Business & Finance Investing & Financial Markets

Gold in the World

Of all the precious metals, gold is the most popular as an investment.
Investors generally buy gold as a hedge or safe haven against any economic, political, social or currency-based crises.
Speculators chose to buy gold when its price is smaller, hoping to sell it as its price rises.
Because it is highly valued and is in very limited supply, gold has long been used as a medium of exchange or money, in our words, financial gold.
In antiquity, this metal had been used in transactions of all kinds.
Its rarity, desirability and usefulness make it a long term value.
It has been the metal chosen "for the job" due to its high value, durability, portability and because it is easily devisable.
Many European countries implemented gold standards in the later part of the 19th century until these were dismantled in the financial crises involving World War I.
The desire of buying gold is easy to understand and also the appeal of owning gold as a tangible, physical investment.
It can be bought and sold fluidly in different forms: bars, bullion, coins and even jewelry.
Here are some considerations when deciding how to buy gold.
If you want to buy this precious metal just for your personal entertainment and enjoyment, it is best if you buy jewelry or collectible gold coins.
Jewelry is the most available form of buyable gold because, as we all know, you can find this form of gold for sale everywhere and they might even have a sentimental value to you, at some point.
The drawback would be that this form of gold is the less liquid one and if ever trying to sell it, there is no guarantee that you'll obtain the price you've paid for them or the customer might not even like their style.
On the other hand, the quality and content of gold coins is absolutely guaranteed.
Moreover, the price might even rise if the coins are really old.
If you want to buy gold as an investment, you can chose from gold bars, bullion or even coins.
The drawbacks here are that, unless you live in an area where jewelers need serious amounts of gold to turn into jewelry, your ability to sell gold bars will be less than your ability to sell gold as coins.
Secondly, your gold bars might not be 100% pure gold and might contain certain non-precious heavy metal, unlike gold bullion which has a governmental guarantee of quality and quantity.
Buying gold can be a tricky issue and one has to treat it with serious consideration after deciding to make this step.

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