If you are one of the people who wonder what makes a particular metal precious and another one “non-precious”, you should not feel stupid. There are many people who ask themselves the same question. Perhaps, it looks complicated but the explanation is very simple actually: the price of a particular metal is determined by its rareness. Basically, the rarer a metal is the more precious and expensive it is likely to be. So, it is not surprising that metals such as iron or magnesium are very cheap since they could be found everywhere around but other precious metals, platinum and palladium are very hard-to-find!

Anyway, giving examples is always useful and helpful. The “protection” of the statement above certainly requires some facts and example to be given. Let’s take the platinum as an example. Undoubtedly, it is one of the most preferred, loved but also most expensive metals on the market. All that is enough for presuming that platinum is very rare. Actually, just 0.00029% of the Earth’s lithosphere is platinum. It is really, really little, especially when compared to other metals that are 5 or even 10% of the whole lithosphere.

But platinum is mainly used for production of jewelry. All engagement and wedding bands made out of platinum were very popular last year and many men and future grooms chose them as the best way for showing their love and affection to the partner. Undoubtedly, platinum is still popular as a metal for producing jewelry but its huge popularity has already started decreasing.

When talking about precious metals, platinum and palladium everybody thinks that as along as the metal is considered to be in the “precious group”, it is good. Anyway, all people have different tastes and there are even trends concerning the precious metals! So, it should not be surprising that a certain rare metal is more popular than another one. For instance, palladium seems to be the metal which has gained most popularity this year.

Maybe, palladium is one of liked and preferred precious metals which gained enormous popularity. Anyway, it is a fact that there are many people who have never heard of palladium and even more people who know nothing about it but its name. It was discovered in 1803 by William Wollaston. Of course, the history is not that much important and you are very unlikely to care about it. It is more important for you to know that palladium is one of the rarest metals discovered ever! That statement automatically answers your question: “Why is it so expensive”?

Actually, there are only several regions where palladium could be found. These are: some northern states of US, northern Europe, and South Africa. Yes, there are no other places where this extremely precious metal has been found.

Of course, it could not be said that there are no other places where palladium could be found. Surely, there might be others but they have not been discovered so far. Anyway, most of the scientists share the opinion that the regions in Asia, Australia and South America are not “hospitable” for formation of palladium so that it is not likely palladium to be found there.

But what matters much more than the places where palladium can be found, is the fact that owning a piece of metal like that gives the person a really unique feeling. Just think about it- you own just a couple of grams of it (as a form of jewelry or anything else) but there are really few others who can say the same, perhaps around 0.0032% of the population!

Platinum is an important metal. Learn more about platinum and palladium precious metal. Visit our guide to the platinum precious metal today.

categories: silver,precious metals,mining,finance,currency,money,metals

In our days, world currencies are the money, nearly always. It hasn’t been that, before. There were strange currencies, like the salt. It was, yeah. The gold’s and the salt’s value have been the same. There have been many trading kinds; one of them has been the exchanging trade. The life in those years has been simpler. Ours is more conflicted. But that is another point. Here you can look at the currencies then, especially one of them.

One of the currencies was very popular many, many years ago- that’s the silver. It was used as a currency many years ago. It was actually not difficult to use silver as a currency as it used to be really well-known. Many years ago, the money did not exist and precious metals such as the gold and the silver were used as a currency. Their alloys have been very popular those days. They were used for currencies. That’s because, the thought for forging them has been impossible for thinking, not for doing this. This was the main reason for the people to use silver as a currency.

It is a pure metal and has got very good chemical properties. It hasn’t got damaging for the human doses, so he isn’t bad for us. He’s harder than the gold. It’s not very hard metal at all. His temperature of melt is a bit more than 900 degrees Celsius, not so much, again. He has the highest by the metals conductivities, electrical and thermal. The optical reflectivity of silver is in the top, it’s very high.

Other property of the silver is that it’s beautiful. He’s used in the jewelries. Gold price is higher than the silver’s. Much interesting jewelries have been made by the silver. Like the second place medal, it is made out of silver.

Another use of the silver metal is in the medicine. The effects of the silver on some viruses and bacteria are toxic. This property is very useful. Who has not heard of the silver water? That is something like the dead and alive water, good for the skin, the brain and many others. The aristocrats use silver from many years, that’s their metal.

