Gold: A Story in Numbers

They say that every photo tells a story, but in the case of gold, numbers play as important a role as photos do. Gold is in its very nature constantly associated with numbers, whether it is in its history, its weight when found, its composition when being tested for value, or most often of all…its price. Numbers speak the story of gold in an important way, and because of their symbolic value, they also help tell the story of gold in the same way photographs do.

Here are a few gold facts that speak about gold’s price, power, and history, all told through numbers:

2,316- The “Welcome Stranger” gold nugget was the largest ever “true” gold nugget. It weighed 2316 troy ounces and was found in Australia in 1969. At gold’s current market price, the “Welcome Stranger” would be valued at over $3 Million US dollars.

50- The power of gold can be seen when it is hammered. One ounce of gold can be hammered down and stretched to an incredible length of 50 miles.

53- 53cm in diameter is the size of the largest gold coin ever minted, a 2007 $1,000,000 Maple Leaf.

1,064- Gold is melted down by refiners like Cash4Gold so that the precious metal can be extracted from jewelry and others objects where gold has been mixed. 1,064 centigrade is the temperature at which gold melts.

60- There’s a lot of gold out there, and when its mined gold find its way into many different forms of use. 60% of all the gold mined today however is used strictly for jewelry.

1- Gold is the most precious and rare of all metals. How rare? A single one ounce gold nugget is harder to find then a five carat diamond.





Source: http://www.gold.org/about_gold/story_of_gold/numbers_and_facts/

The Nobel Prize- Real Gold?

The Nobel Prize is internationally recognized as the prestigious award for recognition in cultural and scientific advancements as well as in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology, Medicine, Literature, and Peace since 1901 . The winner of the Nobel Prize is carefully selected each year, and its winner receives the Gold Nobel Prize medal (along with a hefty sum of cash). But is the “gold” medal real gold after all?

Turns out that the Noble Prize medals of the past were made out of real gold but are not pure gold. The Nobel Prize medals were struck in 23 karat gold, just one karat short of the acceptable 24 karat limit on “pure gold” cartage. Since 1980 and up to today, however the medals consist of 18 karat “Green Gold” and are instead plated with 24 karat gold. The special “green gold” used gives the medals a special look and feel, as well as extra value. Green gold is a mixture of gold and silver that excludes copper alloys, leaving only the precious metals as the foundations of the medal.

Sources:

http://nobelprize.org/

http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/lists/

http://chemistry.about.com/od/metalsalloys/f/nobel-prize-medal.htm

Forbes Predicts end of the year Gold price - $1600

This year, gold set a new record price when it jumped into the $1500 territory and it hasn’t looked back ever since. And now it seems like 2011 might be the year for gold record setting trends. An online article published by Kitco News to Forbes, the world’s leading business publication, has predicted that by the close of 2011, the price of gold will return to the record books for the second time this year at $1600.

“Gold should trade to just over $1,600 an ounce by the end of 2011 and silver should be flirting with $50 an ounce…”

Silver, another precious metal and close runner-up to gold, is also predicted to continue its growth, reaching the $50 dollar mark. The Forbes article mentions the rise in demand for all precious metals including Silver and its significance effect on price.

“Philip Newman (Speaker at the International Precious Metals Institute’s Precious Metals Conference) said investment demand continues to be important in silver and that drove prices up, so the lack thereof now also contributes to the weakness. He said at the same time there is a much stronger underlying demand for silver, principally from the industrial sector, a fact that is sometimes forgotten.”

If Forbes prediction is correct, then gold will continue to grow and selling gold will continue to show large profit gains for public owners of gold and gold investments.

Sources: http://blogs.forbes.com/kitconews/2011/06/14/gold-should-break-1600-silver-near-50-by-year-end-gfms-newman/

Three Most Frequently Asked Questions about Gold

Image: The Mojave Nugget- 156 troy ounce nugget, the largest ever found in California.

With gold today returning to the positive growth lines (currently at 1, 543.75 as of 11:30am today, up 0.08% as of just yesterday), now is a better time than ever before to visit three of the most frequently asked questions about gold.

Question 1- Where does gold come from?

The question “where does gold come from?” contains various historical and scientific explanations. To make things simple, gold comes from the very ground you stand on. It is a metal, and although very precious, it comes from the same place all metals come from: on parts of ground, mountain bodies, in grains of rock, and even in other compounds such as Tellurium. Gold can be possibly be anywhere, and yet, what makes it so special, is that regardless of its possible abundance gold is the rarest metal on earth. Why is Gold so rare? The rarity of gold comes from its importance to people, and the fact that it has been valued since the Copper Age…7,500 years ago. For over seven thousand years, humans have been searching and excavating gold. The World Gold Council estimates that 165,000 tonnes of gold have been mined since the dawn of human-gold relations up until 2009.

Question 2- What is gold used for?

