in search of this wondrous metal.

Gold is not the most expensive of the metals. Platinum being traditionally of higher value. But
although the price of some platinum group metals can be much higher, gold has long been
considered the most desirable of precious metals, and its value has been used as the standard
for many currencies in history. Gold has been used as a symbol for purity, value, royalty, and
particularly roles that combine these properties.

Although the gold futures price you see in the media continues to go up and down like a roller
coaster, gold is still considered highly valuable. Asia, collectively, is the biggest buyer and
holder of gold on the planet, followed closely by Russia and South America. The vast
majority of people on the planet think that gold is worth keeping and favor it over paper
currency.

Some people consider gold is valuable due to its rarity. However there are many other
elements and substances rarer than gold but which do not have the same level of desirability.
Diamonds for example, Platinum and some of the rare earth elements are more rare than gold.
Its malleability is another reason but there are also other materials equally as malleable if not
more so.

Philosophically it was once said that when gold was created the gods put desire into it so that
man would always desire it. Perhaps there is a lot to be said for that theory, as whimsical as it
may be.
Perhaps it is a cultural thing. In Africa gold was not considered particularly important to the
indigenous tribes until conquerors from the west came and expressed their ardent desire to
own the metal thus giving it value. On the other hand, in the Americas, gold has always
traditionally been held in high esteem.

Gold is very versatile. It does not tarnish, is impervious to most other elements and can be
moulded and worked into an almost infinite variety of shapes.

Perhaps it is a combination of all these things and others.

Thomas More, the renowned English author, poking fun at gold as a symbol of wealth and
riches in his novel Utopia and, by implication acknowledged it. On the imaginary island of
Utopia gold was so abundant that it was used to make chains for slaves, tableware and
lavatory-seats. When ambassadors from other countries arrive, dressed in ostentatious gold
jewels and badges, the Utopians laughingly mistook them for servants and addressed those in
the party who were NOT so lavishly adorned.

Despite Thomas More’s jocular reference, gold has held its own in any society through the
ages and continues to do so as evidenced by the continual accumulation by many nations and
peoples. Gold will continue to be considered highly valuable by the vast majority of people
on this planet regardless of any temporary short sighted price manipulation of the gold price.

Buy Fair Trade Gold

Fair Trade does not just apply to coffee anymore. It applies now to a variety of products and
one can even buy Fair Trade gold these days.

Much gold is mined under conditions for miners that could be called adverse at the best and
very dangerous at the worse. Especially in parts of Africa where labor is cheap and human
rights and human life are not highly regarded.

But now the Fairtrade Foundation and Alliance for responsible Mining (ARM) have taken up
the banner with the worlds first Fair Mined and Fair trade gold now launched u the United
Kingdom.

There are, at the last count, over twenty jewellers participating in the campaign for a fair deal
for Artisanal and Small-scale Miners (ASM).
Royal jeweller Garrard is among 20 companies to launch the first of the gold, which has been
used in collections and one-off pieces. Each piece will carry a Fairtrade and Fairmined
hallmark. Other Jewellers include, Stephen Webster, Jon Dibben and Harriet Kelsall, and each
now retail jewellery and gold products made from Fairmined gold. Their consumers will be
able to buy fair trade gold before the end of the year.

The Cotapata Mining Co-Operative in Bolivia was the first Fairtrade and Fairmined mining
organisation to be certified by independent auditor Flo Cert, with more expected in the
coming weeks and months. Greg Valerio, founder of Cred jewellery, said he got into the
movement after finding that as a jeweller he was unable to tell customers where the gold in
their jewellery had come from. He said: "I think that is an unacceptable reality. What I love
about what we've done here is that we’ve put the soul back into gold."

Participating jeweller Stephen Webster, creative director of his eponymous brand and
Garrard, said: "I'm very very passionate about that fact that people coming into our store now
getting engaged, getting married, will be offered the option that they can have Fairtrade gold
or conventional gold."

The gold initially launched in the UK, also benefits mining communities in Peru, Bolivia and
Ecuador by offering them 95% of the London Bullion Market’s (LBMA) price fix for gold.

Currently ASM"s are at the mercy of middle-men who cheat them on price on the grounds of
weight and purity and are offered anything from 35% to 85% of the LBMA fix for their gold,
despite the fact that they account for 10% of the world gold production and 90% of the
extraction workforce, leaving many miners living on as little as $1 a day.

Miners will be able to earn an extra 5% premium against the LBMA fix if they recover gold
without the use of mercury or cyanide.

It is intended to roll the scheme out to other countries with the aim of capturing 5% of the
world’s gold jewellery market by 2015. A network of pilots will be launched in Africa soon
and then in Asia, enabling more miners to join. ARM said it hopes to introduce three to seven
new producer organisations a year, resulting in consumers able to buy fair trade gold and gold
jewellery from their local jewellers.

Buy Utah Gold

Utah has moved one step closer to its own gold standard after the Senate approved a bill
Thursday that would require the state to recognize gold and silver coins as legal tender.

The Utah Senate recently passed HB317 moving the state closer to a gold and silver standard.
This bill allows Utah (and other state citizens in Utah) to exchange federally issued gold and
silver coins instead of paper money in all transactions.

"Our hope is to help stabilize the currency within our own state long term," said Senate
Majority Leader Scott Jenkins, R-Plain City.

One would, theoretically be able to take along a 400 ounce bar of gold and exchange it for a
very nice house in Utah.

Due to the fluctuating price of gold and silver, at the time of a transaction one would likely
need a calculation and access to the goldprice.org or silverprice.org site for the most up-to-
date price.

A state committee is looking now, at whether Utah should recognize an official alternate form
of legal tender. The Utah Governor Gary Herbert, who, according to the Washington Time,
has not taken an official stance on the bill will have the final say to veto or sign it into law.

If the bill becomes law, the implications would be, to say the least, interesting. Would other
states follow? Does this send a message of no confidence in their current financial regime?

According to Jenkins of the Deseret News, "Gold and silver users would have to file federally
required transaction reports."

Legislative fiscal analysts have estimated the bill would reduce the state's income tax revenue,
which funds public education, by $250,000 in 2012 and $550,000 per year beginning in 2013.

But House sponsor Brad Galvez, R-West Haven, considers the state would see an increase in
sales-tax revenue as the value of gold rises.

Other interesting phenomena could occur. Employees could pay their employees in gold.
Payments into their accounts would be not in USD but in XAU (the currency symbol for gold)
or XAG (the currency symbol for silver). Banks could issue special debit cards so purchases
could be made in gold and silver.
If a business didn’t directly accept gold or silver as tender, credit card companies could apply
an exchange rate for the gold or silver in the account, charge a fee to the purchaser and
convert the purchase amount to USD at prevailing prices.

13 other states including Colorado, Georgia, Montana, Missouri, Indiana, Iowa, New
Hampshire, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont and Washington have proposed
similar bills.

"If one state recognizes gold as a valid currency, I think it would embolden people not just in
other states but in Washington," said Jeffrey Bell, policy director for the Washington-based
American Principles in Action, which helped shape the bill.

The US used the gold standard from 1873 until 1933, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt
outlawed the private ownership of gold amid the Great Depression. President Richard Nixon
abandoned the gold standard altogether when he announced in 1971 that the US would no
longer convert dollars to gold at a fixed value thus enabling the country to acquire massive
debt through the printing and manipulation of paper currency back by nothing more than
confidence.