There are much interesting uses of silver. It can be said for electromagnets and the hi-end sound cables. People use his electrical conductivity for the cables. In the World War II the silver was used for making electromagnets, because of the ending of the cooper in the war.

It can absorb free neutrons, which are his property. That silver’s property is used by the people. They are putting it into pressurized nuclear reactors.

While you are comparing with something like steel, the silver has got very high price. But compared with gold, it’s cheap. That’s why we can use silver as a currency. The reason, that stops us, is that we have invented the money.

Silver is an important metal. Learn more about silver and get quotes on the price of silver. Visit our guide to the precious metal silver today.

categories: silver,precious metals,mining,finance,currency,money,metals

Perhaps, most of you know that there are many people who collect metal coins. Actually, it is one of the most spread hobby and obsession among the millionaires. Maybe, you would ask yourself the question why collection of precious metal coins is popular mainly among the rich. Well, the answer of that question is much easier than you probably expect: the reason is that the hobby costs money, a lot of money!

But what makes a collection of precious metal coins valuable is certainly the number of items. Having collected like 40-50 metal coins would never make a person numismatic since most of the collections contain hundreds and even thousands of coins as it was said above. However, the number is not the only factor making a collection valuable. The rareness of the coins plays a huge role also.

But when talking about precious metal coins, there is a fact that just cannot remain skipped. The fact is that there are usually just two reasons for a metal coin to be considered invaluable or precious: these are the rareness and/or the age. A lot of people seem to think that a metal coin is precious only when it is ancient. However, there are some coins emitted in 2000 but they still are extremely valuable since only 10, 100 or 500 numbers of them are in existence. It is what many national banks do in order to satisfy the interest of the numismatists but emitting new metal coins in small circulation could be also provoked by any special and important event in a country for example.

You already remember the rule that the rarer a coin is the more desired and valuable it will be to the collector of precious metal coins.

But it is also a well-known fact that the “age” of the coins also determines whether it is precious or not. For example, a coin which was emitted 2000 years ago will be certainly invaluable, especially if there are only two or three of the same kind. Such coins could cost the incredible $50.000 or why not more?! Of course, it should be kept in mind that these coins are usually not supposed to be owned- they have to be exposed in museums so that many people could see them.

And having mentioned the problem with that sort of coins, it should also be mentioned that numismatics, especially the richest ones, often seem to cross the line between legal and illegal. The collectors’ desire to own rare and unique coins often makes them spend crazy money for precious metal coins which are a cultural object and they should be in the museums, not in a millionaire’s house.

Unfortunately, some collectors do not realize that their obsession could lead to great cultural and historical losses. After all, when old and ancient metal coins are being discussed, everybody should know that they should be shown to everyone- they are just not supposed to be owned!

In conclusion, precious metal coins could be a really great hobby but they could be something more also. Some coins could tell us a lot about the history- much more than a whole history book could.

Do you have an interest in precious metal coins? Learn more about coins made of precious metal today.

categories: silver,precious metals,mining,finance,currency,money,metals

In order to speak about gold in a recession we must define what recession means. We have recession when inflation and investment are very small due to a slowdown in the economics. Than occurs large unemployment in some or all of the sectors of economics. From all said behind, we understand that when we have recession the people suffer.

For that, something has to be done. And it can be done. Now is the time to say there were some recessions in the past – World War II, and many countries as single recession – like 80′s in the USA, or 2008 until now.

Now you would say: “That is not hard, I understand what recession is, but I do not understand what has gold to do with it?”

And what could be said about gold? Gold is an expensive metal, very rare. Hard for people to find, gold becomes one very good exchange coin. It is used from more than three thousand years ago for trade and exchange. In the Wild West in America, people killed each other for a peace of gold – no one saw who found it, and the men got their guns out. That is a poor example what people have done for gold in a recession. Do not take that personally if you are from Texas, .

Gold is a metal. But it is a rare metal with very good quality. Hard to be found, gold is expensive. It has been used by people to make coins, some beautiful jewelry and in other aspects like churches and mosques – for the cupola. It is enough to say that people kill for gold – a very common event in the Wild West. So there you have it – expensive metal, hard to be found, rare, good quality – good for exchange and trading.

