Gold Price

The gold price is about $4000 per troy ounce. It might make more sense to measure something which has increased in volume dramatically (the dollar) against something which has a relatively static volume (gold). A common analogy is that one troy ounce of gold was enough to buy a toga in Roman times and is still enough to buy a suit today.

In 1971 the gold price was about $40 per troy ounce. So the dollar has lost about 99% ((4000-40)/40) of its purchasing power relative to gold since 1971.

Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value – zero.” Voltaire, 1694-1778

Physical Gold price versus Paper Gold price

The paper gold market is about 100 times as big as the physical gold market according to some estimations. The gold price has been manipulated down using the paper market according to some people. Some people also believe that this practice is ending now as buyers prioritise physical gold. This trend could eventually lead to a de-coupling of the physical gold price from the paper gold price.

Gold Bullion Demand

Central banks have been big buyers of gold bullion recently. Investment banks are forecasting an increased gold price as the global money supply continues to expand.

Once you have decided how to buy gold you need to decide how to store gold.