The prospect of buying goods and services with Utah Gold is now a very real one

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Yuan – the new Gold Standard?

China is the biggest producer of gold on the planet. None of that gold moves outside of China.
China is also buying gold in vast quantities. In fact their race to acquire gold from all quarters
is accelerating at an alarming rate giving rise to speculations as to the reason.

According to the World Gold Council, China consumed 175.2 tons of gold in the fourth-
quarter of 2010, bringing its grand total for the year to 579.5 tons, or 18.5 million ounces. By
comparison, the US consumed just 233.3 tons in 2010.

Talk about buy gold. China buys gold from anywhere and everywhere. The state-controlled
China National Gold Corp, for example, bought half of Coeur d'Alene Mines (CDE) gold
concentrates from its Kensington gold mine in Alaska.

China has been telling its citizens to buy gold, promoting the different gold funds. Even
giving investors access to overseas products. A global gold contract based in yuan by Chinese
Gold & Silver Exchange has been launched and the ICBC and World Gold Council recently
teamed up to create the 'Only Gold Gift Bar in China' where a customer can buy gold as a gift
complete with engraving and can sell it back to the ICBC for cash.

"Private citizens have bought more gold in the last 30 months than the People's Bank of China
owns altogether," says Adrian Ash, head of research for BullionVault.com. There are also no
individual property rights in China, so all the gold citizens own really belongs to China,
whether the country would confiscate it is a different story.

ICBC, the world's largest bank by market value, sold 7 tonnes of physical gold in January this
year, nearly half the 15 tonnes of bullion sold in the whole of 2010, said Zhou Ming, deputy
head of the bank's precious metals department on Wednesday.

"We are seeing explosive demand for gold. As Chinese get wealthy, they look to diversify
their investments and gold stands out as a good hedge against inflation," Zhou said.

"There is also frantic demand for non-physical gold investments. We issued 1 billion yuan
worth of gold-price-linked term deposits in 2010, but we managed to sell the same amount
over just a few days in January this year," Zhou said, adding that such deposits would easily
exceed 5 billion yuan ($759 million) this year.
Not only that, but gold production in China remains at an all time high. The Chinese state
news service has stated that the country's gold production hit a new record last year with over
340 tons produced. That's over eight percent on the previous year.

The Chinese state news service has stated that the country's gold production hit a new record
last year with over 340 tons produced. That's over eight percent on the previous year. China is
now the world's top gold producer after overtaking South Africa in 2007. And the state-run
Xinhua News Agency recently cited the China Gold Association as saying last year's output
was 340.88 tons, an increase of more than 26 tons from the previous year. The report also
says China's top gold-producing provinces last year were Shandong, Henan, Jiangxi, Yunnan
and Fujian.

So why but and hoard all this gold. What is China going to do with it? Corner the gold
market? Well there is some speculation going around in the gold community that might just
explain this. China wants the yuan to become the world’s reserve currency and the way to do
it is to buy up all the gold available and add it to their already massive hoard and peg the yuan
to it. There would be then, incredible as it may sound, a yuan gold standard.

And China may just hold the whip hand to do this. China's central bank holds around 1,054
tones of gold or about 1.8 percent of its total reserves.

Of course it is going to require much more gold than it has now. Some estimates put it at 66,
000 tones, but that is with the current rate of the yuan against the dollar and the current price
of gold. The more the price of gold increases the less gold China will need in order to back
their currency. And the more gold china buys the higher the price will climb. So they are
setting their own pace, as it were, in how much gold they will need in order to become the
standard.

Under the IMF's first amendment to Article IV of Agreement, ratified in 1978, participating
countries are not allowed to peg their currency to gold. But China holds 2.85 trillion dollars in
foreign reserves. It is the major trading partner to the west and could easily, given enough
gold at the right price, peg its currency against the and no one could really do anything about
it.

The USA, currently the world reserve currency, is reported to hold over 8,000 tons of gold,
but as it refuses to have this audited and is accumulating debt like and express train going
downhill with no breaks. The excessive printing of dollars means the US has no hope of
pegging the dollar to gold, not with a measly 8,000 tones. It would place the gold price at
somewhere around 52,000 dollars and the more dollars are printed the higher the value of
gold would have to be.

The Chinese yuan, however, is a slightly different story. China holds $2.85 trillion in foreign
reserves, mostly dollars and as the value of the dollar decreases with excessive printing of
more, the foreign reserves of china lose their value and the value of the yuan increases.

Whether or not China does eventually accumulate enough gold to create a new world gold
standard, it certainly gives new meaning to the words, buy gold!

Chinese Demand to Buy Gold

The Chinese population of over 1.3 billion have taken up the

cry to buy gold and are doing so in vast numbers.

"We are entering a period of strong seasonal growth in gold demand and Chinese New Year is
a big part of that," said Brien Lundin, editor of Gold Newsletter. "Physical demand has been
supporting the gold prices on the downside even during the typical slack periods, and I expect
that upcoming increase in demand will also support the price, but at higher levels."

Chinese are buying gold like hot cakes as the Chinese New Year, known also as Lunar New
Year, begins on February the 3rd and ends two weeks later on the 15 with the Lantern
Festival.

"Chinese gold and silver demand has been phenomenal ahead of the New Year holiday," said
Adrian Ash, head of research at BullionVault.com, a leading online service for gold bullion
trading and ownership, citing comments from dealers among others. Shipments have been
"heavy" and began very early, in mid-December, he said.

"Chinese New Year is the time of year when the Chinese share gifts, usually money in little
red envelopes," said Mark Leibovit, chief market strategist for VRTrader.com. "Perhaps the
little red envelopes will be a bit heavier this year."

"It's really simple," said Cary Pinkowski, chief executive officer of Astur. "China banned gold
ownership for most of the 20th century and that's over. China has a savings rate of more than
30%" and "an official inflation rate of 10%."

"The Chinese will buy more and more gold just as every other civilization has in inflationary
times and with their high savings rates, they have the money to do it," Pinkowski said.

And buy gold they do.

According to a BullionVault analysis, based on GFMS data courtesy of the World Gold
Council, since 2005, the January through March period has seen China's private household
gold buying raise an average 22% from the previous nine months,

"Long term, that's meant Chinese households have put an ever-greater proportion of their fast-
growing annual savings into gold," said Ash, with that portion growing from 0.8% of retained
income in 2001 to a forecast of more than 1.7% in 2010.
To substantiate this, the number of gold savings accounts opened by the Industrial and
Commercial Bank of China Ltd. Has grown by over one million and with little promotion or
marketing, "... an extraordinary pace of demand growth," said Martin Hennecke, associate
director at Tyche Group in Hong Kong.

"China is in the process of overtaking India as the biggest national buyer of gold," said Julian
Phillips, an editor at GoldForecaster.com. "At a minimum, the two countries take half the
newly-mined gold and the figure is rising."

Seems the canny Chinese understand the value of gold as compared to the value of currency
and the Chinese demand to buy gold looks set to continue.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Buy Gold with Paper Money
 The financial world is beginning to sit up
and take notice with financial experts now saying buy gold.

