Why is Gold so Important?

Published here: http://goldsilverworlds.com/gold-silver-general/why-is-gold-so-important/

Why is gold so important? It’s a hard question, right? You must have asked that question to yourself too…why in all those precious metals is gold the most important?  Before answering that question let’s learn first about gold and its uses to tackle that problem.

Gold has been used for thousands of years and by ancient civilizations.  We surely don’t know who first discovered gold, but we’re happy they did. Gold’s history can be traced as far back as 40,000 BC!  Pretty old for a precious metal, right?

Ancient Egyptians

You might wonder what early uses did they have for gold when they first discovered it.  Unfortunately, we don’t know either.  But since 3,000 BC gold played an important role with the Egyptians.  It was used to decorate their temples, weapons, ornaments, and jewelry. To the ancient Egyptians, gold was so important to them that even the capstones in the great pyramid of Giza were made out of gold.

Gold was also used by the Egyptians as their currency.  As a matter of fact, Egyptians are known to  have the first currency exchange in history. One gold unit was equivalent to two and a half pieces of silver.  Not just that, Egyptians also created gold maps to point where gold mines and different deposits of gold were located in the entire Egyptian kingdom.

Ancient Greeks

Gold was used as a symbol and to honor the gods and demigods by the ancient Greeks. In ancient Greek gold is a symbol of wealth and richness, and was also formed as a currency. The ancient  Greeks mined gold throughout the Mediterranean and Middle East since 550 B.C.

Gold mentioned in the Bible

According to the Bible, Genesis 2:10-12 says that the land of Havilah (near Eden) is a place where good qualities of gold can be found. The Aztecs and many other civilizations used gold abundantly in the early history, gold was also used in their religious ceremonies and in their architectural designs.

Gold signifies power and wealth in the earliest civilization.  Those who hold gold also bear a great power including emperors and priests.

Gold has been very important since the early civilizations.  Its uses have been valued throughout  history. The question that struck my mind is why is it so important?  Gold is considered at the present time as a very precious metal due to its characteristics.  Gold is dense, soft, shiny, malleable and a very ductile metal.

We cannot deny the importance of gold in our lives, even in our daily lives we use gold. In fact, an ounce of gold can be pressed and stretched into 50 miles of wire at a one-tenth diameter of a human hair. Some of our precious jewelry is also made out of gold.  It has many uses in a host of industrial applications including wiring in electronics, an anti-glare film lining in the astronauts’ visors, and gold can be used in health and dentistry.

Gold has so many possible uses in our industry, economy and in our lives. The answer to the question of why gold is very important is because of its uses and value in our lives.

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Is Silver On The Rise? Could It Be The New Gold?

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Investors are talking about gold mainly for its value and price.  In the past ten years, the price of gold has increased from less than $300 to $1,500 per ounce…quite interesting for gold investors.

However, silver has performed better than gold for the past ten years.  Its price has ranged from less than $5 to $40 an ounce. So if you invested  $10,000 in gold in June 2001 its value today would be $50,000, but if you invested $10,000 in silver on the same date you would now have around $80,000.

Now may be the time to start thinking of silver as the new gold.  As a matter of fact, there are several pieces of evidence that silver could soon replace gold as the precious metal of choice for some investors. An example of that is some analysts project that the price of silver will rise to $90 per ounce by the end of 2021, while the price of gold remains at $1,500 over the same time frame.

Silver rises for many of the same reasons as gold.  One of the biggest common factors is the state of the economy today. Economic uncertainty can be observed at any given time, and when there is a high risk of inflation, precious metals become more desirable due to a recognized safety and reputation.

One of the biggest advantages of silver is it’s not widely considered a main source of value like gold is. Silver also has many uses in industry, medicine, and dentistry, thanks to its usefulness, unique properties such as a good electrical and thermal conductors and usefulness in making metal alloys.

Silver can be very useful to mankind.  There are many reasons why you should invest in silver too. One reason is silver is cheap, its industrial use is growing, world demand is growing and in the gold and silver ratio silver is more favorable.

Silver is cheap

You could buy a hard asset of silver at roughly the price of 1/70th the price of gold, much more affordable and easier to acquire for the smaller investors. If you cannot afford to buy a full ounce of gold, silver can be a substitute to own a precious metal.

The growth of Silvers Industrial Use

Silver is very useful.  Even in our daily lives, we use it.  From electronics to medical applications, and from batteries to solar panels, silver is used in many major industries. Silver is the most electrically and thermally conductive and reflective metal that exists. Due to its unique characteristics, its industrial application has risen. As the matter of fact, today’s industry makes up more than the half of silver demand.

