Gold Market, Investing in Gold

As you well know the price of gold has skyrocketed in the last several months. At the time of this article gold prices are well over $1000.00 for one gold bullion. Gold coins are also going up in price matching the rate of the gold bullion. An ounce of gold purchased in 174 for 64 dollars is now worth more than 900 dollars. This return is well over a 1000%. Not only has gold skyrocketed but the price of silver and copper have increased as well. Local media has covered many news stores featuring copper being stolen off of work sites.

Why has gold investment increased? This element is resistant to other chemicals. Although it an be shaped easily it never looses its shiny luster. One of the draws to gold investing rather than stock investing is that gold lasts forever! It will always retain its value. Historically gold values have gone up when the economy gets worse. Gold is sort of insurance in case of a currency crisis.

People are always looking for something tangible to hold rather than intangible stocks. And now, with the economy in a crunch, gold is demand more that ever.

I know you have seen the commercials that entice you to trade in your gold for cash. The show Gold Rush on Discovery is also reaching popularity.

 Now you know why the gold investment is even more popular. Here are some tips on how you can invest in gold.  When buying gold there are several different ways you can do it.  You can buy gold coins to bring home. You can do this by purchasing form collectors or dealer or auction houses.  You can also buy gold coins to bring home.  You can also buy gold over the stock exchange.

First look to see what type of gold coin it is. Also take in consideration size or weight of the coin. You want to be aware of the finesss of the gold. Not all gold coins are pure gold. Sometimes other metals are mixed in to make the coin more durable. Gold coins are typically 917 parts gold per 1000. Of course you would want to consider price. Most gold I s bought at spot price, the price you pay at time of purchase. Usually this price is a little higher due to it including taxes and other fees.

 When looking at purchasing bullion bars most individuals purchase 10 mg to 110mg bars.  Bullion bars can be bought in larger sizes depending upon how big your wallet is!

 You can hold gold through escrow meaning you can hold the rights to it without holding it in your possession. There are some sites on line the allow you to purchase gold like this.

Exchange traded Funds is along the same lines as escrow. When you purchase gold this way you get a certificate stating you have hold over gold stored in a bank.

When looking around for advice on how to buy gold, I came across an obvious piece of information. Buy in the cheapest form. What does this mean? Usually this means buying gold bars. Gold bars come in 12.5 kilo bars. This option is mostly for the larger investor. The biggest downfall of purchasing gold bars it that the bars cannot be split!

You can also purchase gold in two types of coins, Krugergands and Gold Sovereigns. Gold Sovereing coins are more historically oriented therefore costing more and Krugergands are a cheaper way to purchase gold. Other advice includes buying within your means and buy when gold is at it's cheapest. Also take into consideration percentage premium. That is consider the percentage of gold in the content and the selling price.

Check out what Susie Orman has to say about buying gold in September 2010.

If you are wondering if there any trusted sites on line to buy gold from, there are. Usmint.gov has a wide variety of coins and gold options to look at. Also look at monex.com and bulliondirect.com . Be sure to not be taken in by phony claims. A while back there was a company advertising in a clever way to purchase their gold. They put out an article about how thousands of people were getting a free safe with their purchase of 300 dollars worth of gold coins. The article complete with picture was really an advertisement. Many people mistook it for a sincere article and fell for it. They did receive their gold coins, but they were gold plated coins! And the company had the name Federal Reserve in it, however it was misleading too.

On CNN Money.com Congressman Ron Paul was interviewed concerning the Gold Standard. Ron Paul, a Congressman from Texas is slated to oversee the Federal Reserve. He believes paper money is going to be a thing of the past. He states "People will start using gold as money, shift some of their paper assets into gold. Purchasing power of gold goes up and it will go up in all currencies, even though there may be minor fluctuations where the yen may do better than the euro – that sort of thing." He believes people have lost their confidence in the paper dollar and they want something of real value. Gold has been used as currency for over 6000 years, why not now?

 Now you have some idea about how gold is bought and why it has become so popular.  If you believe gold is an investment for you check out some of the links below to check on gold prices.  Remember to not go over your head!