Robin Griffiths, a strategist at Cazenove Capital recently stated "I think not owning gold is a
form of insanity." He added that the US dollar was heading for "oblivion." Just recently the
president of the Kansas City Federal Reserve, Thomas Hoenig, put his neck out to state that
he considers the gold standard a "very legitimate monetary system."

Mr Griffiths predicted gold's 10-year bull run would continue and even intensify. "Although
it's been a top performer for each of the last 10 years, it's still in a linear trend," he said.
"Eventually it will go exponential and make more in the last little bit than the whole of the 10-
year trend." He added investors should regard any short-term falls in the gold price as a
buying opportunity.

It was only in November last year that World Bank President Robert Zoellick and the Indiana
Republican Congressman Mike Pence both called for a serious look at using gold as the
'centrepiece of international monetary reform'.

Such statements from some of the world financially literate shows the depth of distrust there
is in the global financial system and indicate that floating money is running out of political
cover. The obstacles to gold replacing it are starting to narrow.

Gold has been out in the cold for forty years. But this has not affected the value of gold one
iota. There is no getting around it. Gold is still the bees knees when it comes to retained value.
While serial price crashes have traumatized the lives of ordinary people with the values of
homes, stocks and other investment assets collapsing, gold has consistently returned an
investment value despite not being an investment vehicle. Those who have continued to buy
gold throughout the past 40 years are now congratulating themselves.

While Quantative 'easing', a euphemism for printing more money to reduce debts continues,
the value of gold remains stable. One cannot print more gold, a possible hint as to why the
gold standard was removed 40 years ago. The dollar is now worth less and less each year
since the gold standard was removed and each time another bucket of paper money is printed
it takes more and more of them to buy goods and services and the same amount of gold as it
did the year before.
Mr Griffiths said. "The downward trend in the dollar is awesomely powerful. It's vital to get
yourself out of the dollar long-term on any significant rally. Continuing to own a currency
that is going to be printed virtually into oblivion - that's the official policy - is crazy."

He added: "Real assets hedge paper money being printed into oblivion, so you've got to own
gold and you've got to own other commodity related investments."

The motto? Buy gold, real gold, not paper gold, before it takes too much paper money to do
so!

Gold in the Hand

Is gold in the hand worth more than money

in the bank and a good reason to buy gold?

In November last year Robert Zoellick made the suggestion that the world economy could do
with good old fashioned gold to stabilise the worlds economy. Was this just a yelp of pain or
was it a comment on the soundness of using gold as a basis for the world economy? Or was it
a dawning realisation that perhaps John Maynard Keynes, considered one of the greatest
economists of our time and who described gold as a "barbarous relic" may not have been right
after all.

While the world rocks with massive financial debt and instability, gold continues to defiantly
climb in value; a whopping 30 percent in 2010, and showing no sign of stopping.

Historically, every currency in the world has fallen against gold. Gold, as a currency, cannot
be expanded or 'printed' at will. It cannot be made more than it is, you cannot stretch it,
squeeze it, make it longer or thinner. You cannot cut it up and have it reproduce itself. One
can try to 'short' gold of course on the market, but in short (pun intended) it cannot really be
manipulated.

Printing money is like pebbles from the beach. One simply goes down to the beach and
collects more pebbles if one has too much debt. Then use those pebbles to pay off the debt. As
there is a virtual unlimited supply of 'pebbles' the value of each pebble decreases just that bit
more as more and more pebbles are collected. Consequently where 20 years ago one ounce of
gold was worth about 400 dollars, today it is in the range of 1400 dollars. Now 1400 dollars
buys the same as 400 dollars purchased twenty years ago. The ounce of gold has not changed.
To buy gold you now need 1400 'pebbles' But the value of the currency has deteriorated so
much that one needs an extra 1000 'pebbles' from the beach to buy the same value of goods.
You need a lot more 'pebbles' to buy gold these days.

Over the past decade stocks have fallen 24 percent while gold has risen 280 percent. A sad
commentary on the ability to manipulate the financial market by the printing of money, but a
boom for those with the foresight to invest in cold hard solid gold. Even in the 2002 to 2007
stock market boom time, gold was still beating stocks and that was before the GFC and
financial bubble burst.

So what is the real value of gold? All the gold in the world is estimated to be worth (at today’s
prices) around 6.5 trillion US dollars. But only five percent of that is traded around the world,
around 320 billion. The mining industry produces about 2500 metric tons of gold each year,
about 80 billion dollars worth and half of that is used in the jewelery and industrial sectors.
Less than 40 billion is available, then, to the global investment market.

From this it can be seen that a substantial shift of funds into gold would cause a sharp rise.
Even now with the price in the 1400 range a simple 6 percent rise will bring it to 1500 easily.
A 30 percent increase this year will easily bring gold to over 1800 dollars an ounce.

With more institutions and pension funds looking to protect their portfolios, increases in their
gold holdings are at the top of the list in an effort to offset the potential problems of heavy
investment in a shaky economy.

Shayne McGuire, professional fund manager of the $500 million GBI Gold Fund for Teacher
Retirement System of Texas, states in his latest book, Hard Money: Taking Gold to a Higher
Investment Level, that "10,000 dollars per ounce is not out of the question". Indeed, given the
massive debt the current economic system has been producing, one can ask oneself, what
price is gold in the hand really worth in today's economic climate? if you want to retain your
value, it is a prudent idea these days to buy gold. After all, how much are pebbles really
worth?

Cashing in Gold ETFs

The cashing in of Gold ETFs has begun! A big time investor in

London was recently prepared to pay the 750 pounds required to cash in his gold exchange
traded funds and take delivery of his gold bullion.

This is the first transaction of this sort and likely will herald further such transactions as
people scramble to get their hands on solid gold rather than rely on shares that reflect the
movement of the gold futures market. Gold investors, it seems, are becoming more suspicious
of global gold markets and would rather stick to solid gold that has an industrial use such as
making jewelery, or as an investment strategy by holding gold that, although may not
generate any interest, certainly does retain its value.

It is significant that the investor has been prepared to pay a premium to acquire his gold. The
gold broker in question, ATS Bullion in London, sells gold at a four percent premium to any
investor buying a kilo bar. At the time of this particular conversation, bars were selling for
29,000 pounds, making the commission for buying a bar 1,160 pounds. More than the 750
pounds flat fee from ETF Securities this particular investor paid, although there were
additional costs such as shipping and insurance etc.

Townsend Lansing, a director at ETF Securities stated, ‘As far as I know, this is the first time
it has gone ahead. Generally, when it has been requested in the past, they (the clients) start
looking at the costs and the process doesn't look as cost-effective as they had originally
thought. But this one actually went through. They had made their own cost analysis and then
took the required step.’
Lansing also said that anyone considering using this facility should factor in the cost of
holding a London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) account, which is the required
recipient of the redeemed gold. He added, ‘There are additional costs in moving the
investment-grade gold into an account and form that an investor can conveniently hold.’

Lansing also pointed out that most investors buy ETFs through brokers who then hold the
shares on their behalf. This could cause initial problems for any investors hoping to turn their
shares into gold as ETF Securities has to be able to identify which shares actually belong to
the investor. Only when individual shares are matched up with the individual investor can the
process of swapping them for gold go ahead.

