Perhaps thats why i'll never be rich !Can anyone explain and if it so valuable how much would one bar cost ?It's not like Titanium is it you can't make lots of expensive bike frames from it ! 😀
I plated my knob with it. I've been beating them off with a shitty stick since. Painful IME, but worth it.
You would make a rubbish pirate.
lol @ crickey.... 
At current prices, one of those gold bullion bar things is worth a bit over £450,000.
£450k christ on a bike !
That's nothing, Welsh Gold is worth 5x the normal gold price, just sold 4.6g for £550
Getting back to the OP.
My take on it is that it is valuable because it is rare and you can't fake it or create more of it - unlike printing money.
What I do always wonder about is that although some of it has been found and resides in safes as bars of gold there must still be loads of it in the ground and no one is too sure where therefore if someone dug up a load surely that would devalue the existing and irritate those who had all the original bars.
Why is it intrinsically valuable well I guess it is useful but mainly just GOLD. As Goldmember said "I like GOLD" (I don't actually).
yeah and most stuff made of gold looks SOOOO TACKY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Bling my a**e !!
If
At current prices, one of those gold bullion bar things is worth a bit over £450,000.
Then
deadlydarcy - MemberI plated my knob with it.
Must have cost about £3.50!
Is gold more valuable? or has your money become worth less?
Remember that thing called quantitative easing....
If you could find all the pure gold that has ever been mined and gathered it in one place, the total size would be about the same as a double decker bus.
At least that's what I was tought when I used to be a pawnbroker.
As well as the bling factor, which is probably the main reason for its value, gold is a rare earth metal which is used in all sorts of applications. You wouldnt build a bike out of it, unfortunately, but it has many uses in electronics as it has really low resistivity, and its an excellent reflector of heat radiation too.
Why is it intrinsically valuable well I guess it is useful but mainly just GOLD. As Goldmember said "I like GOLD" (I don't actually).
It's an incredibly useful metal. It's very stable, doesn't cause allergic reactions, doesn't oxidise or corrode, is very ductile. The fact that all quality electronic components are gold plated to avoid oxidisation which would compromise electrical or signal conductivity shows why it's so valuable. It's not just about the bling.
although there may be many many tonnes of it underground its hard to get at and its not the klondike anymore you simply cant pull lumps out from under rocks any more .. they literally used to 1849
now its a mechanical/chemical process and that all costs so every once has to be forught for so the stuff already kicking about maintains its value so it becomes a haven of last resort and the price keeps rising
I believe that there's less than 2 olympic swimmingpools in gold in the world. which really isn't much..
There is plenty of gold for our current uses, and a declining economic forecast means it should be loosing value as an useable material.
Its value has risen so much because of the gap in those who have money to spend and those who have money to save, essentially the rich have more money than there is available investments so it is currently drifting towards gold.
While growing up I heard (and Johnny Ball would not lie to us 😉 ) that there is supposed to be enough gold to fill a cube with the width of Trafalgar square and enough Platinum to fill the volume of three double decker buses.
I have also heard the 'enough gold for one double decker bus' in recent years, but I am sticking with Johhny until I see good evidence to the contrary! 🙂
Most money does not exist. When you deposit money in a bank, that bank can lend out the same money a number of times, AND ask for interest on this non-existing money.
Therefore the monetary system relies purely on trust, and when trust goes, then a system collapse is never far away. Here is an article about Siemens no longer trusting its own bank.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/shocker-siemens-pulls-€500-million-french-bank-redeposits-direct-ecb
This documentary explains money pretty well
Most money does not exist. When you deposit money in a bank, that bank can lend out the same money a number of times, AND ask for interest on this non-existing money.
no it cant. the bank can lend your money once. The thing is, the person who has borrowed the money will typically put it back into a bank somehow (for instance, by buying a product, paying the shop some money, and the shop puts it back in the bank). The bank can then lend the money which the shop has placed in the bank. The money still exists. The original person is owed the money by the person who bought the object, but he has traded it for goods, so the money now resides with someone else.
A banks overall balance sheet equals 0.
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iirc, at one time in history salt was more valuable than gold, ounce for ounce.
Until the chancellor of the time announced he was selling all the salt reserves, so causing the price to crash just as he went to market.....
Essentially gold is valuable because rich people have bad taste and the richer they get the worse their taste gets. The really rich people are able to pay more for gold so price always stays high. Less rich people want to look rich so also buy it, and some people who have spare money buy it because they know that whilst fashion is fleeting, bad taste is eternal so they will always be able to sell it again, because the really rich people already have more houses than they need, but can never have enough gold.
Um.
Probably.
EDIT;
iirc, at one time in history salt was more valuable than gold, ounce for ounce.
Ah yes, something like that, though I thought it was in greek times? Origin of the word salary, anyway.
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You would have looked at her bum though, wouldn't you?
It's rare, so ownership of gold is desirable as a status symbol.
I beg to differ.....You wouldnt build a bike out of it
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It used to be a useful exchange medium... There wasn't much in circulation, and extracting more was difficult so it didn't suffer badly from inflation. Also, it was pretty useless. But that didn't last... And when the new world was discovered, it showed up one of the big fallacies of money for the first time- people used to X amount of gold buying Y amount of work forgot that the gold had no intrinsic value, it was essentially a metaphor. So adding new gold to the pool didn't create wealth, yet the gold itself was still treated as a valuable material in its own right.
These days it retains that cachet and that logical dislocation, but also has industrial uses.
