Top 60 High-End Gold Information Resources/Services

GOLD is a chemical element with the symbol Au and atomic number 79. It is a bright yellow dense, soft, malleable and ductile metal. The properties remain when exposed to air or water. Chemically, gold is a transition metal and a group 11 element. It is one of the least reactive chemical elements, and is solid under standard conditions. The metal therefore occurs often in free elemental (native) form, as nuggets or grains, in rocks, in veins and in alluvial deposits. Less commonly, it occurs in minerals as gold compounds, such as with tellurium as calaverite, sylvanite, or krennerite.

As the metallic native element mineral, gold structurally belongs to the isometric copper group. It also forms a solid solution series with the native element silver (Ag) to which it is often naturally alloyed (electrum). Other common natural gold alloys are with copper and palladium (Pd).

Gold resists attacks by individual acids, but it can be dissolved by aqua regia (nitro-hydrochloric acid), so named because it dissolves gold. Gold also dissolves in alkaline solutions of cyanide, which have been used in mining. It dissolves in mercury, forming amalgam alloys; it is insoluble in nitric acid, which dissolves silver and base metals, a property that has long been used to confirm the presence of gold in items, giving rise to the term acid test.

This metal has been a valuable and highly sought-after precious metal for coinage, jewelry, and other arts since long before the beginning of recorded history. In the past, the Gold standard has been implemented as a monetary policy, but it was widely supplanted by fiat currency starting in the 1930s. The last gold certificate and gold coin currencies were issued in the U.S. in 1932. In Europe, most countries left the gold standard with the start of World War I in 1914 and, with huge war debts, did not return to gold as a medium of exchange. The value of gold is rooted in its medium rarity, easily handling, easy smelting, non-corrosiveness, distinct color and non-reactiveness to other elements; qualities most other metals lack.

A total of 186,700 tonnes of gold have been mined in human history, according to GFMS as of 2015. This is roughly equivalent to 5.6 billion troy ounces or, in terms of volume, about 9261 m³, or a cube 21.0 m on a side. The world consumption of new gold produced is about 50% in jewelry, 40% in investments, and 10% in industry.

Besides its widespread monetary and symbolic functions, gold has many practical uses in dentistry, electronics, and other fields. Its high malleability, ductility, resistance to corrosion and most other chemical reactions, and conductivity of electricity have led to many uses, including electric wiring, colored-glass production, and gold leafing.

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• 50-gram CombiBar - "Is There Gold in Your Wallet?" Due to global banking and European currency crises, more and more investors have started to demand a higher number of small bars rather than few larger ones to increase their flexibility in the event of an economic crisis. CombiBars are similar in dimension to a credit card. Their convenient size means that a Combi Bar can be easily and discreetly carried in your wallet. Just like standard bullion, CombiBars and the individual bars from the CombiBars can be sold at any time to precious metal dealers at the current purchasing rates.
• 2 gold nuggets worth $350,000 found in Australia - "Two gold nuggets worth around A$350,000 (US$250,000) have been discovered by a pair of diggers in southern Australia."
• 5 Ways to Identify Gold Purity at Home - "How To Identify Fake Gold Jewellery?"
• A trail of 'bloody gold' leads to Venezuela's government - CNN World.
• Amateur Australian gold digger finds massive nugget - "An Australian man armed with a budget metal detector has hit the jackpot, finding a 4.6kg rock containing gold worth A$240,000 ($160,000)."
• American Gold Eagle - Wikipedia.
  