It seems evident that, although, for a price, one can remove ones gold holdings from an EFT
account under the right circumstances, companies such as ETF Securities are not fully
comfortable with it. The real reality is that a run on extracting ones gold from a gold ETF
would cause immense pressure on the gold ETF and if there was insufficient gold to dish out
as has been speculated not too long ago the ETF would likely come crashing to the ground.

Despite this, or even because of it, it is possible this is not the last cashing in on gold ETFs
that will occur given the current global financial crisis.

Gold in the Hand

 Is gold in the hand worth more than money
in the bank and a good reason to buy gold?

In November last year Robert Zoellick made the suggestion that the world economy could do
with good old fashioned gold to stabilise the worlds economy. Was this just a yelp of pain or
was it a comment on the soundness of using gold as a basis for the world economy? Or was it
a dawning realisation that perhaps John Maynard Keynes, considered one of the greatest
economists of our time and who described gold as a "barbarous relic" may not have been right
after all.

While the world rocks with massive financial debt and instability, gold continues to defiantly
climb in value; a whopping 30 percent in 2010, and showing no sign of stopping.

Historically, every currency in the world has fallen against gold. Gold, as a currency, cannot
be expanded or 'printed' at will. It cannot be made more than it is, you cannot stretch it,
squeeze it, make it longer or thinner. You cannot cut it up and have it reproduce itself. One
can try to 'short' gold of course on the market, but in short (pun intended) it cannot really be
manipulated.

Printing money is like pebbles from the beach. One simply goes down to the beach and
collects more pebbles if one has too much debt. Then use those pebbles to pay off the debt. As
there is a virtual unlimited supply of 'pebbles' the value of each pebble decreases just that bit
more as more and more pebbles are collected. Consequently where 20 years ago one ounce of
gold was worth about 400 dollars, today it is in the range of 1400 dollars. Now 1400 dollars
buys the same as 400 dollars purchased twenty years ago. The ounce of gold has not changed.
To buy gold you now need 1400 'pebbles' But the value of the currency has deteriorated so
much that one needs an extra 1000 'pebbles' from the beach to buy the same value of goods.
You need a lot more 'pebbles' to buy gold these days.

Over the past decade stocks have fallen 24 percent while gold has risen 280 percent. A sad
commentary on the ability to manipulate the financial market by the printing of money, but a
boom for those with the foresight to invest in cold hard solid gold. Even in the 2002 to 2007
stock market boom time, gold was still beating stocks and that was before the GFC and
financial bubble burst.

So what is the real value of gold? All the gold in the world is estimated to be worth (at today’s
prices) around 6.5 trillion US dollars. But only five percent of that is traded around the world,
around 320 billion. The mining industry produces about 2500 metric tons of gold each year,
about 80 billion dollars worth and half of that is used in the jewelery and industrial sectors.
Less than 40 billion is available, then, to the global investment market.
From this it can be seen that a substantial shift of funds into gold would cause a sharp rise.
Even now with the price in the 1400 range a simple 6 percent rise will bring it to 1500 easily.
A 30 percent increase this year will easily bring gold to over 1800 dollars an ounce.

With more institutions and pension funds looking to protect their portfolios, increases in their
gold holdings are at the top of the list in an effort to offset the potential problems of heavy
investment in a shaky economy.

Shayne McGuire, professional fund manager of the $500 million GBI Gold Fund for Teacher
Retirement System of Texas, states in his latest book, Hard Money: Taking Gold to a Higher
Investment Level, that "10,000 dollars per ounce is not out of the question". Indeed, given the
massive debt the current economic system has been producing, one can ask oneself, what
price is gold in the hand really worth in today's economic climate? if you want to retain your
value, it is a prudent idea these days to buy gold. After all, how much are pebbles really
worth?

Cashing in Gold ETFs

The cashing in of Gold ETFs has begun! A big time investor in

London was recently prepared to pay the 750 pounds required to cash in his gold exchange
traded funds and take delivery of his gold bullion.

This is the first transaction of this sort and likely will herald further such transactions as
people scramble to get their hands on solid gold rather than rely on shares that reflect the
movement of the gold futures market. Gold investors, it seems, are becoming more suspicious
of global gold markets and would rather stick to solid gold that has an industrial use such as
making jewelery, or as an investment strategy by holding gold that, although may not
generate any interest, certainly does retain its value.

It is significant that the investor has been prepared to pay a premium to acquire his gold. The
gold broker in question, ATS Bullion in London, sells gold at a four percent premium to any
investor buying a kilo bar. At the time of this particular conversation, bars were selling for
29,000 pounds, making the commission for buying a bar 1,160 pounds. More than the 750
pounds flat fee from ETF Securities this particular investor paid, although there were
additional costs such as shipping and insurance etc.

Townsend Lansing, a director at ETF Securities stated, ‘As far as I know, this is the first time
it has gone ahead. Generally, when it has been requested in the past, they (the clients) start
looking at the costs and the process doesn't look as cost-effective as they had originally
thought. But this one actually went through. They had made their own cost analysis and then
took the required step.’
Lansing also said that anyone considering using this facility should factor in the cost of
holding a London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) account, which is the required
recipient of the redeemed gold. He added, ‘There are additional costs in moving the
investment-grade gold into an account and form that an investor can conveniently hold.’

Lansing also pointed out that most investors buy ETFs through brokers who then hold the
shares on their behalf. This could cause initial problems for any investors hoping to turn their
shares into gold as ETF Securities has to be able to identify which shares actually belong to
the investor. Only when individual shares are matched up with the individual investor can the
process of swapping them for gold go ahead.

It seems evident that, although, for a price, one can remove ones gold holdings from an EFT
account under the right circumstances, companies such as ETF Securities are not fully
comfortable with it. The real reality is that a run on extracting ones gold from a gold ETF
would cause immense pressure on the gold ETF and if there was insufficient gold to dish out
as has been speculated not too long ago the ETF would likely come crashing to the ground.

Despite this, or even because of it, it is possible this is not the last cashing in on gold ETFs
that will occur given the current global financial crisis.

Gold Coin Scams

When buying gold there are some gold and gold coin scams
to watch for.

Here are some examples of gold scams and what you can do to prevent them.
Proof coins are manufactured differently to other coins. The manufacturing process used
imparts a special finish on proof coins made especially for collectors.

The uncirculated grades are from MS60 to MS 7, with MS70 being the highest grade possible
and considered the perfect coin with no evidence of scratches or contact marks of any kind.
Very few coins achieve this grade and naturally this grade commands the highest value and
price from collectors.
MS70 The perfect coin showing no trace of wear. Flawless.
MS68 An attractive coin with barely discernable markings. No more than two markings or
flaws. No hairlines, no scuff marks even under magnification.
MS65 A Gem Brilliant Uncirculated coin. An above average Uncirculated coin specimen.
This coin may be brilliant or lightly toned with very few contact marks on the surface or rim
MS64 A Choice Brilliant Uncirculated coin. Mint luster above average with several small
contact marks as well as one or two moderately heave contact marks.
MS63 A Brilliant Uncirculated coin. Mint luster impaired on portions of the design. small
contact marks in groups. Some scuff marks. Quality of the coin is average for a mint coin, but
overall the coin is attractive
MS60 An Uncirculated coin. This coin has no traces of wear but may have contact marks,
with a spotted surface and lack the brilliant luster of the higher grades. Rims may be nicked.
Coins in this grade may be unattractive, dull or have washed out mint luster.
Grades below MS60 apply to circulated coins in general.