If I remember correctly, wasnt the manifold in the MacLaren F1 gold or gold plated due to its thermal qualities
I think it's also used as a hedge against inflation in times of financial turmoil. More a store of wealth than an investment - ie return OF money rather than a return ON it.
no it cant. the bank can lend your money once.
capital adequacy rule
loan to asset ratio
fractional reserve banking
It's rare, so ownership of gold is desirable as a status symbol.
glib statement or just a bit naive?
historically gold is a reserve currency and a safe haven, that's why the price has rocketed as the dollar is no longer desirable.
being shiny and alluring to the gauche is nothing to do with it.
its a bit funny that gold is considered a 'safe place' for money though, given that it is, currently, what can only be described as a 'massive bubble'
trippled in value over the last 5 years. Its not what I'd consider a 'safe' place for my money (it will probably go up further, but I'd personally not be confident that it won't come crashing back down again)
but then if you sold it now what would you buy? dollars? euro? pounds?
property?
the currencies are on a race to the bottom and property is another asset boom on the down-slope.
depends. Everything's dropped compared to gold in the last few years, but compare, say, currencies to each other, and over the last 2-3 years they've been pretty much static. Personally, if I had any money (I don't), I'd be spreading it out, its a very volitile market and as you seem to imply, there's no real 'safe houses'
being shiny and alluring to the gauche is nothing to do with it
I don't understand. Why aren't some other useless but lustrous rare metals valuable? Oh they are.
Rarity has value.
The value of gold is simple.
It isn't shares or bonds or property. So people run to it when those look dodgy.
Its supply is well controlled so it is unlikey to be diluted by quantative easing.
Unlike art or cars or fine wine there are no aesthetic judgements involved in its valuation
It is universally accepted.
And the current high price is not a good sign for the world economy.
I used to have 14oz. Sold em int the early 1980s.
Yes gold is having a bubble if you like (hit $1900 an ounce!),however,unlike all the things our pensions are invested in, it isn't going down the swanny anytime soon, and if it does drop, it won't drop to almost nothing, unlike RBS shares!
Financial advisors never recommend buying gold, the problem is they don't get any commission on it..!
My missus got a lump sum back in March (early retirement)If I'd had my way, it would have gone into gold and the value would have gone up by 50%, instead we got an advisor in: "playing for the long game" and the money is safely invested where it will be lucky to make 15% in 10 years...but at least the advisor and fund managers will make a mint out of us 😥
I don't understand. Why aren't some other useless but lustrous rare metals valuable? Oh they are.Rarity has value.
the 10 year spot price graph for tin closely mimics that of gold (in trend if not value) but yearly production is measured in millions of tonnes so you could invest in tonnes not ounce's of metal and still be open to big gains or losses.
It's expensive so rich people can let everyone know they are rich. It isnt actually very nice but everyone knows somenone wearing gold must be well off. A bit like driving a BMW.
[url= http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5058/5492133447_786e46a324.jp g" target="_blank">
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/ciderinsport/5492133447/ ]images[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/ciderinsport/ ]ciderinsport[/url], on Flickr
My kind of Gold 😆 The MOST valuble 😉
It's expensive so rich people can let everyone know they are rich. It isnt actually very nice but everyone knows somenone wearing gold must be well off. A bit like driving a BMW.
really? most of the people i see wearing lots of gold are chavs.
About 3.5 Olympic pools full mined in all human history actually. Plenty more out there but somewhat harder to reach than oil etc.
Global annual production would fit into a volume roughly 5m by 5m by 5m - which is about the same as two standard 40 foot shipping containers. It's very rare, and very useful.
I remember one advert showing a block of gold just fitting under the eiffel tower. Something like this.
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And that's advert so you know it's the truth.
It is sent into outer space to protect our space vehicles. When one of of them eventually crashes into or is detected by another "advanced" civilization they will think what abundance of this rare substance we must have to send it into outer space, therefore stupid, and therefore must be destroyed! Or they will be thick, and just go "mmm, shiny!..". or maybe it is a universal concrete type subtstance, kinda useful and all over the place and other planets are all gold and boring grey substances are a tiny anomaly which are revered.
why so expensive?: its rare but in sufficient quantity that it can be mined
why so rare?: it can only be made in the dying seconds of a supernova as elements are fused together (same as pretty much everything else in the universe)and then ejected into space
Unlike art or cars or fine wine there are no aesthetic judgements involved in its valuationIt is universally accepted.
Neither of these things is true, though.
1) All of gold jewellery (which is still a fair chunk of production) and a fair chunk of pseudo-investment grade commemorative gold (which is a big chunk of US conspiracy theory investment) involves aesthetic judgements
2) It's not universally accepted. It's crap as a medium of exchange.
one of the other things with gold is that it can't (afaik) be destroyed. Over time it won't decay, or oxidise, it'll just stay as gold. Handy
[b]Konabunny[/b]
Gold jewellery isn't what I'd be buying usually as an investment is it?
And gold does have a tangible quality to it which - rightly or wrongly - inspires trust in those who buy it. Not something you would rock up to the bank with - but easier to exchange than property or Greek Government bonds?
really? most of the people i see wearing lots of gold are chavs.
That says more about the places you hang around than it does about rich people and their [i]accoutrements[/i] 😛
Have a read of this:
[url] http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2011/07/money [/url]
easier to exchange than property or Greek Government bonds?
The problem with real property and Greek government bonds isn't their lack of liquidity. It's their price.
At current prices, one of those gold bullion bar things is worth a bit over £450,000.
Blimey. When I was a kid, a friend's dad used to have gold and silver bullion just stacked up on the floor around his house.
It was bloody heavy is all I remember and based on those prices, worth considerably more than their relatively modest house.