Gold and silver coins, the famous “old world” currency, are fast becoming the “new world” currency because they offer the missing link in all paper currencies: a store of value.

Today, Americans are facing a pile of unpaid debts. At the helm is a new Fed chief, Ben Bernanke, who has already been nicknamed “Helicopter Ben” based on admitting he’d print enough paper currency and drop it from helicopters to keep the U.S. economy from sliding into a recession.

The Wall Street Journal recently published an excellent commentary, “In Gold We Trust,” by David Ranson and Penny Russell of H.C. Wainwright & Co. Economics. They explain why gold prices are the truest barometer of falling public confidence and of growing inflation. Here are a few key points they bring to light:

* Gold is the benchmark for the value of the pound – not the other way around.

* The falling U.S. pound is largely being ignored by Washington and Wall Street.

* Gold’s sharp rise represents an equally sharp decline in investor confidence.

* Gold is the barometer of public confidence in paper money.

* The pound’s collapse of 60 percent since 2001 is a blow to capitalism.

Bottom line: The U.S. pound is slowly but steadily sliding into oblivion, taking with it the hopes and dreams of all Americans, along with the value of their savings accounts and investments.

Most Wall Street pundits view gold as just another commodity, which they say is now overpriced due to a growing gold fever worldwide since 2001, causing central banks, hedge funds and others to buy gold for the first time in decades. Not so!

Gold is rising because it is real money. The solution is to convert a portion of your “paper” assets into gold – thus putting yourself on a personal gold standard.

Rising gold prices today are a big red flashing signal of coming inflation, which could take gold prices over £1,000 an ounce. So don’t wait to buy gold – buy gold and wait.

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Humans have been fascinated by gold for thousands of years, by the way it never tarnishes and by its unique color.

Sadly, gold is useless in engineering terms, except for plating electrical contacts, to ensure they never tarnish and lose their conductivity. The metal is too soft, with too low a tensile strength to be used for much besides necklaces and rings.

As an investment though, gold is a different story altogether. Why do people buy gold? It has zero intrinsic value.

Gold prices fall and rise, according largely to the degree of fear that people have about the future. When war is imminent gold prices soar.

When economic conditions are good, inflation low and employment rate high, gold prices fall. Under these conditions there are investments that are probably going to produce a better return than holding gold bars.

People buy gold because they fear the inflation and catastrophic share price collapse that normally accompanies war and political uncertainty. They buy gold because they think gold will hold its value.

Historically gold holds some value, whereas shares can lose all of their value overnight. However, anyone who buys gold at the high price associated with war will almost certainly lose money, when they sell at a lower price.

Conclusion – buy gold when everyone is saying to invest in the stock market. Sell gold when things are looking grim and there are lots of buyers out there.

If you do buy gold you need to appreciate that this investment has risk. The price of gold may fall. It may be years before you can sell your gold at a profit.

Until recently many countries made it illegal for individuals to hold gold bars or bullion. Individuals could buy gold coins and other items however. The South African Krugerrand was minted to exploit this opportunity and to earn much needed foreign exchange for that country during the years of economic sanctions.

Nowadays you can buy gold, silver and platinum coins in many denominations, including Canadian and US pounds, sterling crowns and sovereigns.

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As other precious metals, gold is measured by troy weight and by grams. And when it is alloyed with supplementary metals the term carat or karat is used to specify the amount of gold present, with 24 carats being pure gold and lower ratings being proportionally less. The purity of a gold bar can also be written as a decimal figure ranging from 0 to 1, known as the millesimal fineness, such as 0.995.

Carat and gold price

Carat is a measure of the purity of gold and platinum alloys. One carat is one twenty-fourth purity by its weight. Thus 24-carat gold is pure gold (99.99%); 12-carat gold is 50% purity, et cetera. In the United States and Canada, the word karat is typically used for the measure of purity, while carat is referring to the measure of mass.

The carat system is gradually more being complemented or superseded by the millesimal fineness system where the purity of precious metals is denoted by parts per thousand of pure metal in the alloy.

The most frequent carats used for gold in bullion, jewellery making and goldsmith are:

24 carat (millesimal fineness 999), 22 carat (millesimal fineness 916), 20 carat (millesimal fineness 833), 18 carat (millesimal fineness 750), 16 carat (millesimal fineness 625), 14 carat (millesimal fineness 585), 10 carat (millesimal fineness 417) and 9 carat (millesimal fineness 375).

The open market gold price

The gold prices is determined on the open market, but a procedure recognized as the Gold Fixing in London, originating in 1919; provide a twice-daily benchmark figure to the industry.

The historically gold price

Historically gold was used to back currency in an economic system recognized as the gold standard a certain weight of gold was given the name of a unit of currency. For a long period, the United States government set the value of the US pound so that one troy ounce was equivalent to £20.67 (£664.56kg), but in 1934 the pound was revalued to £35.00 per troy ounce (£1125.27kg). And by 1961 it was becoming harder to uphold this price, and a pool of US and European banks agreed on manipulating the market to stop further currency devaluation against increased gold demand.