This system of grading, although well known and used by dealers, is still open to fraud if one
does not watch or take due care and diligence when buying gold coins. This based on the fact
that there is a big difference in the value of cons within this grading and usually only a
professional can tell the difference in the grade of a gold coin.

For example a 2002-W $50 Gold Eagle can be worth around $1,650 at the M60 grade,a very
clean condition, but not perfect. MS70, however, for the same coin woudld fetch more in the
region of $2,850. A collector, particularly a new one, who is unfamiliar and simply takes at
face value the grade of the coin can pay dearly for a coin of lesser value than they think they
have. And this doer snot show up immediately but later if and when they get the coin valued.
The difference can be in the many hundreds of dollars.

Things to watch for

Some untrustworthy dealers will go to great lengths to hide the true value of a coin.
Presenting it in packaging that hides some of the sides or edges of the coin. No or false
certificates issued by obscure names that no one knows.

Beware of dishonest dealers quoting the Salomon Brothers Index as proof that your coin will
appreciate in value quickly. The Investment bank, the Salmon brothers issues an annual index
of gold coin appreciation of between 12 and 25 percent a year. This is like comparing apples
with bananas as this index is based on 20 very rare coins and not on the general appreciation
of gold coins which are not likely to appreciate at the same rate. The rate is for rare coins not
the more common gold eagles you find in any local coin shop.

The counterfeit coin. Believe it or not there are counterfeit gold coins around.
These can be spotted easily enough by a proper valuation however.

Also if you buy gold coins sigh unseen and have them stored from you, how do you know
there are actual gold coins there? There is no way you can tell if the coins you bought ever
exist. Your only security is the word of the company you purchased the coins from. The
saying, 'a bird in the hand...' comes to mind here when it comes to gold coin scams to watch
for.

The Solution
It really comes down to the dealer you are dealing with. The first thing to do to avoid buying
coins not their advertised value is seek out a reliable and trustworthy dealer. Make sure the
dealer is registered and bona fide. Do some due diligence.
Do they have a fixed address?
How long have they been in business?
Are they registered with the better business bureau and similar organisations and associations.
If buying any mint uncirculated gold coins then, at this level, one should seek an independent
check on the grade of a coin before buying it. And finally does the dealer have a returns
policy in the event that it is subsequently discovered the coin is of a lesser grade than
advertised. And one should always take delivery of any coins one has bought. One can
organise storage oneself and then sleep in the secure knowledge that one has, indeed, genuine
gold coins of the advertised grade and value

Friday, August 27, 2010

Boutique Gold Jewelery

Boutique gold jewelery is often used to indicate that the

gold jewelery, such as gold rings, bracelets, pendants and so forth is of a customised
individual high quality and not mass produced and therefore should be gold jewelery you
should buy.

This may not always be the case of course and one has to do some due diligence when you see
the word bandied around on websites. Often it can simply be a marketing ploy to sell mass
market gold rings or bracelets that are not particularly boutique at all.

One of the ways to find out is to check a particular piece of gold jewelery and see if the same
piece of jewelery is on offer at various other websites and in jewellers. Another is to see out
the manufacturer. Find out who made it. If it was manufactured in Asia then it is likely mass
produced and, again, not particularly 'boutique' at all.

The price can be an indicator also. Is there a discount? Is the price being offered as a "sale"
price and with some incentives to buy.

It is worth while also checking the quality of the gold jewelery itself. What karat is the gold?
What about the diamonds and or other gemstones that might be included, such as in a gold
engagement ring, for example. What quality is being offered. If a diamond, you need to know
the 4 Cs, cut, color, clarity and carat weight. A boutique gold diamond ring, or any boutique
gold jewelery for that matter, should be a first class product and not cheap!

Checking some of the more famous jewelery houses, such as Tiffany's for example you will
be less likely to get mass produced boutique gold jewelery, than if you go to one of the
jewelery chain stores.

The guarantee offered should also be an indicator. As well as the insurance recommended for
the product. Getting an insurance assessment is a prudent idea.

Of course there are some wonderful boutique gold jewelery items available out there and one
can even get custom made pieces that will be unique and not available elsewhere. Buying
antique gold jewelery from auctions can also be a smart move as, with the older pieces, there
is less likelihood of it being mass produced and more likely it was made by a master jewelery
or craftsman.

Whatever you do, provided you apply some of the good old common sense, you can definitely
find some wonderful boutique gold jewelery that can thrill your heart!

Gold Bullion vs. Gold Jewelery

A transformation has been occurring in the

gold arena over the past few years and this looks set to continue as the recession continues to
languish and spread around the financial world like a fast moving virus.

Jewelery has always been the traditional outlet for gold sales for many years but now this is
being overtaken by, what one analyst termed "a veracious demand for gold bullion by
traditional investors". Demand usually leads the price so this might partially explain why the
price of gold has increased from an average of 250 dollars an ounce in 2000 to over 1200
dollars now in 2010. However, if adjusted for inflation it could be said that there is still a long
way to go and a price of 2500 for an ounce of gold is very much on the cards in the not too
distant future.
What goes around comes around and it seems that buying gold is definitely the investor
flavour right now.

SPDR Gold Shares, the worlds largest gold exchange traded fund, is reported to hold over
1280 tonnes of bullion. Assuming that is correct, it means that this fund alone now holds more
gold bullion than many of the central banks.

This heavy buying has resulted in the sale of gold bullion overtaking the gold jewelery market
for the first time in 30 years. GFMS, the consultancy firm that compiles benchmark supply-
and-demand data on the precious metal, also stated early in 2010 that this year "gold
investment demand doubled to 1,820 tonnes in 2009, while jewellery purchases fell by 23 per
cent to 1,687 tonnes, a 21-year low."

GFMS also indicated that gold jewellery demand has fallen by a third from a peak of 3,294
tonnes in 1997, when gold was trading below $500 an ounce.

The other major change in the gold market is increasing trend of central banks to now buy
gold bullion. For 20 years banks were the sellers of gold. But that trend has now reversed as
banks in Europe slow down their gold sales and banks in China, India and Russia and the
south Americas increase their gold buying significantly.
A Barclays Capital precious-metals analyst in London, Suki Cooper, strongly believes for the
first time in over 15 years, central banks will now be the major net buyers of bullion this year.

India's purchase of 200 tonnes of the IMF gold, Beijing's announcement it had effectively
doubled its gold reserves and was now the fifth largest holder of gold all seem to indicate a
serious preference for gold over currency.

This trend towards gold was recently highlighted by the Swiss bank, UBS, which found that
almost a quarter of central banks believed gold would become the most important reserve
asset in the next 25 years.

When it comes to the crunch, it seems the big boys in banking know what is the safest way to
hold their assets

Gold Production

According to some recent mining reports, gold production will

continue to fall over the coming years.
Vincent Borg, spokesman for number one producer Barrick Gold has announced, "it's a fact
that gold production from mines has been in decline since 2001 and has gone roughly from 85
million ounces to about 75 million ounces a year," He continued. "It sort of goes down about
one million ounces every year and our forecast is that it will continue to decline despite the
higher price" for gold nowadays, he said.

Almost everywhere you look these days, gold deposits are being exhausted and new deposits
are not being found fast enough to replace them, these experts explain.
South Africa, once at the forefront of world gold production, has experienced a 9.3-percent
drop in production year-over-year in the second quarter, according to its Chamber of Mines.

