Understanding Precious Metals With Dunwoody Diamonds USA: Gold

Unlike any other assets, gold has been the most consistent with maintaining its value through out centuries and across countries.

About Gold

Pure gold (fine gold) is softer than pure silver but harder than tin. Fine gold has a beauty and luster that are unmatched by any alloyed golds. Because pure gold is so soft, it is useless when used to try and make jewelry.

Alloyed Gold

Alloying metals are added to fine gold to increase the toughness and durability. While almost any metal can be alloyed (melted) with pure gold, only certain metals will not drastically change the color or make it brittle.

Along with karated gold, there is a known proportion of metal in the non-gold percentage. These metals provide the various colors and hardness of karated golds.

Alloying Elements & Color Effect:

Copper - Reddening

Silver - Greening

Zinc - Bleaching

Nickle - Whitening

Palladium - Whitening

Compositions of Different Colors

Yellow: Gold, Copper, Silver, Zinc

White: Gold, Copper, Nickle (or Palladium), Zinc

Red: Gold, Copper

Green: Gold, Silver

Over the years, certain percentages of gold have become legally recognized as "karats". A karat indicates the amount of gold as a percentage of the total. Gold standards vary around the world. Here in the United States, 24, 22, 18, 14, & 10k gold are the only karats allowed to be sold as karated gold.

Example:

24k is 100% Pure Gold

14k is 14/24 gold or 58.33%

Gold should be an important part of your diversified investments portfolio because its price increases in response to events that cause the value of paper investments, such as stocks and bonds, to decline. Because the price of gold can be volatile in the short term, it will always hold its value over the long term. This precious metal protects against inflation and the erosion of major currencies, making gold an investment well worth considering.