Why Do Investors Buy Gold?Often investors decide to buy gold bullion and purchase other precious metals like silver, and platinum, as a potential safe haven play, as a hedge against inflation and increased economic uncertainty. They also use bullion to balance or diversify their investment portfolios. Almost every culture known to man has some history of using gold coins, and some special association with this metal. Owning gold is often appealing to both numismatic coin collectors and independent investors seeking to diversify their portfolios, despite the fact no interest is earned on bullion. Gold Bullion Dealers Ranked By Trustscore
By visiting each website you can compare each dealers prices, complete your own due diligence and if unsure obtain professional financial advice before making any investment decisions. Please read our Website privacy policy for more information. Gold, Inflation and Hyperinflation? Throughout history, a number of nations which have attempted to inflate their way out of a financial crisis by printing vast quantities of fiat money, eventually faced the prospect of economic collapse! Whether it was the Weimar Republic between 1921 and 1923 when excessive money printing resulted in hyperinflation, for example a loaf of bread, which cost between 150 - 250 German Papiermarks in early 1923, had risen to an almost unbelievable 200,000 million Papiermarks by November 1923. Argentina also had inflation issues in the 90s, or more recently in Zimbabwe where a $100 billion dollar note would barely purchase a handful of eggs. All these countries faced severe price increases for basic items such as food and clothing. Independent investors like Mike Maloney and Peter Schiff agree - buying gold is a classic way to potentially protect against a potential hyperinflationary scenario. The Price Action Over the Last 20 Years Over the last 20 years gold has increased significantly in value by £2,248 pounds, that is almost a 1000% increase! Back in 2005 gold at it's lowest point was only around £220 per ounce, today in 2025 the price has reached record levels of over £2,500 per ounce. A Brief History of Gold Some archeologists think gold was the first metal ever used by humans, and the archeological record has examples of gold jewelry dating back more than 6000 years. Gold naturally occurs in an easily workable state while other metals usually require more processing, and because it can often be found in riverbeds when gold panning, it was an obvious metal for ancient civilisations to take advantage of. Virtually every known culture has some history of using gold, and some special association for the metal. The first use of gold coinage as currency was in the ancient kingdom of Lydia, about 2500 years ago. Gold made a great choice for currency because nearly every culture throughout the world considered it valuable, and gold was easy to turn into coins because it is so malleable. Physical gold continued to be the standard that backed up most currency for most of recorded history, and all the way into the early 1970s when it was completely abandoned in 1971. Gold is still used in jewelry, along with certain specialized technological applications, and people still purchase gold as an investment for its security in the form of bars or coins like gold Sovereigns and Krugerrands. Information About Gold Sovereign Coins In this age of democracies and constitutional monarchies, we don't often use the word "sovereign" for a reigning monarch. But back in Tudor times, the king was sovereign and his word was absolute. So when the first pound coin was minted in 1489, with the obverse (front) portraying the sovereign King Henry VII seated on his throne, the word "sovereign" was the obvious choice as a name for the coin. Those first sovereigns were crafted of 23 carat gold, (95.83 % pure gold) and featured a shield bearing the royal coat-of-arms set on a double Tudor rose on the reverse. Since the coins were meant as official bullion, there was no face value engraved on the coins. They were commonly valued at 20 shillings, although that changed as the value of gold changed. King Henry VIII reduced the gold content to 22 carat gold (91.6% pure) which became the standard for gold coins and is known as "crown gold." Under Edward VI, in 1549, half sovereigns as well as double sovereigns were struck. The sovereign continued to be minted in various forms. Viewing historic sovereigns is like looking at a timeline of British history. Almost every reigning monarch issued sovereigns with their own facial profile. During the reign of James I & VI, the sovereign was technically discontinued. The replacement coin was known as the "Unite" because of the unification of England and Scotland under King James. The pound coin was called a guinea during the late 1600s, due to the fact that so much of Britain's gold was produced in the African state of Guinea. These coins often featured the elephant-and-castle logo of the Africa Company and continued until 1813. The modern age of the sovereign began in 1816 with the Industrial Revolution and steam-powered coin pressing. Italian engraver Benedetto Pistrucci created the classic St. George image, which was used for over two hundred years. During World War I, Britain needed gold bullion for the war effort, and introduced paper money. Minting of sovereigns trailed off, until the last ones were struck in 1932. From 1957 to 1974, and then starting in 1974, the government again issued gold sovereigns. In 1989, a commemorative 500th anniversary set was issued, as a proof only, with the picture of Queen Elizabeth II in the enthroned, forward-facing pose. A variety proof sets are available today. For hundreds of years, the British sovereign was the most recognizable coin in the world. Even today, like Krugerrands in South Africa, and the Gold Nugget in Australia, Sovereigns are legal tender, with face values of 50p, Ł1, Ł2 and Ł5. Many gold bullion buyers today prefer to trade gold bars or buy allocated gold on internet exchanges like Bullionvault and Goldmoney. But many others prefer to have a core physical position in coins. You must conduct your own research to decide which option is best for you. You can buy gold sovereigns directly from The Royal Mint, or choose from a number of reputable dealers please see the list at the top of this page. There you can find contact details of companies with plenty of positive testimonials from happy customers. The Good Delivery Bar and Other Gold Bars Popular culture has instilled us all with the image of the bank vault filled to overflowing with gleaming golden bricks. Bars are still the standard method of storing and transporting large quantities of gold, but much of this precious metal today is traded using ETF's, whether by hedge funds or home traders buying and selling small quantities of bullion on on their phones, laptop computers, or desktop PCs. Reserve banks all over the world store gold in a particular standardized form known as the "Good Delivery" bar which weighs 400 troy ounces (equivalent to 438.9 ounces). Did you know that the largest gold bar in existence weighs a a whopping 300.12 kg and was made by the Emirates Minting Factory LLC based in Dubai, in the autumn of 2024? In places where large quantities of bullion is stored, the security measures are extraordinary. Most banks won’t even publicly divulge the location of their gold stores due to security concerns, and every conceivable technology is used to keep the gold safe and sound. A Sample 14 Different Gold Bar Sizes
The Spot Gold Price - Last Checked 04/05/2025
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