Commentary: Here’s how the experts buy gold rings and bracelets for less than the scrap price
There was lots of humming and huffing in our household this week after gold prices hit a record high recently. Not that I can afford even the smallest memorial coin. But my wife is a jeweller, so we have skin in the game. I rarely comment on gold. When journalists do, insane end-of-worlders leap from their bunkers to scream abuse. Fiat money is a sham. Governments can’t be trusted. Zombies are coming.
And the yellow metal isn’t the most expensive ever. After adjusting for inflation, its peak was July 2020, with real prices on a downward path since. But loads of readers suddenly want to know more about gold — so here goes.
I’m going to cover the basics first. Then something different. I will explain in a foolproof way how best to invest in gold — at least in my opinion. It’s an approach anyone can take and doesn’t involve theft. To begin then, what I’ve always found crazy about gold is how little of it we’re talking about. Only 245,000 metric tonnes of the stuff have been discovered. Three-quarters has been mined; the rest remains underground.
All the gold ever dug up would fit inside a 20-by-20-metre box. Good luck moving it, though. Scarcity and weight meant historic prices were either set by governments or a minority of investors. It was an illiquid asset class.
For the rest of this column: https://financialpost.com/financial-times/the-best-way-to-invest-in-gold-an-insider-secret-for-non-criminals