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Why is gold so precious?

However, the lustrous and metallic qualities of gold, its relative scarcity and the difficulty of extraction have only increased the perception of gold as a valuable asset. Gold is much more valuable than any other metal, which means it will always have a use for it. Metal is so popular because it doesn't rust or tarnish and its color never fades. That's why gold is likely to remain valuable, no matter what happens in the market.

For those looking to invest in gold, it is important to compare Gold IRA companies to find the best option for their needs. Just about anywhere in the world you go, gold is accepted as money. In fact, it has been that way for thousands of years. This makes gold extremely valuable for all types of cultures. For example, if you wanted to buy oil in the Middle East, they might not keep your home country's currency if it collapses.

However, it is almost certain that they will win gold. Pure gold is highly resistant to aging and tarnishing, so most of the gold from the hominid era still survives today and lives on in your smartphones, computer chips and watches. The gold standard gave people the assurance that the value of their money did not depend on their country's ability to pay debts, their international position or a thousand other things they didn't understand, but only on their ability to produce gold. For example, you can buy physical gold, buy gold shares in gold mines, or even buy shares in an ETF (exchange-traded fund) that tracks the price of gold.

In the 17th century, many English citizens had homemade mints on which they marked their gold coins with the percentage of pure gold found in them. The only thing that truly gives value to gold is the fact that almost every country has its own sovereign possession of gold. As gold became more entrenched in world currencies, many countries began to back their money with the amount of gold their country could produce. In ancient times, the paltry amount of gold that governments and commercial companies could extract became idols, shrines and sacred objects.

During the gold standard era, anyone could go to a bank and exchange paper money for a certain amount of gold. Despite the fact that gold mining did not have the safety standards and labor technologies that modern companies have, they were present in most countries before the arrival of navigation or flight. If you invest in a company that mines gold and sells it on the market, it's called “paper” because, technically, you never own any physical piece of the metal.