On 17 March 1968, economic conditions caused the collapse of the gold pool, and a two-tiered pricing scheme was established and gold was still used to settle international accounts at the old £35.00 per troy ounce (£1.13g) but the price of gold on the private market was allowed to rise and fall; this two-tiered pricing system was discarded in 1975 when the price of gold was left to find its free-market level. Central banks still hold historical gold reserves as a store of value even though the level has generally been declining. The biggest gold depository in the world is that of the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank in New York.

Ever since 1968 the price of gold on the open market has ranged widely, with a record high £850oz (£27,300kg) on 21 January 1980, to a low £252.90oz (£8,131kg) on 21 June 1999 (London Fixing). On 26 April 2006 the London gold fixing was £635.50oz.

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Gold is the most precious metal that people collectively believe in owning. Individuals all over the world feel a sense of security when they can own a substantial amount of gold. Be it in the form of intricately made gold jewellery, or gold bars and pendants, gold has a unique value in the lives of human beings.

Women love making gold jewellery, and wearing them on various occasions, and events. Not only is gold a status symbol, but it also shows how stable you are. Women spend a lot of time deciding what sort of jewellery they want to buy, and whether it would sit well with them. A lot of effort is put in the making of jewellery. It has also been a trend to present jewellery to your loved ones as a gift. Gold is widely appreciated, and is valued among people.

It should be kept in mind that unlike other investments, gold is very stable. In fact, it is the most stable investment that we can make. Whenever the international or local economy undergoes any depreciation, gold prices either stay the same, or shoot up. If you are deciding to sell your gold, it depends on how much gold you have. Most ordinary consumers do not have a lot of gold sitting in their house, so they can only send a small amount of gold. Even that on its own can fetch quite a lot of money.

The price of gold has an inverse relationship with the dollar. This means that whenever the price of dollar goes down, the price of gold shoots up. For gold owners, this is a positive phenomenon.

Another positive point is that whenever gold prices rise, they do not drop suddenly if the dollar price goes up. Gold prices are not at all alike the stock market, which can crash any day if some calamity were to happen. Unlike the stock market gold prices are extremely stable, and do not record any significant change on a daily basis.

If you are under pressure to produce money for some urgent need, it is best to sell your gold for hefty cash, depending on the amount of gold you own. You can even go through your old gold jewellery that you may no longer wear, and sell it for significant cash.

You can sell off your old earrings, rings that have gone out of style and pendants that you no longer like. There is no need to lock them up in your drawer, as you can gather all the unused jewellery, and take it to a jeweller close by.

Sometimes, circumstances make it impossible for you to hold on to your prized jewellery. However, other needs come first. If the college tuition of your child cannot be paid any other way, or if some important bill has been left unpaid due to shortage of cash, it is time you sell your gold jewellery. Money comes, and goes. You can always treat yourself to a new to buy gold bracelet or a nice pair of gold earrings the next time you have enough cash in your hands.

Jack Wagon is a gold investment consultant. Learn how to buy gold in the times of recession

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Now is the best time for selling gold jewelry!! Gold prices are at an all time high and you would definitely get more money than you spent while purchasing the them. Now the problem of where to sell them arises. Valuing diamonds and other gems might pose a problem unless you contact the right people. You would certainly like to get money worth your jewelry and to ensure that you are not scammed you need to be alert and informed about the many ways you can be duped.

Cause For Selling Gold Jewelry

There can be many reasons that have made you decide to sell gold jewelry. It could be a divorce, illness, etc. Selling of them is usually done in circumstances of financial strain. Whatever the reason is you should get the full value of your jewelry. The gold and embedded gems should be appraised by a professional gemologist and he would be able to give you a correct estimate of the value of your jewelry. Your estimate of your jewelry might not be accurate and hence getting an expert’s opinion is vital.

Do not approach pawn shops or jewelry shops for getting a value of your jewelry. They would not give you an authentic estimate but would give you only a diminished value. Selling gold jewelry should be done carefully if you want to get its full worth.

Trusted Appraisal Service

You need to find a trusted company so that your jewelry can be appraised and true value is established. You can get a variety of quotes on your jewelry. They can appraise or certify your jewelry. A professional council of a certified gemologist should be contacted when you decide to sell gold jewelry.

Gold prices are soaring and there is no wonder that many gold buyers are in the arena. These people claim to pay you the market value of gold, but in reality they act as brokers between you and a gold refinery. Thus, they buy gold from you and sell it to the gold refinery at a profit. Thus, you gain only a small percentage of the actual profit.

So Where To Sell

Selling of them can lead you to a jewelry store, but you will get only wholesale prices for your gold. You can try certain trusted online companies that have direct affiliation to gold refineries. These people would be able to pay more, since because of competition between various sites they would have a better resale price. The competition allows you to emerge the winner with better prices for your gold jewelry.

Online companies have to shell out less for their operational costs as compared to a local store, and they do more business than the local store; hence, these stores would be able to buy gold jewelry at higher prices since they get more profits.

Prior to selling gold jewelry, you need to do a little bit of homework. Read reviews of cash exchange for gold and conduct an independent study of gold prices in the market. Once you have the required information, selling of them would cease to be a daunting task.

Are You Thinking About Selling Gold Jewelry [http://www.selling-gold-jewelry.net/]? Deal Directly With a Gold Refinery and Get 3X’s More for Your Gold.

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