• Australian finds A$100,000 gold nugget using metal detector - "An Australian man has unearthed a 1.4kg (49oz) gold nugget with a metal detector while wandering Western Australia's gold fields, say locals."
• Bank of England helped in sale of looted Nazi gold - BBC News.
• Buy gold, they say - but how do you sell it? - The Telegraph.
• Canadian Gold Maple Leaf - Wikipedia.
• CASH4GOLD - international mail-in refinery that buys gold, silver and platinum primarily from jewelry.
• gainesville coins - "Gainesville Coins offers a wide range of gold and silver bullion and certified coins. One of the nation's largest and most trusted precious metal dealers. As a long standing veteran in the industry, our expert knowledge of gold and silver coins and bullion is backed by years of experience."
• GFMS | Gold Fields Mineral Services - leading independent precious metals consultancy specialising in global gold, silver, platinum and palladium market research. Became a part of Thomson Reuters in August 2011.
• GOLD - Wikipedia.
• GOLD - "News about Gold, including commentary and archival articles published in The New York Times."
• GOLD AS AN INVESTMENT - "Of all the precious metals, gold is the most popular as an investment. Investors generally buy gold as a way of diversifying risk, especially through the use of futures contracts and derivatives. The gold market is subject to speculation and volatility as are other markets. Compared to other precious metals used for investment, gold has the most effective safe haven and hedging properties across a number of countries."
• Gold Climbs to Record - Bloomberg.
• Gold is back. That's a worrying sign - "Gold has been a dud of an investment for much of the year, but it has started to regain some of its luster. The price of gold is up 3.5% since the start of October. During the same period, the S&P 500 has fallen 6.5%."
• Gold nears an eight-year high 2020 - "Gold prices have soared this year, and some experts think they could eventually pass the all-time high north of $1,900 an ounce."
• GOLD PRICE - since 2002. "Where The World Checks The Gold Price."
• GOLD PRICE HISTORY - Gold Price.
• Gold price hits six-year high as investors await US interest rate cut - "One troy ounce reaches $1,452.60 amid increased US-Iran tensions."
• Gold prices spike to highest level in nearly 8 years on coronavirus fears - "The price of gold, the essential safe haven asset, has climbed above $1,776 per ounce, its highest level in nearly eight years."
• GOLD RALLYING TO US$1,500 - Bloomberg.
• Gold resurgence: who's buying gold & why - The Telegraph.
• Gold Rises After Donald Trump Claims Victory - The Wall Street Journal.
• Gold scales new peak at $2,030 per ounce - "Gold smashed through $2,000 per ounce for the first time ever last night, and is now changing hands at $2,030/oz this morning - comfortably over its previous record set in 2011."
• Gold shops: coming to a high street near you? - The Telegraph.
• GOLDAVENUE GENÈVE - bullion ingots, bullion pendants, minted coins, IcOns.
• GOLDMONEY - "Buying Gold Bullion Made Easy."
• Harrods sells more gold in wake of Brexit - The Telegraph.
• HISTORIC GOLD PRICE CHARTS - "Daily, Weekly, One-Month, One-year, Five-year and Twenty-year."
• How much gold is there left to mine in the world? - "Last month the price of gold hit a record high, pushing above $2,000 an ounce."
• Hublot Leads The 2022 Charge To Yellow Gold Watches - "Back in the 1970’s and 1980’s, watches were predominantly made from noble metals and in the realm of gold that meant yellow was king. Sure, there were a host of watches that came out in two-tone and even three-color gold, but predominantly yellow gold reigned supreme. Then, in the late 1990’s rose gold came on strong and by the turn of the new millennium, pink and rose gold were giving way to even darker hues of 5N rose gold - a trend that would last decades. Now, though, we are witnessing a resurgence of interest in yellow gold watches and Hublot is one of the brands leading the charge for 2022."
• Hunting for Nazi gold in a Dutch village - "Exasperated residents have appealed to treasure-hunters to stay away after they descended on the Dutch village of Ommeren searching for riches potentially worth millions, allegedly hidden by Nazi soldiers during World War Two."
• ‘I need money for school’: the children forced to pan for gold in Zimbabwe - "Covid has closed schools and caused economic collapse - now children are taking up the dangerous work of prospecting."
• In a new year of economic uncertainty, gold is a bright prospect again - "A no-deal Brexit is only one of many potential threats sending traders fleeing to safe havens."
• In charts: has gold helped or hindered your portfolio? - The Telegraph.
• Investors 'go bananas' for gold bars as global stock markets tumble - The Telegraph.
• KRUGERRAND - Wikipedia.
• MKS FINANCE - "Top league in the gold market." Precious metals service provider.
• NIXON SHOCK - when President Richard Nixon ended trading of gold at the fixed price of US$35/ounce on August 15, 1971.
• Price of gold: DRC’s rich soil bears few riches for its miners - photo essay - "As the value of gold reached new heights last year, those mining it continued to face crippling deprivation and dangerous conditions."
• Record gold nugget found in Scottish river - 'UK's largest gold nugget' found in a Scottish river.
• ROYAL CANADIAN MINT - buy Canadian gold coins.
• Secret of gold finally found - "Precious metals are forged in cataclysmic collision of neutron stars."
• 'Shaking like a leaf': Man finds 2kg gold nugget worth $130,000 - "A two-kilogram gold nugget worth about $130,000 has been found on the outskirts of Victorian gold rush town Ballarat."
• SUPER-RICH INVESTORS BUY GOLD BY TON - Reuters.
• Swiss search for owner of gold haul left on train - "While many of us have left something on a train - a phone, a wallet, headphones - it's highly unlikely you've wandered onto the platform leaving a bagful of gold behind."
• THE BULLION DESK - Gold News.
• The gold bounce: more to come, or sell now? - The Telegraph.
• ‘The gold sector is a charade’: Randgold boss Mark Bristow digs in - The Telegraph.
• The pots of gold at the east edge of London - "Where the rich come to caress their gold - inside the UK’s sole refiner of gold and its biggest private vault."
• THE SOUTH AFRICAN MINT COMPANY - "One of the world’s leading mints and over the years has earned a worldwide reputation for its appealing designs, exceptional craftsmanship and the high standard of its quality coins."
• The Truth About Warren Buffett’s Investment In Gold - "First, Berkshire exited or trimmed its position in several banks. Second, it added a position in gold mining company, Barrick Gold Corp."
• This golden statue was ridiculed when a local government erected it. Then gold prices skyrocketed - "Officials spent 2.8 billion won ($2.1 million) in 2005 to erect the seven-foot-tall (2.13-meter) statue, purchasing 162 kg of gold and 281 kg of silver. Then it took three years for renowned South Korean sculptor Byun Kun-ho to sculpt five golden bats flying through a massive silver ring."
• UK, US, Canada & Japan will ban imports of Russian gold in an effort to hit Moscow's ability to fund the war in Ukraine - "Together, the G7 will announce that we will ban the import of Russian gold, a major export that rakes in tens of billions of dollars for Russia."
• UK's largest gold nugget found by man who lay in Scottish river for hours - The Telegraph.
• United States Mint - "Connecting America through Coins." American Eagle Bullion Coins for Investors.
• US Mint couldn't meet demand for gold & silver coins due to pandemic buying - "Sale of bullion rose 258% as investors raced for safe havens and online activists launched a buying frenzy."
• US still holds $54 billion of Germany's gold - MINING.com.
• Why it’s getting harder to mine gold - "The price of gold has rocketed during the pandemic, but mining it is getting more difficult."
• WORLD GOLD COUNCIL - the World Gold Council’s mission is to stimulate and sustain the demand for gold and to create enduring value for its stakeholders. The organisation represents the world’s leading gold mining companies.