There you go – trading is the answer. Nowadays money is used for trading. But what have we explained about gold in a recession – gold is rare and expensive, and exhaustible. But money isn’t – paper is practically inexhaustible. So in some moment money devalues – they have no real value for people. Here gold comes in for help – for gold in a recession you can make a conclusion, or not. Well, if you haven’t, we’ll help you a bit more.

You can get your gold in a bank or in some secured institution, whatever works for you. It is very easy and common. Many people trade gold and earn money that way – they are very good at trading. You must know that trading and exchanging is difficult and very hard to get some profit from it. People get success. Some luck is in need to. But the skills are the most important.

Well, even if you don’t want to trade, you can make some savings. Ask yourself about the jewelry – gold means stability. Bracelets, necklaces, rings – all of them are beautiful and expensive goodies. Even some watches are made from gold. Be careful – the gold is expensive for you; it is expensive for people too. You decide for yourself and if you want some assurance – you can buy some gold in a recession, either way think before doing something. Just make a choice that would not affect your family.

Learning more about the precious metal gold and its importance is easy? Be sure to check out our online guide on precious metal.

categories: silver,precious metals,mining,finance,currency,money,metals

Gold is one of the most important sources to be wealthy and hence, it has higher value. In addition, the price of gold does not fluctuate as rapidly as of stocks and shares.

Gold may surely prove to be one of the most secure investments in times of financial crisis. The economy of many countries has suffered badly due to recession and hence, the gold prices tend to decline. Therefore, this may be the best time to buy gold. You may later sell gold once the market regains stability.

You may also choose to invest in gold for future benefits. There are many more benefits of investing in gold. For instance, as gold is considered as a liquid asset, thus you may easily manipulate and transfer it.

However, to make the best possible use of gold, it is essential for you to be well aware of different kinds of gold investments. There are two most preferred ways of gold investment that you may consider, which are trading the physical gold in the form of gold bullion (Gold Certificates) or spot gold trading, also known as gold GLD bars.

Due to the multiple benefits, majority of investors think that it is better to invest in gold certificates. You can trade gold freely in the gold market by investing in gold certificates or funds. Gold funds and certificates are completely insured

For investing in gold, bullion coins surely proves to be one of the best options. By selling gold bullion, you may earn cash in times of emergencies or urgency, while saving the others. By doing this, you will save some extra expenses. As these coins come in small sizes, there is no need of cutting them in more small pieces.

However, you may have an advantage if you decide to invest in gold bullion and coins rather than gold bars. Unlike the gold bars, that are valued according to their weight, gold bullion and coins are priced on the basis of both their weight as well as age.

Hence, it is important to plan for investing in gold bullion. By purchasing only one gram of gold bullion every month, you will get extremely good returns in the future.

As the economic crises rages on, people are looking for more and more ways to make some extra money. One way, as seen on TV and in the windows of your local jewelers, is to sell your unwanted gold.

Like any money-making endeavor, there are risks involved. With all the options out there, what is the best and most profitable way to sell your gold items? Is an online gold buyer the way to go, or is it better to go to a local pawnshop? Obviously there are pros and cons to both. Ultimately it depends on what is most important to you.

For instance, if it is important to you to shop around for the best offer, an online buyer might not be the way to go. You can only send your goods to one company at a time, and the process of sending your gold to one, waiting on an offer, rejecting that offer and waiting on your gold to come back so you can send it to another buyer would be extremely time-consuming. However, it could be very time consuming and frustrating to drive around to area pawnshops to get offers for your gold and precious metals.

Most online buyers will offer a price based on the current gold (or other precious metal) price. Sometimes that price is below of the current gold value, but other times it is not. Your local pawnshop might offer full value for your jewelry, or they might not. If you live in an area that does not have a lot of pawnshops, it might be easier for you to send your gold to an online buyer. Since each buyer can set their own price for what they will pay, there is no guarantee that an in-person buyer will pay more than an online buyer, or vice-versa. There are many people who stick with the online service, because it is infinitely more convenient.

If you have one or two pieces to sell, you might be better off sticking with a local pawnshop. Online buyers buy precious metals based on the weight of the precious metal in question, so if you’ve got a simple chain or something similar in size you might not have enough gold to register on their scale.

If you have a whole mess of gold or precious metal pieces, your best option might be to sell to an online buyer. That way you don’t have to sort through the mess yourself. You save time, and that is a very valuable indeed.