World Demand is growing

Like its industrial use, silvers global demand also grows. Basically, all leading government mints have already seen the record levels of silvers sales. China and India are one of the countries whose silver growing demand can be seen. The behemoth markets of the two countries have a long history of cultural affection towards precious metals. As well as their population growth the astounding desire for precious metals will also rise.

Gold and Silver Ratio, Supports Silver

The gold/silver ratio can give clues to investors as to which metal might be good to buy at any given time.  Gold-to-Silver ratio average is 47:1 during the 20th century, its ratio climbed to 61:1 in the 21st century. Which makes silver a good investment related to gold.

It is very hard to find an asset with a greater use between price and basis. If you think gold is quite expensive, silver is the precious metal for you. Silvers uses in industry and the economy are growing.

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When to Sell and When to Buy

Published here: http://goldsilverworlds.com/physical-market/when-to-sell-and-when-to-buy/

Gold is always a sought-after asset. Not only does it diversify your investment portfolio, but it also helps you gain ground in creating your very own hedge against an economic crisis that might occur while owning the asset. For newcomers, gold has always been hard to understand. The market fluctuates in such a way that sometimes it can become unpredictable. And so many other factors affect it as well. Some of these could be the political standing of the country, the economy, the oil markets, the scarcity of gold itself, the demand for the product and so much more.

But fret not.  We have compiled a list of things you need to consider before buying gold, or if you already own gold, these are the aspects you need to consider on when to buy and when to sell.

Having the right mindset and knowing the proper time to purchase and sell the product is very crucial in buying and selling gold. For example, buying at the wrong time could lead to purchasing very expensive gold per ounce, and selling at the wrong time could also be a great loss of the asset considering the prices of the product itself might considerably increase. So, these are the few factors one needs to consider before you make a financial decision regarding Gold and other precious metals

The price of gold fluctuates, so when buying gold and other precious metal products timing is everything. Before jumping in and buying gold, look for the historical data to see the best time of the year to buy gold.

There are some cycles we can see to the price of gold according to the historical record of gold and silver prices.  Gold and silver tend to be low on price in the months of January, March, April and late June, which is a good time to buy gold.

If you are going to buy gold, buy it this year. You will get a better price this year than next year.

Maybe you are not interested in buying gold and you are interested in selling it.  Before you start thinking when to sell your gold, know first the value and purity of your gold.  If you’re thinking about selling your gold, you need to be more aware of the gold spot price. The gold spot price is the current price of which gold could be bought and sold.

The spot price of gold can fluctuate greatly from day to day or even hour to hour, due to the factors like supply and demand. Some factors can make it hard to predict the price of gold in the future! If it were easy, you’d be rich!

When is the best time to sell your gold? Typically, sellers of precious metals do so because they are in need of liquid funds.  Timing your transaction will require watching price trends and avoiding those months when precious metals prices trend downward.  Lastly, due to precious metals always having intrinsic value, you will always be able to sell you metals unlike paper assets.  You’re guaranteed to always be able to sell your gold for SOMETHING, even in a major disaster or crisis.

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Gold and Silver Facts

Published here: http://goldsilverworlds.com/gold-silver-general/gold-and-silver-facts/

Gold and Silver have been useful to mankind since ancient civilization. Even today, we use gold and silver in our everyday lives. But most of the people nowadays don’t know the purpose and the importance of both metals.  Let’s talk further about two of the most important metals ever discovered by mankind.  Here are some amazing facts about Gold and Silver.

Gold characteristics

• Color                           golden yellow
• Atomic Weight         9665
• Normal State            solid
• Melting Point           18 deg C, 1337.33 K
• Boiling Point            2850 deg C, 3123 K
• Electrons                  79
• Protons                     79

Gold is one of the oldest metals continually used since ancient civilizations. Its bright yellow color has been valued for thousands of years. The oldest gold treasure ever found was in a burial site in Varna, Bulgaria from around 4000 BC ( from the ancient Thracian civilization).

By 3100 BC man has evidence of gold and silver used by the Early Dynastic  Period of ancient Egypt. Egyptians used gold plates to decorate shrines, ornaments, weapons, ceramics, statues, glassware and jewelry. Gold has also been used as a standard for currencies all over the world.

The world’s largest gold bar was manufactured by the Mitsubishi Materials Corporation, a subsidiary of Mitsubishi. The gold bar stands at 250 kg (551 lb), measuring at the base   45.5 cm x 22.5 cm and 17 cm high with a 5-degree draft angle (equal to 15,730  cm³, or 17.9 in × 8.9 in × 6.7 in ≈ 1062.04 in³).

Gold is found on every continent on Earth, except for Antartica. The largest amount of gold can be found in the oceans.

