Gold Ever Since it's Discovery it has drawn the attention of Men who search it out!

Ever since its discovery 5,000 years ago, gold has been treasured for its unmatched luster, beauty and intrinsic value. Today, gold continues to enjoy widespread appeal as an investment and storehouse of value. Gold is an internationally recognized monetary and financial asset held in reserve by major governments. It is so rare that all the gold ever mined could fit into a cube measuring just 20 yards on each side.

What is Gold?
Gold is a heavy, yellow, metallic chemical element. It is a precious metal, with a high degree of ductility and malleability, that is used in the manufacture of a wide range of products including jewelry, electronics, and coinage. Gold forms in high temperature hydrothermal quartz veins. These veins carry the gold to the earth's surface through super heated solutions and this material deposits in fissures to form ore bodies. Erosion of the host rock by wind and water washes the gold from the ore bodies. Some of the gold stays near the vein and water carries some of the gold into rivers and streams. The gold nuggets found in rivers and streams are known as placer gold while the gold found in ore bodies and veins is known as lode gold. Typically, the old timers would follow placer deposits to the source, or lode gold, and then start hard rock mining. 

Investing in Gold is a stable investment with a more than 4,000 year history of use by humans.  Gold is the most stable of all investments and is an excellent hedge against inflation and deflation.  Buy Gold and Buy Silver just buy the metals to protect your current and future wealth!  There is a company called:  GoldMoney.com that provides a way for you to buy gold safely and securely and trade it right over the Internet while having actual possession of the gold in an insured vault, thus creating truly insured gold bullion. 

Mineral symbol: Au, hardness: 2.5-3, specific gravity: 19.29, color: golden yellow to white or orange/red 

How is Gold Weighed?

The weight of gold or gold articles is usually expressed in troy ounces.

1 troy ounce = 1.097 ordinary ounce

12 troy ounce=1 troy pound

31.1 grams=1 troy ounce

1.55 grams=1 pennyweight (1dwt)

20 pennyweight (dwt) = 1 troy ounce

24 grains=1 pennyweight (dwt)

480 grains=1 troy ounce

How is Purity Measured?
The purity of gold articles is generally described in three ways:

Percent Fineness Karats
(parts of gold per 100) (parts of gold per 1000) (parts of gold per 24)

100 percent 999 fine 24 karat
91.7 percent 917 fine 22 karat
75.0 percent 750 fine 18 karat
58.3 percent 583 fine 14 karat
41.6 percent 416 fine 10 karat

What Does it Mean?

Gold Filled: Also called gold overlay, a layer of at least 10-karat gold permanently bonded by heat and pressure to one or more surfaces of a support metal, then rolled or drawn to a prescribed thickness. The karat gold must be at least 1/10 by weight of the total metal content.

Rolled Gold Plate: Material consisting of a layer of plating of 10-karat gold or better which is mechanically bonded to a base metal. The karat gold content may be less than 1/20 but must be properly identified by weight in terms of total metal content.

Vermeil: Gold at least 15- micro-inches thick, bonded to sterling silver by an electrolytic or mechanical process.

Gold Leaf: Pure gold that is pounded into sheets applied to other surfaces by hand. Usually about 3 micro-inches thick.