Gold is a highly prized and sought after metal since the age old times.  It is the most useful of all the minerals mined from the earth. Although it was mainly used as a metal for jewelry, its uses increased as the time went by.  It is used as an investment, monetary exchange, medicine, electronics, dentistry, computers, awards, pigments and optics. A real gold is 24 carat or 24K. In its natural state, it is flexible and can be hammered into very thin slices. It emits a green translucent light when it is made into very thin slices. Since in its pure state it is too soft to hold a shape, it is mixed with other metals to make jewelry. The term 10K, 18K etc means that some part of it is some other metal and not gold. It is the combination of gold and some other metal that we usually get in the market. Gold does not tarnish as it has no oxides and so it is not affected by the oxygen in the atmosphere.

With the share markets all over the world are suffering from severe jolt, the people are eyeing on gold as the safest option to invest their money in. As the demand in this yellow metal increased, the price of Gold rose to dizzying heights. The top gold producing countries are China, Australia, United States, Russia, South Africa, Peru, Canada, Ghana, Indonesia, Uzbekistan and Papua New Guinea. India purchases approximately 800 tonnes of gold every year and is the number one consumer worldwide. The gold chart has curved particularly bullish with the 50-day moving average instead of the previous 200-day moving average. The price of gold which is nearing $1,800 per ounce presently is predicted to hit an all-time high of $2,400 by the middle of next summer, driven up by a third round of quantitative easing in the US.  Nowadays Gold is bought in large scale and is making its way to retail financial institutions and pension programs. Since the central banks are also buying into it, Gold is in the course of rising into an international reserve currency. Russia has taken advantage of the financial crisis and has doubled its gold reserves and is buying about half a billion dollars’ worth every month.

Gold symbolizes power, purity and achievement.  Today we use it for Grammys, Oscars, Olympic medals and wedding rings and thus hold a prominent place in our society.