subject: Gold - The Most Precious Metal [print this page] Most known precious metals are gold, silver and platinum Due to their rarity and special chemical composition they are considered economically valuable and are registered by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) with currency codes. Nowadays worldwide financial instability has brought again economical interests on the commodity market, and especially in precious metals. With the fall-down of currency, stocks and bonds, people turn to physical ownership of commodities that can offer stability, solvency, and profit.
Especially gold and silver (because platinum was discovered much later) are historically recorded as objects of worth, symbol of the riches and basic elements of the monetary value. First silver coins were produced around year 700 BC and since then until the beginning of the 19th century, silver was largely used to set the pecuniary standards (even for nations such as US and UK).
On the other hand gold, starting from ancient times was regarded as a store of value, a precious reserve and exclusive belonging of the riches and royalty (pharaohs used to be buried with their gold). Though the yellow metal was not used so much as silver in the currency exchange and manufacturing of coinages, the yellow glittering metal was always considered more precious. Nonetheless, due to the fact that platinum is the rarest of the rare metals, its price may double the worth of gold during periods of financial stability and growth. But, since the value of this silver-like metal is largely dependable on the industrial demand its price is highly volatile and can also decrease below the one of the yellow metal in a relatively short period of time.
Due to its worldwide recognized value and historically proven stability, one can not argue that gold detains supremacy over the other precious metals. Professionals advise secure investments in purchasing of gold bullion.
There are many investment opportunities and means, but acquiring the precious metals in the form of bullion seems to be the best choice because the worth of bullion is not subject to face value (namely symbolic, notional value). The bullion worth resides only in its mass and purity (that is karats). Owning gold bullion is considered the unrivaled hedge for your wealth and, also a safe investment for your future.