"It's just that the assets are not there anymore," Tonya Todd, a spokeswoman for Goldcorp,
Canada's second biggest gold mining firm.

Despite this, Barrick and Newmont hope to continue increasing their production of gold next
year by anywhere from seven to ten percent but long-term, it is still going to drop overall.

It takes from seven to ten years to start production of a mine Omar Jabara, spokesman for US-
based Newmont Mining, the second-largest gold producer in the world, explained

“And no significant new discoveries have been found in recent years, despite the higher gold
prices and despite higher exploration budgets," said Borg.

This means that the grade of deposits will continue to get less and the average grade of mines
will be less and gold will be more expensive to produce as a result.
The global gold mine production is expected to rise by around 3.7 percent in 2009 to near
2,500 tonnes, but this will only satisfy only two-thirds of demand, which is soaring this year
to a new high of 3,800 tonnes, doubtless due in no small part to the global financial crisis,
according to the World Gold Council.

Historically, gold recycling or the sale of central bank stockpiles made up for supply
shortages, however during the latest financial crisis, banks have been buying up gold in large
quantities to protect monetary reserves against the weakness in the US dollar and so this is no
longer an option.

And since November this year, India's central bank has collected up 200 tonnes of gold from
the International Monetary Fund, at a market value for about 6.7 billion dollars.

Amid uncertainty in the stock market, small investors and hedge funds are also coveting gold,
driving up demand for the precious metal.

This drop in gold production, combined with the hoarding of gold by China and India and
more demand for gold as a hedge and asset protection will certainly serve to increase the price
of gold bullion over the coming years. Anything that becomes more scarce always commands
a higher price and gold, being already considered highly valuable in these days of economic
uncertainty will almost certainly mean a boom in the price of gold bullion.
Gold Production

According to some recent mining reports, gold production will

continue to fall over the coming years.

Vincent Borg, spokesman for number one producer Barrick Gold has announced, "it's a fact
that gold production from mines has been in decline since 2001 and has gone roughly from 85
million ounces to about 75 million ounces a year," He continued. "It sort of goes down about
one million ounces every year and our forecast is that it will continue to decline despite the
higher price" for gold nowadays, he said.

Almost everywhere you look these days, gold deposits are being exhausted and new deposits
are not being found fast enough to replace them, these experts explain.
South Africa, once at the forefront of world gold production, has experienced a 9.3-percent
drop in production year-over-year in the second quarter, according to its Chamber of Mines.

"It's just that the assets are not there anymore," Tonya Todd, a spokeswoman for Goldcorp,
Canada's second biggest gold mining firm.

Despite this, Barrick and Newmont hope to continue increasing their production of gold next
year by anywhere from seven to ten percent but long-term, it is still going to drop overall.

It takes from seven to ten years to start production of a mine Omar Jabara, spokesman for US-
based Newmont Mining, the second-largest gold producer in the world, explained

“And no significant new discoveries have been found in recent years, despite the higher gold
prices and despite higher exploration budgets," said Borg.

This means that the grade of deposits will continue to get less and the average grade of mines
will be less and gold will be more expensive to produce as a result.
The global gold mine production is expected to rise by around 3.7 percent in 2009 to near
2,500 tonnes, but this will only satisfy only two-thirds of demand, which is soaring this year
to a new high of 3,800 tonnes, doubtless due in no small part to the global financial crisis,
according to the World Gold Council.

Historically, gold recycling or the sale of central bank stockpiles made up for supply
shortages, however during the latest financial crisis, banks have been buying up gold in large
quantities to protect monetary reserves against the weakness in the US dollar and so this is no
longer an option.

And since November this year, India's central bank has collected up 200 tonnes of gold from
the International Monetary Fund, at a market value for about 6.7 billion dollars.
Amid uncertainty in the stock market, small investors and hedge funds are also coveting gold,
driving up demand for the precious metal.

This drop in gold production, combined with the hoarding of gold by China and India and
more demand for gold as a hedge and asset protection will certainly serve to increase the price
of gold bullion over the coming years. Anything that becomes more scarce always commands
a higher price and gold, being already considered highly valuable in these days of economic
uncertainty will almost certainly mean a boom in the price of gold bullion.

Gold

Gold has been consistently rising in value for the past year or
so now and there seems little likelihood that this trend will diminish.

A number of reasons have been put forward for this sudden and dramatic rise. War, economic
uncertainty, China and even India have all be assigned responsibility at one time or another.
Even inflation and national debt, both which currently run extraordinarily high in the western
countries, have had the finger pointed at them.

Regardless of the possible reasons for the steady rise in value of gold, it can be said with some
certainty that gold is considered a good investment and a safe haven for one’s assets.

What gold should one buy and keep?

There are many types of gold one can buy.

One can invest in Gold Exchange Traded Funds (EFTs). EFTs are simply a certificate that
represents a portion of gold held in a bank vault. One purchases a specific amount of gold and
receives a certificate to establish one’s holding. As the price of the gold in the vault changes,
the value of one’s holding changes correspondingly. The advantages of this system are that
one can buy gold at virtually spot price. The disadvantage is that it is considered an
investment and there are tax considerations such as profit taking and capital gains to consider.

One can buy Gold Stocks. Investing in the shares of a gold mining company can be profitable
but the value of the shares depends on many factors, not just the value of gold. A mining
company is projecting to produce a certain amount of gold over the life of the mine and this is
what give it its value. If the mine falls short then the share value can fall short. Even an
adverse movement in the currency exchange rate of the country in which the mine is situate
can cause a drop in the value of the gold bring produced by the mine.

Gold Futures is another method of buying gold. Usually this is the arena of the trader rather
than the investor, it is still a possibility but one fraught with danger as it is very easy to lose a
lot of money trading in gold futures. This area is best left to the experts.

Buying Gold Bullion, such as gold coins or gold bars, has some advantages in that coins
generally are legal tender and not taxed. They are easy to carry and store and also easy to
dispose of or sell. Gold bars also have some advantages. Easy to carry, store and sell also.
Sometimes there may be tax considerations with gold bars depending on the purpose declared
for their purchase. When buying gold bullion also consider that there is an increase in price,
above the spot gold price, as the dealer or supplier needs to pay for their expenses etc.
However with the steady increase in value this may not be such a problem.

Gold has traditionally always been a good buy in any market and better in an uncertain
market.

Probably a regular purchase of gold on a consistent basis might be a wise move, then the price
one pays will tend to level out and with the current trend you will surely do well with your
gold.

An Ounce of Gold

When you search around looking to buy

gold, you might wonder, why there can be a different price for the same coin or gold bullion
from one dealer to the next.

Firstly the spot price of gold is the value of gold per ounce at any given time. This is generally
fixed by the market and you can see the current spot price of gold in the charts show at the top
of this page.

Yet there is not only a variation in the price of gold from one dealer to another but the price
always seems to be somewhat above the spot price. How can this be?

Lets say, for example, that the spot price for gold today is $787.50 per ounce. Various dealers
will give you a selling price of around $830.80 for a one-ounce American Gold Eagle,
$819.00 for the one-ounce South African Gold Krugerrand or even $826.90 for a one-ounce
Canadian Gold Maple Leaf.