Gold is famously known and recognized worldwide for its use in jewelry and luxurious items. Because of gold’s synonymous nature with wealth, it is easy for objects of luxury to be first on the list when thinking about gold use. But jewelry isn’t the only item gold is present in. In being not only one of the rarest metals, but also one of the strongest, gold is also known for resisting attacks by acids and is also the most malleable and ductile metal known on earth. These properties of gold make the precious metal a perfect choice for practical uses in dentistry products, electronics, and other fields. Gold is considered by many as the most powerful and trustworthy investment, but is also used in medicine, chemical industries, and even in food!

Question 3- How much is gold worth?

As of today, the price of gold is currently worth $1, 543.75. The price of gold is one of the busiest markets around, and is always changing. Just five years ago, this price was almost a thousand dollars less counting in at around $600. The price of gold has continued to rise over the years, maintaining a strong position even through economic hardships. So what does this mean for the average gold consumer? It means that gold is at a record high, and now is the best time to get the most money for your gold. Scrap gold and broken or unwanted jewelry spend years collecting dust and being neglected. However, even scrap gold contains bits of the precious metal, and should never go to waste. If you have any unwanted, unused, or broken gold, now is the time to get real cash for it and put the value back in those items. Cash4Gold, is not only a leader in the gold mail-in industry, the company created it. Visit www.cash4gold.com and order your free Jewelry Return Pack, where Cash4Gold covers shipping, insures your gold, and delivers you the easiest way to simply mail in your unwanted or unused gold for real usable cash.

Image source: http://cs.astronomy.com/asycs/media/p/463617.aspx

Gold value V.S Chocolate value

Gold has been a staple of economics for many years because of its brick by brick building placement in currencies around the world. Gold stands as the foundation of currency, and the price of currency is most often based on the price of the gold bullion. Chocolate, a favorite of American sweets nationwide, is also plays a key role in American diets. But how do chocolate and gold relate financially?

The Hershey Bar, a favorite American chocolate, was introduced over 100 years ago in 1894. Since then, the brown cut chocolate bar has sold at different prices during different times. In the same way that the price of gold continues to change dramatically over time, the Hersey Bar has moved along with it.

The value of gold is always changing, and has been so since its discovery. But what does that mean for America’s famed chocolate bar? It’s value has also jumped with the price of gold. A chart published by foodtimeline.org shows how gold rules over the economic value of all things, even chocolate bars.

Akshaya Trihiya Gold Festival

India is the world’s largest consumer of gold. Every single year, the country imports over 700 tons of gold, as well as 3,000 tons of silver. Indians are in a frenzy for gold and silver purchases today during an important Hindu festival involving precious metals, called Akshaya Trihiya. The word Akshaya means “that which never diminishes”, because of the festival’s meaning, many people in India buy tons of gold and precious metal on this day with the belief that anything bought on this day will bring luck and also success. Now with the recent record breaking prices of gold, the Indian Festival is gearing up for what is predicted to be one of the highest selling years yet.

One of the bigger merchants of Indian gold during the festival is the Rudra center, which carries a tiny “Shree Yantra” gold coin only a single mm in thickness. The Shree Yantra may be me small, but at 22 karots, it fetches a price of 27,500 RS, or $650,000 US Dollars.

This is a great time for Indians to buy gold because of the high value of gold in the market. But not only is the Akshaya giving Indians a large access to gold at high value, but it is also keeping the value of gold worldwide at a high value. Even the NSE and BSE markets have extended gold trading for ETFs(exchange traded funds) in Gold for Akshaya.

It’s easy to see that the traditional Indian holiday has a huge impact on not only the people of India, but on gold itself and the value of gold worldwide.

Which country consumes the most gold?

It’s a fact that in the U.S, people love to wear gold. From gold necklaces to rings and earrings, gold is a precious metal that is highly valued in the United States. But gold is valued just as highly all over the world. In Germany, gold is even used in drinks such as the Danzziger Goldwasser, due to its non toxicity. Worldwide, the consumption of gold breaks down like so:

50% Jewelry

40% Investments

10% industry

So which country is the biggest consumer of gold worldwide? Here’s a hint…it’s not the U.S!

India is the world’s biggest consumer of gold in the world, as Indians buy about 25% of the world’s gold! China comes in second place, as the world’s largest consumer of gold investments.

“Purchasing approximately 800 tonnes of gold every year, mostly for jewelry. India is also the largest importer of gold, in 2008, India imported around 400 tonnes of gold. “

Source: http://www.commodityonline.com/news/Gold-Why-China-outbeats-India-in-gold-reserves-17196-3-1.html

University of Texas Buys nearly 1 Billion in Gold

University of Texas Logo
http://www.utexas.edu/

Ever had a gold bar delivered to your door? How about thousands of them? The University of Texas Endowment Management firm (4/18/1011) has recently taken a delivery of 6,643 gold bars valued at nearly a billion dollars. The Universities board members have advised on the purchased in fear of the diminishing value of the dollar, and the contrary increasing value of gold that is continuing to rise in spite of economic down turn. A member of the Endowment’s Board Kyle Bass, stated the following behind his reasoning for the decision:

““Central banks are printing more money than they ever have, so what’s the value of money in terms of purchases of goods and services,” Bass said yesterday in a telephone interview. “I look at gold as just another currency that they can’t print any more of.”