If environmental issues are a concern, you might want to consider an online buyer who is committed to an environmentally-friendly process. Selling to a jeweler who buys new gold pieces means selling to a business who profits from gold (and other precious metal) mining. Once gold is mined it can be recycled over and over, which is better for the environment that digging out new gold. Working with an online buyer who resells gold and precious metals to the jewelry industry means that you are contributing to a process that, in theory, reduces the need for environmentally-unfriendly mining activity.

Whichever option you choose, it is important that you find a buyer who has an industry reputation for integrity, and that you feel comfortable with the process. And, with the price of gold rising, now is the time to decide.

You should diversify your portfolio with gold and you should also diversify your gold portfolio. There are many different types of gold you can invest in and diversify your gold portfolio, including gold bullion, domestic and foreign, modern gold coins, domestic or foreign and antique gold coins, domestic and foreign.

There are also options within each gold category that allows you to receive and store your own gold or allow the dealer or broker to keep your gold for you. Most people buying gold are not only buying for diversity, but they are preparing for financial disaster. For those cases, gold coins and antique gold coins have the reputation of not being able to be confiscated by the government because of their intrinsic and collector value.

On the other hand, gold bullion in recent history has been confiscated by the US government and there are several organizations that are trying to push legislation through that will fix that situation by not allowing the government to be able to confiscate personally owned gold bullion or coins of any kind.

Will the government take foreign gold bullion or modern foreign gold coins? Back in 1933 gold was confiscated by President Roosevelt, foreign gold and gold coins “earmarked or held in trust for a recognized foreign government or foreign central bank”

That would mean that if we go by what happened in history, foreign gold bullion and foreign gold coins would be safe from US gold confiscation. That’s what happened before, but the US government can make laws to fit the situation, so the way it happened before, may not be the way it happens in the future.

Antique gold coins are many salespeople’s favorite products because of their higher markup and profit margins. A lot of dealers and telemarketers take advantage of investor fears about the gold confiscation that Roosevelt ordered in 1933. In recent history, President Ford issued his own executive order repealing the Roosevelt order used to confiscate gold in 1933.

Then Congress in 1977 removed the president’s authority to regulate gold transactions during a national emergency other than war. What’s that mean? Absolutely nothing. People, especially salespeople that use historic events to sell their most profitable inventory are being disingenuous by preying on investors fears of what happened in the past. Which has nothing to do with what can happen in the future.

Just because President Roosevelt exempted antique gold coins and foreign bullion doesn’t mean a current administration would go by those same guidelines. The truth is, no one knows what will happen in the future, especially in the event of a financial collapse.

The best investment strategy is to have a diversified portfolio, but you should also diversify your gold investments within your portfolio. There are several different type of gold you can invest in and be able to diversify your gold portfolio. There are foreign or domestic antique gold coins, foreign or domestic modern gold coins, foreign or domestic gold bullion and gold certificates.

There are also many options within each gold category that will allow you to receive and store your gold or by allowing the dealer or broker to hold your gold for you. Most investors buying gold are not only buying to diversify their portfolio but they are preparing for financial disaster. In those cases, gold coins and antique gold coins have the reputation that the government can’t confiscate them because of their antique and collector value.

On the other hand, gold bullion in recent history has been confiscated by the US government and there are several organizations that are trying to push legislation through that will fix that situation by not allowing the government to be able to confiscate personally owned gold bullion or coins of any kind.

Can the US government confiscate foreign gold bullion or modern foreign gold coins? Back when gold was confiscated by President Roosevelt in 1933, foreign gold and foreign gold coins “earmarked or held in trust for a recognized foreign government or foreign central bank”

If we go by the historical events foreign gold bullion and gold coins would be safe from US government confiscation. That’s the way it happened before, but that’s not guarantee that’s the way it will happen again. The government can and often does create laws to fit the situation, no matter what happened before.

Antique gold coins are pushed by many dealers and telemarketers because of the higher markup and profit margin on old gold coins. Many dealers prey on investor’s fears about the gold confiscation that Roosevelt ordered in 1933. President Ford issued his own executive order repealing the executive order that Roosevelt used to confiscate gold in 1933.