Since each contains exactly one ounce of fine gold, why should there be such a variation?

Well there are other factors to take into account when a dealer sells gold coins regardless of
what they are.

Dealers will traditionally mark up what is called the "coin premium." If a dealer bought and
sold gold coins at spot price there would be no covering the cost of the manufacture, the
shipping the insurance, not to mention the dealers expenses and profit margin. All these need
to be taken into account also. And they can vary too!

The mint will have marked up an additional price to the price of the spot gold to cover their
costs and profit and this will be further increased by dealers as they acquire the coins and then
resell them on. This is, in reality, no different to any other industry from food to car parts etc.
Each person or company in the chain has to cover their costs and a profit margin.

Happily for us, the margins can be different between dealers depending on their costs, how
much they acquired the coins for originally, as well as other factors such as the available
supply of the coins, the rarity as well as market interest in particular types of coins. All this
makes it well worth while shopping around.

So when you are scouting around to buy gold coins, do remember to do a little browsing
before shopping, you never know what bargains you might pick up buying gold!

Dollar Backed by Gold

 When people buy gold, many seem to have
the misconception that the US dollar is backed by gold. Well ... it used to be. The US
currency, like many other currencies at the time, was backed by physical gold kept in Fort
Knox and other places.

In 1933 the US abandoned the Gold standard along with many other nations, such as Italy in
'34, Belgium in '35 and others during the 1930s. Switzerland was one of the last countries to
drop the gold standard and this was done in 1999 by the approval of a new constitution that
eliminated the traditional requirement for the country's currency to be backed by gold.

The gold standard monetary system is a system in which the standard economic unit of
account is a fixed weight of gold. Under such a gold standard, currency issuers guaranteed to
redeem notes, upon demand, for that amount of gold. Also governments that employed such a
fixed unit of account, were able to redeem their notes to other governments in gold and share
a fixed-currency relationship.

However, these days, the gold standard is not currently used by any government or central
bank, having been replaced completely by fiat currency. Money is NOT, therefore backed by
gold, or any other precious metal but, instead, is backed by faith. The money is, in other
words, as good as people believe it is good. People are generally educated to regard money as
a precious commodity in itself by virtue of the amount needed to purchase desirable and
needed items.

By controlling the interest rate and the amount of money in circulation together with the use
of a tax monitoring system, makes it easier to manipulate the economy.

Since the abandonment of the gold standard, economies around the globe have shown the
apparency of a healthy economy, but in reality what has happened is that there has been little
or no check on inflation resulting in a decreasing value of the currency, such as the US dollar
so that it now requires many more dollars to purchase the same items as it did many years
ago.

The value of gold has remain the same however with one ounce of gold still purchasing the
same as it did 20 or 50 years ago.

What we use today is a system of fiat money. One glossary defines money as "money that is
intrinsically useless; and suitable only as a medium of exchange. A more accurate definition
perhaps is that money is, "an idea backed by confidence."
The main benefit of a gold standard is that it insures a relatively low level of inflation. In
articles such as "What is the Demand for Money?" , we see that inflation is caused by a
combination of four factors:

1. The supply of money goes up.

2. The supply of goods goes down.
3. Demand for money goes down.
4. Demand for goods goes up.

So long as the supply of gold does not change too quickly, then the supply of money will stay
relatively stable. The gold standard prevents a country from printing too much money. If the
supply of money rises too fast, then people will exchange money (which has become less
scarce) for gold (which has not). If this goes on too long, then the treasury will eventually run
out of gold.

A gold standard restricts the Federal Reserve from enacting policies which significantly alter
the growth of the money supply which in turn limits the inflation rate of a country. This may
give an inkling of the reasoning behind the removal of the gold standard.

So it would appear that the major benefit to the gold standard is that it can prevent long-term
inflation in a country. However, as Brad DeLong points out, "if you do not trust a central bank
to keep inflation low, why should you trust it to remain on the gold standard for generations?"
It does not look like the gold standard will make a return to the United States anytime in the
foreseeable future with the dollar being back by gold.

None of this should make any difference when it comes to buying gold of course. In fact, to
buy gold is probably a better idea than to buy currency!

Gold vs the Dollar Investments

In a competition of gold vs the dollar investments, gold would quite

likely win hands down.

There are a number of reasons for this. Where you see the price of gold changing it is
invariably the value of the dollar against the value of gold that is actually changing. Not the
value of the gold.
The value of gold has not materially changed for the past 50 years or so. You can still
purchase the same material goods and services with an ounce of gold as you could 50 years
ago. This does not apply to the value of the dollar of course. It takes a lot more dollars these
days to buy the same goods you bought 50 years ago.

The question, for investment purposes then, is what do you invest in? Dollars or gold?

Investing in dollars leaves one open to the manipulative fluctuations resulting in the dramatic
variations of value in the dollar and the devaluation caused by the continual printing of more
dollars (we are talking US dollars here but the same principle applies to many currencies
around the world) to fund debts such as the federal government debts as well as public and
private debts.

Gold however, remains consistent and in fact does not increase in value in terms of
purchasing power. Rather the value of the dollar decreases, in the long term, against the value
of the dollar. Once upon a time 20 dollars would have bought one ounce of gold. Now it takes
between 600 and 700 dollars and this is quite likely to go higher as the manipulation of the
dollar continues.

However what you could buy for 20 dollars 50 years ago will now cost around 600 to 700
dollars. Interesting! This tells one immediately where to put one's money if you want to retain
the purchasing power of your assets.

Gold coins, bars, or ingots, all are suitable instruments of investment for the long term haul.
Gold is interchangeable for goods and services. It can be used as a currency and often is. Gold
is not dependent upon any promise. One simply hands over the gold or receives the gold.

The value of gold is determined by its usefulness rather than by any manipulation (extremely
difficult with a sold metal which may explain why the gold standard was removed in 1971
enabling the dollar to be subjected to more manipulation.

According to James Turk in his article "8 Things Everyone Should Know About Gold", James
Turk,
"Though central banks do not control the gold market, they can influence gold’s price.
Importantly, their influence is diminishing. Central banks have been dishoarding much of the
gold in their vaults, so they now hold a relatively small part of the aboveground gold stock.
After the Second World War, about 68% of the aboveground gold stock was in the vaults of
central banks. It’s now about 10%.

Less gold within their control means that central banks have less influence on its price, which
is one of the reasons central banks are no longer the factor they once were."
It seems therefore that the more divorced gold is from the dollar, the better it fairs and the
more stable and therefore attractive it will become.

In a competition of gold vs the dollar investments it seems that gold indeed wins hands down!

Precious Metals
 Precious metals are defined as those metallic chemical
elements considered of high value compared to other metallic chemical elements by virtue of
their comparative rarity. Examples include gold, platinum, silver and palladium among others.
They are also chemically less reactive and have a higher luster. They tend to be softer metals
yet have higher melting points.

Precious metals, such as gold and silver, has been historically used mainly for currency, but
these days precious metal investing is much more prevalent. In fact gold, silver, platinum and
palladium, each have their own ISO 4217 currency code (ISO 4217 is the international
standard describing three letter codes, also known as the currency code, to define the names of
currencies established by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).

