Five or six years ago, a teenage cousin who had a little money to invest came to me, the family’s financial guru, with a question: What did I think of gold?

Italy’s Venice became the world’s leading market for gold bullion because of its location alongside trade routes around 1100 AD. Around 1284 AD, Venice gives birth to the Ducat which became the world’s most popular coin for more than 500 years. The Florin was issued by Great Britain around the same time. It was followed by the Noble, the Angel, the Crown and, finally, the Guinea.

Recently, I planned to really buy a lot of online gold when it got down below $1,500 an ounce. It never got below $1,500 an ounce and I hadn’t saved the money for it, if it did. So, I continue to buy a small amount every month.

There are many different types of gold available from regular jewelry stores and online jewelery stores in Australia and around the world. Understanding the difference will help you make a better informed decision when purchasing your next piece of fine karat gold jewelry.

An alternative to selling your Gold coins to a dealer is to sell them to an online Sell Gold refiner. There are noteworthy advantages and drawbacks to doing so.

To date, gold ownership is still largely ignored. A study conducted by Knight Frank found that high net worth individuals still favor real estate and stocks to gold (71% favored the previous asset classes while 38% liked the latter). Among the wealthy, only 5% currently hold a position in the yellow metal. Pension funds, the largest investment players in the world, still only hold a sliver of their assets in gold bullion and mining stocks. With only 1.5% of assets in gold or silver, pension funds will feel pressure to get allocated to precious metals as its price increases.

Many gold mixes still do not achieve the desired colour. For example, a yellow tint is present in all white gold. To mask white gold’s true colour, jewellers coat it with a lustrous white metal called Rhodium.”Rhodium Plating” looks phenomenal, and gives your jewellery a mirror-like finish. However, since it is just a coating it may wear down over time. When this happens, your jewellery will lose its luster. If the main metal is white gold, it will begin to appear a dull, pale yellow.

Most financial advisors recommend placing 5-10% of your investments into precious metals like gold. Just make certain you are aware of the issues before committing your cash.