Gold is known for its bright yellow color that allows the creation of magnificent pieces of jewelry. Malleable and very ductile, it originally appears in the form of nuggets or river alluvium.
Unique characteristics
Considered a precious metal, gold settles in riverbeds just like sulfides and quartz. Furthermore, gold veins are found in masses of magmatic rock such as granite and the first gold exploitation dates back to 1849 in California during the famous ‘Gold Rush’. It should be noted that the main deposits are located in Corrèze, in Brittany, in South Africa, in the Transvaal, in Siberia and in the United States.
If gold is known for its various applications, notably in jewelry, trimmings, illumination, goldsmithing, dentistry and industry, gold also has therapeutic virtues. Indeed, this precious alloy in its liquid form and charged with solar energy would help regenerate the skin.
Gold melts at a temperature of more than 1064 °C and vaporizes at a temperature of 2960 °C. Gold is a good thermal and electrical conductor. Furthermore, gold draws its appeal from its high malleability, its ductile nature and its high density. It is also inert, which makes it insensitive to oxidation. And since gold cannot tarnish, it can be kept for many years without this altering its properties. Finally, it should be noted that the metal shows great resistance to many chemical products, notably acids.
Gold has a significant density, which gives it an atomic weight of 196.9665 g/atom. More concretely, this means that one liter of gold weighs around 19.3 kg, which makes it significantly heavier than water. In goldsmithing, the purity of gold is measured in carats (the unit used to express the proportion of gold in an alloy).
How to buy gold?
Since 2005, one can buy gold with ease. To do this, it is enough to have a simple securities account and a financial intermediary who will take care of selling or buying gold bars. However, it should be noted that buying physical gold is not easy. Indeed, you must first rent a safe deposit box and then find the right intermediaries. Where the exercise is difficult is that good intermediaries are not common and it is fairly frequent to come across scammers.
When one wishes to invest in gold, one must start by boosting one’s investment in gold by buying gold coins. Opting for the purchase of a gold bar also proves interesting insofar as one has a safe deposit box that can accommodate them. Savers who do not want to rent a safe deposit box can, for their part, opt to purchase securities that replicate the price of gold.
Gold is considered a safe-haven asset. Moreover, its value has increased steadily over the past 10 years. In short, investing in gold amounts to making an investment that will prove advantageous in the long term.