So the demand for precious metals is driven not just by their industrial, practical or decorative
use but also by their investment potential and the stability of stored value. Some of the
advantages, people see, of buying and selling precious metals include them holding their
value even in times of economic uncertainty, as well as they also do not deteriorate and are
relatively easy to store and transport

Precious metal prices vary of course and this is dependent on a number of factors including,
the demand both industrial and commercial, the possibility of manipulation and the discovery
of new sources of the metal affecting its supply and perhaps even rarity.

You can buy and even sell, precious metals in a number of ways.

Actual metal such as gold, silver, palladium in the form of coins and bars. Investments in the
form of precious metal funds such as EFTs, certificates and direct investment in stocks or
shares of metal producers and processors. Also just trading in precious metals on a daily or
regular basis.

How you do so will depend upon your circumstances and your needs and wants in this area.

It is an excellent idea to 'know before you go'. This means deciding what you want in terms of
precious metals. Do you just want to be a collector? Or are you interesting in preserving your
assets or just making money trading precious metals on a daily or even hourly basis? Your
purpose, when dealing with precious metals, needs to be clearly defined.

Then you will find it easy to decide what you want to do in the precious metals market.

You would then need to find for yourself a reliable and secure precious metals dealer. This
could be a dealer who sells precious metals in the form of bullion or jewelry, or a market
dealer who specializes in investment vehicles such as precious metal funds or EFTs for
example. The usual rules of due diligence would apply here. Who is the dealer? Are they a
member of the better business bureau in the country in which they are situate, etc.
In short, you will need to make a serious study of the area you want to participate in and
understand how that area works and how it can help you achieve your goals with these rare
metallic elements. Doing that will go a long way to you satisfying your desire with regard to
precious metals.

London Gold Prices

London gold prices are fixed twice a day at 1030am and 3pm London
time. The London Gold Fixing is done by five members of the London Bullion Market
Association. They sit down and discuss the price until they come to an agreement. This has, in
the past, taken some time but these days it usually only takes a few minutes.
According to Wikipedia, the first fixing actually took place on 12 September 1919 among the
five principal gold bullion traders and refiners of the day: N M Rothschild & Sons, Mocatta &
Goldsmid, Pixley & Abell, Samuel Montagu & Co. and Sharps Wilkins. The gold price then
was a princely four pounds 18 shillings and ninepence (GBP 4.9375) per troy ounce. Due to
wartime emergencies and government controls, the London Gold Fixing was suspended
between 1939 and 1954.
The gold fixing was then done twice daily at the City offices of N M Rothschild & Sons in St
Swithin's Lane until May 2004 when it was taken place by the telephone. In 2004 N M
Rothschild & Sons withdraw from gold trading and the London Gold Fixing and was replaced
by the Barclays Bank.
A curious tradition of the London Gold Fixing was that participants would raise a small Union
Jack on their desk to pause the proceedings. Under the telephone fixing system this changed
and participants can now register a pause by saying the word "flag", and the chair ends the
meeting with the phrase "There are no flags, and we're fixed".
The current five participants in the Fixing, who must be members of the London Bullion
Market Association, are now all banks unsurprisingly. They are:
Scotia-Mocatta — successor to Mocatta & Goldsmid and part of Bank of Nova Scotia
Barclays Capital — Replaced N M Rothschild & Sons when they abdicated
Deutsche Bank — Owner of Sharps Pixley, itself the merger of Sharps Wilkins with Pixley &
Abell
HSBC — Owner of Samuel Montagu & Co.
Société Générale — Replaced Johnson Matthey and CSFB as fifth seat
Now even though you will see a gold fix price in dollars it is actually done in British Pounds
Sterling and Euros not dollars. The gold fix in euros is a new venture. Traditionally, the
London gold fix has always been in Pounds Sterling.
Although the London gold fixing is done twice a day and a gold price established, this does
not mean that the price of gold stays at that price until the next gold fix. This is not the case.
The fix price is the price at the exact instant in time at which it is agreed but within seconds it
will be trading at different prices again.
So why have a London gold fix at all? Basically the five members use this as benchmark to
establish a market price fixed for that precise moment when they can balance their sales and
purchase transactions including orders and commissions from their clients. It also serves as a
guideline for other gold dealers internationally.
Because five banks now 'control' the London Gold Fixing, it could be said that the banks are
controlling the price of gold. This would be incorrect. The London Gold Fixing has become
more of an institution and tradition than anything else. The price of gold is controlled by
peoples perceptions of the value of gold, world economic affairs, how much gold is being
bought and sold and other external influences such as new discoveries, sudden large
purchases etc.

The London Gold Fix or London gold quote, as it is sometimes called, simply acts as a
guideline which, in fact, many around the world do not follow. If a new gold strike is
discovered in the outback of Australia, or China decides to buy sa few more extra tones, that
is likely to have a greater impact on the price of gold than any agreement 5 men in an office is
going to make.
Historically it has not controlled the value of gold, which seems to retain its own value
regardless of the many variables that can appear to affect it. There are daily rises and falls and
even weekly or monthly rises and falls which many analysis enjoy discussing and making up
charts for. But in the final analysis, gold has been rising steadily over the past 100 years
against just about any currency you care to name and is likely to continue that trend.
People love gold. People love to own and keep gold. Gold is considered valuable. People will
always consider owning gold a better option than paper currency. Paper currency is a tool
these days used by governments and those that influence them to control economies. This
cannot be done with gold, hence the dropping of the gold standard. A currency will change
and can be the subject of manipulation, inflation and depression (sorry – recession).
Gold stands alone. Offer gold to someone and they will take it. You can buy exactly the same
value with an ounce of gold now than you could 50 years ago. Not something that could be
said about currency.
Regardless of the London Gold prices and the fixing of the gold price each day, gold will
continue to be a favorite and considered valuable regardless of the times and economics of the
day.

Why Does The Price of Gold Change?

 From the 1800s to 1975 the price of gold and gold coins remained fairly steady
at $19 to $21 US. In 1975 the gold standard was removed and this then contributed to the
increased fluctuations in the price of gold.

The dollar was originally pegged to gold in March 1900 and the dollar was then 'backed' by
"twenty-five and eight-tenths grains (1.67 g) of gold nine-tenths fine", and was set as the
standard unit of value. The value was then set at $20.67 per ounce of gold. Consequently there
was little movement in the value of the dollar, being pegged to a stable metal. The dollar, and
the economy was fairly stable for many years.

Until, in 1975 the United States floated the dollar with respect to both gold and other
currencies. With this the United States was, for the first time, on a fully fiat currency and the
dollar was no longer pegged to gold and there was, in effect no gold standard. Today the
dollar, like the currency of most nations, is fiat money without intrinsic value, which means
that it has no backing and would be entirely worthless but for the fact that people have been
persuaded to use and accept it as if it had worth.

After the gold standard was dropped the value of gold shot up to peak at over 640 dollars per
ounce in 1980 before settling in the 300 to 500 range which it now occupies. The economy
also suffered with waves of inflation and recessions. It has continued to do so ever since.

Gold, however, continues to have value and although the 'price' fluctuates more due to the
manipulation of the dollar than anything else, the value of gold remains stable.

So, in point of fact, it could be considered that the value or price of gold is not changing. Only
the dollar value subscribed to it is changing, depending on the fluctuations of the value of the
dollar and the vagaries of the political, and economic climate.

It pays therefore to invest in gold and gold coins.