Then Congress in 1977 removed the president’s authority to regulate gold transactions during a national emergency other than war. What’s that mean? Absolutely nothing. People, especially salespeople that use historic events to sell their most profitable inventory are being disingenuous by preying on investors fears of what happened in the past. Which has nothing to do with what can happen in the future.

Just because President Roosevelt exempted antique gold coins and foreign bullion doesn’t mean a current administration would go by those same guidelines. The truth is, no one knows what will happen in the future, especially in the event of a financial collapse.

We simply do not know what is going to happen with this economy, and if the US bailouts will find success or failure yet. The General Motors bailout might be a rousing success. However, the opposite could be true of the auto industry and or the banking system. Simply put, there is no way to tell.

While the future may be uncertain, there is one thing that is secure. That thing is a commodity, a super commodity called Gold. No matter what happens in the economy, right now is the time to start investing in gold.

Now, the above statement may sound a little extreme so many. However, the truth is gold bullion offers a level of protection from economic collapse that no other commodity offers. Some of the soundest advice you can receive is to diversify your investment portfolio. There are four main investments that make up a well diversified portfolio- Stocks, bonds, real estate, and physical gold bullion (coins and bars).

It’s pretty clear that the rich and savvy investors are running to gold bullion. Here’s a couple reasons why:

1) It’s hard to rely on paper money when so often in the past it has lost all of its value, while never in thousands of years has the gold market crashed.

2) Gold stocks and gold ETFs are manipulated by the very same people who have driven this market into the ground, falling prey to these schemes has cost many their fortunes.

Essentially, when times get tough, the tough buy gold. This economic stimulus package and the billions of dollars in it don’t appear out of thin air. Realistically there are going to be consequences for these actions. A huge stress relief is when your investment is in a commodity that is as secure as possible. A huge hint that gold is secure is the simple fact that major banks hold their assets in physical gold.

It can’t be emphasized enough that what is being referred to here is real physical gold bullion. Don’t be fooled by people selling you snake oil gold ETF’s and such. Admittedly these kinds of investments to have their purpose when thinking in the short term, but they actually devalue the longer you have them. Think long term when making your gold investment and you will be much safer.

Recently many respected voices in the investing community have been speaking out and making bold predictions about the price of gold. Predictions that, if they are even half true, cannot be ignored. Gold is predicted to sell at over $1,000 an ounce by the end of 2009, and it could peak in the future back to what it was in 1980 of over $2,500 an ounce.

We simply do not know what is going to happen with this economy, and if the US bailouts will find success or failure yet. The General Motors bailout might be a rousing success. However, the opposite could be true of the auto industry and or the banking system. Simply put, there is no way to tell.

We can’t foretell the future, but we can review the past. Gold has always been, and will always be a safe haven investment. It doesn’t matter how the worlds financial system ends up, gold is here to stay.

Now, the above statement may sound a little extreme so many. However, the truth is gold bullion offers a level of protection from economic collapse that no other commodity offers. Some of the soundest advice you can receive is to diversify your investment portfolio. There are four main investments that make up a well diversified portfolio- Stocks, bonds, real estate, and physical gold bullion (coins and bars).

It’s pretty clear that the rich and savvy investors are running to gold bullion. Here’s a couple reasons why:

1) It’s no secret that times of economic recession result in wars between nations and many firmly believe that every fallout bunker should be stocked with plenty of Gold, Guns, and Glacier bottled water.

2) The world financial institutes demand their debts with each other be payed in nothing less than physical gold bullion, what do they know that we don’t?

Bear economies cause the rich to run for gold as fast as possible. It’s plain to see that these billions and trillions of dollars don’t just print themselves out of nothing. Well actually they do, and that’s going to have repercussions. To avoid the coming backlash, a good portfolio should have it’s largest assets in a secure investment. If it’s good enough for the world banks to use, then it’s good enough for us.

Now don’t forget the importance of owning actual glittering gold. Fake gold comes in many forms like ETF’s and gold stocks. While these have their place in the short term investment world, you want something that will stand the test of time. Plan for 20 years in the future when you invest in gold and you will get the correct perspective.

It is undeniable that the top financial advisors have been actively promoting buying gold now before the price rises much higher. And it will rise in price for sure. By the end of this year it is said to reach over one thousand dollars an OZ, and that this isn’t even half of what it could peak at very soon.