Gold is edible, pure gold is chemically inert and passes through the human digestive system without being absorbed into the body. Since 24-karat gold is very soft and fragile, most edible gold – whether leaf, flakes or dust – also contains a little bit of silver which is also inert ( so it means we can eat a whole 24-karat gold without falling ill).

Earthquakes can turn water into gold (sounds like a shake rattle and gold!). During an earthquake, the fault jog suddenly opens wider. It’s like pulling the lid off a pressure cooker. The water inside the void vaporizes instantly, flashing to steam and forcing silica, which forms the mineral quartz and gold out of the fluids and onto nearby surfaces.

There’s gold in Eucalyptus trees ( sounds fun to plant eucalyptus trees ). Australian researchers have found that microscopic gold particles from underground ore deposits are present in the leaves of this tree!.

 

Silver characteristics

• Color                         Silver
• Atomic Weight       868
• Normal State           solid
• Melting Point          95 deg C, 1235.1 K
• Boiling Point           2155 deg C, 2428 K
• Electrons                 47
• Protons                    47

Silver has been used since prehistoric times. We do not know who discovered it, although the discovery would almost have been native silver. Silver objects dating from around 4000 BC have been found in Greece and in Anatolia (in modern Turkey).

For thousands of years, silver has been used as a medicine and anti-bacterial agent by ancient civilization throughout the world. Its medical purpose can be tracked since the ancient Greek and Roman Empires. The word silver comes from the Greek word “Argos”, meaning shiny or white.

Silver is the best electric conductor of all the elements. It is used as the standard by which other conductors are measured. On a scale of 0-100, silver ranks 100 in terms of electrical conductivity, followed by copper that ranks in 97 and gold ranks in 76.

Silver metal is not toxic to humans. In fact, like gold, it can be used as a food decoration. However, most silver salts are toxic to humans.  Silver is considered as germicidal meaning it kills bacteria and other lower organisms. Silver compounds can be absorbed into the circulatory system and reduced silver can be deposited into various bodily tissues.

Silver is so shiny that when polished it can reflect 95% of the light, taking a photograph also requires using a silver nitrate compound to make celluloid film sensitive to light. Around 30% of industrial silver consumption in the US is used for this.

The most common form of silver is sterling silver. This is actually a 92.5% pure silver, with the other 7.5% made up of other precious metal including copper. Britannia silver is an alloy of 95.8% silver and 4.2% copper, also used for jewelry and silverware. Fine silver is at least 99.9% pure and commercially available, but too soft for general use

The primary source of silver today is the New World. Mexico is the leading producer, followed by Peru. The United States, Canada, Russia, and Australia also produce silver. Around two-thirds of the silver obtained today is a byproduct of copper, lead, and zinc mining.

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Gold and Economic Freedom

Published here: http://goldsilverworlds.com/gold-silver-general/gold-and-economic-freedom/

Gold has had a significant impact on the U.S economy. Since the beginning of World War I, gold has been the sole international standard of exchange. Golds impact on the economy waxes and wanes, depending on how safe other investments are. Gold has been considered a luxury good since it is durable, homogeneous, divisible, portable and has significant advantages over all other media of exchange.

Before gold was used as a coin, its value was recognized even in the first Egyptian Dynasty. Its beauty, luster and malleability made it perfect for many uses. it has been used in the early times as a standard of exchange together with silver and copper. But not all goods can be paid by gold, it would be difficult to execute and would limit the extent of the society’s division of labor and specialization. Thus, it is a logical reason to create banknotes and deposits that can act as a substitute but convertible to gold.

The gold standard is a system where a country’s currency value is directly linked into gold. With this system, a country agrees to convert the currency of their money into a fixed amount of gold. But this system is not currently used by any government, Britain stopped using this system in 1931 followed by the U.S government in 1933 due to the percent of unemployment and deflation in the early 1930’s.

  Gold Standard Antagonism

A hysterical rival against the gold standard is an issue that unites statists of all persuasions.  There are two kinds of gold standard antagonism: the Not Arbitrary, and the More Free than Controlled.

In a gold standard (Not Arbitrary), its rare case is when depositors wanted to withdraw all their gold at the same time, the bank only keeps a certain percentage of the depositor’s total balance as reserves. Thus, the bank can loan out more than the number of gold deposits. But the amount of loans which a depositor can afford is not arbitrary.

However the More Free than Controlled system is a fully free system and is consistent with gold. It is a system where bank notes are made to convert the country’s currency of paper money and is directly linked to gold. The government remains in a gold standard which means gold is still used as a bank reserve and individuals are still free to own gold.

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