Gold has yet again shown its power by beating out the dollar in economic power. What does this mean for the average gold consumer? It means that the value of gold is still strong regardless of the recent economic hardships. If you have any unwanted or broken gold or jewelry, do NOT let it sit one day longer. Visit www.cash4gold.com and redeem it for real cash now, and in the height of rising gold prices, get the most for your gold today.

Fun Facts

The gold that is universally known and loved has been around for centuries. And over time, a lot of fun facts have come to light on the composition, history, and usage of the world’s most valued metal. Here are some fun facts about gold:

1. The Gold Leaf…Gold as food!?- The Gold Leaf is a flake or dust of gold that is used on and in some gourmet foods most notably in sweets and drinks as an extreme decorative ingredient. These Gold Flakes were used by nobles in Medieval Europe as a decoration in food and drinks to show their wealth.

2. The Gold Liquor- There is a traditional German herbal liqueur called “Danziger Goldwasser” that contains Gold Leaf. It is still made and sold today.

3. The Earliest known Map- the earliest known map to have ever been discovered is called the “Turin Papyrus Map” and dates to around 1160 BC. This map shows the plans of a gold mine.

In ancient Egypt, it was said by king Tushratta that gold was “more plentiful than dirt”.

GOLD EXECS SAY GOLD VALUE TO INCREASE

Reports came this weekend that gold purchasers are increasing among Europeans, Asians, and Middle Easterners.  Much of the upswing is due to the downswing that many of us are feeling in the U.S.

Gold prices may rise to $1,250 an ounce is a prediction by several, because it retains an allure as a hedge against inflation.  Gold “could go up 50 percent”, says Sean Boyd, CEO of Agnico-Eagle Mines. 

As credit and housing crises are still on the mainframe in the U.S., others are betting against us.

March 17^th was the last high that gold experienced, at $1,033.90, but has dropped 19% since.  The CEO of Newmont Mining Corp, Richard O’Brien, sees bright futures for the metal due to future inflation anticipation.

Everyone is now watching the euro.  Gold has generally moved with the euro.  The metal remains one of the most solid investments that can be made.  The advice?    Buy now and sell every time it jumps.

Sell your gold at www.cash4gold.com.  We detail our process, the prices we pay, and how you can get cash for your gold today!  

Gold dips as dollar steadies

Gold dropped a bit lower on Wednesday while the dollar steadied, lightly denting gold's universal appeal as a currency hedge. Gold fell to $972.40/973.40 an ounce from $975.90/977.90 an ounce late in New York. The increase in accumulating and buying of gold to be an alternative to the more unsteady and risky assets like stocks and the weak dollar has helped to raise gold to a four-month high of $987.75 on Tuesday. A recovery in the US currency early on Wednesday however, has slowed gold buying and is helping to keep a lid on fresh gains.

Among other precious metals, spot silver tracked gold higher to $18.84/18.89 an ounce from $18.86/18.93 late in New York. Platinum fell before pulling back to trade at $1,971.00/1,991.00 late in New York. The white metal has fallen by nearly five percent in the last month. Spot palladium fell to $439.00/447.00 an ounce from $440.00/448.00 late in New York.

Cash4Gold always pays you the best price for your gold and precious metals. Visit us to see how much we are paying right now for your gold, gold scrap, silver jewelry, gold jewelry and more! 

Precious metals popping up all over

Gold has raced up in price more than 50% in the last year. Other precious metals have gone along for the ride including platinum and palladium. So, is this the end of fiat currency as we know it, as gold bugs have claimed? has the commodities bubble finally burst and will gold prices head back south? What are the forces jostling the global metals markets?

Boris Schmitz-Thiersen's family has been selling jewelry in the same location in Cologne, Germany, for more than 100 years. He has begun offering bracelets made of a peculiar white metal mined in South Africa. "It's pure palladium," he explains. "Pretty, isn't it?" Yes - and relatively cheap, trading around $450 per troy ounce, compared to just under $2,000 for the same amount of platinum, and about $1,000 for gold. Silver, by contrast, is trading at between $17 and $18 per ounce.

The decision to sell palladium instead of platinum is one of those innocent ideas that if adopted by all the jewelry stores in the universe, could have major ramifications for the price of these two most precious of metals. Jewelry currently accounts for about 20% of total platinum demand, but that, unlike gold, platinum and palladium are primarily industrial metals and not stores of value.

"If prices of platinum get too high, you could see a substitution on the industrial side to palladium," she says. "This is why I'm more bullish on palladium than I am on platinum."

Yet it is platinum's secondary function as a precious metal that is driving prices to the stratosphere.

At Cash4Gold we don't just buy your gold scrap, unused gold jewelry and gold coins. We also buy platinum, silver and other precious metals. Visit our website today to see what precious metals we can buy from you!  Visit www.cash4gold.com for more information!