Gold Bullion Investment
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A gold bullion investment may prove to be the shrewd investor's best hedge against rising inflation or devaluation of the dollar. Gold (Au in the periodic table) has been for centuries the finest and most respected of all the standards for wealth and affluence and nothing has really changed in that judgment. What has changed in recent years is the price of a single ounce of the beautiful stuff, slowly rising in value since the thirty five dollar an ounce days of the sixties. When the word bullion is used along with Au, the topic is Au in its purest form. Most jewelry has some others metals joined with the Au to give it strength but pure gold bullion is only available through a few sources. One would be 24K jewelry, which is .9999% pure Au, but extremely soft and often not real practical for anything except an occasional night on the town just showing off a little bling.
The best way to do some gold bullion investment transactions is through the purchase of nationally minted coins from major nations' own mints. These are guaranteed to have the amount of Au in them advertised on the coin's obverse. These coins can come in different sizes, although the standard is the one ounce size. Countries producing these coins that are perfect for beginners who want to have a bullion investment include the United States with its American Eagle Collection, Canada with its Maple Leaf, South Africa with its Krugerrand, Austria with its Philharmonic and Australia's Kangaroo. America's Eagles can be purchased in Au coins with one ounce, a half ounce, a quarter ounce and a tenth ounce metal in them.
Of all the commodities investing a person could engage in, gold bullion investment may be one of the simplest. To be successful in profiting from the rise or fall of gold prices, one should learn intimately the factors that go into making Au more or less significant on the open market. Of course supply and demand is at the heart of many price reductions and increases, and this is also true of the earth's Au resources. In recent years, emerging countries such as China and India have put ever increasing pressure on the supply of mined Au. As more people have discretionary income to spend, the demand for jewelry, dental work and more reliable electronic connections will increase. Demand for the yellow Nirvana (what some would have us believe) is rising every year. The world's Au mines, while trying to keep up with demand have not been able to do so, bringing a spike in gold's value and making a gold bullion investment appealing to many.
Getting into all this mix is the up and down nature of world economies. Au was viewed by the ancients as the true measure of wealth, and when inflation, hyper inflation and perhaps deflation occur during difficult economic times, this same time honored measure gets more and more attention, further driving up the value of a gold bullion investment. There was a time when the value of Fort Knox and its holdings were of legendary importance, yet since the country was taken off the Au standard in the early 1970's, having Au to back up the country's monetary system has slipped into disrepute. But when national budgets and deficits continue to race into the red, many look again to the value of one of the gifts brought to the young toddler named Jesus Christ by the astronomers from the East. When the angels declared peace on earth good will toward men, they were not announcing the end of war on earth; they were telling mankind that the war God had declared on sinful mankind was over if they would accept His gift to the world. "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him." (Romans 5: 8, 9)
Buying American Eagle coins can be a great way to have a gold bullion investment. There are other older Au coins of various countries that may have value not so much with their Au content but with various imperfections, age, rarity, etc. This is called numismatics and is a whole other investing field that a person can learn to succeed in after years of study and experience. There are other ways that a person can have a gold bullion investment apart from actually physically having coins and that would be holding shares in working Au mines. There are world class major Au mines, those that are not world class but still producing and small independent junior Au mines, all looking for investor money in order to produce more of the much sought after metal.
So a person can have stocks in gold bullion mines and speculate on Au derivatives and all those complicated issues, but if a person wants to feel just a little decadent, a little privileged, a little bit special, hold one of those gold bullion American Eagles in your hand worth over nine hundred dollars. A gold bullion investment is a look back into history's past. It's the stuff that made up the legend of Midas and the stuff Solomon had sprinkled in the hair of his body guards each morning in the form of dust. Look at it closely and feel its heft and maybe even its giddying effects. Then remember that heaven is going to be so fabulous that gold will be relegated to nothing more than yellow asphalt on its streets.
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