Whether you are an American spending dollars, a Japanese spending Yen, or a European spending Euros, the international language of currency will always be spoken in gold. Gold is a fixed resource which does not fluctuate in value nearly as much as government currency. In fact, government printed currency is often assigned value by the amount of gold that particular government has in reserve.
True, some gold is used for scientific or electronic uses. Astronaut helmets, for example, sport a visor with a film of gold so thin it is transparent, yet still able to deflect heat and glare. Gold is one of the best metals to conduct electricity, along with silver, but unlike silver, gold does not tarnish or oxidize. Yet technical use accounts for only 15% of the fabricated gold in the world. The other 85% of physical gold sales is used for jewelry.
Gold jewelry today is a symbol of wealth and prestige, but in olden days it was more than that…it was the wealth itself. Gold and diamond buyers were not trying to make themselves or their spouses look pretty, but rather were making it possible to carry their gold reserves on their person at all times. This convergence of the aesthetic and the practical has resulted in a thriving jewelry industry today, and a huge percentage of gold sales online are devoted not to bullion and gold bars, but to bracelets, rings, necklaces, and earrings.
While not everyone wears all of their wealth when they go out the door each morning, more and more people are putting their money into gold as a means of storing wealth and fixing the value of their money. Gold sales have triggered a slew of organizations who offer to pay for any and all pieces of gold the public at large is willing to part with. While doom and gloom analysts point to the devaluation and predicted collapse of the U.S. dollar (the predominant reserve currency for most of the world) as a major push behind the current rush on gold sales, smart investors know what they have always known…gold is just a good investment.