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Tags: family, Finance, gold, how to, Jewelry, mens health, Money, Small Business, testing gold, tips Posted in Small Business on August 31st, 2010 | No Comments »
With gold prices climbing to all time highs, it’s more important than ever to make sure that the jewelry you are buying is made of real gold. And this task can be even more complicated when evaluating white gold jewelry. Taking your gold jewelry to a local jewelry store is the best way to know your gold is legit. Luckily, there are several ways of checking yourself that the jewelry is solid gold.
The first method is by using acid. As a jeweler is testing your gold jewelry, they use very specific acids of certain strength, and the stronger the acid is, the better it’s able to dissolve away at the more purer alloys of gold. Since you aren’t able to measure something that accurately, you can merely use nitric acid. First make a minor scratch on the jewelry with a file in an area that will not be too noticed . Then using a dropper, apply a couple drops of nitric acid. If the jewelry is merely plated, the alloy inside will turn color or bubble as the acid dissolves it . If it’s real gold, there will be no chemical reaction . For gold chains, it’s often easier to test on the clasp at the end of the chain.
The second approach is by inspection . Simply hold it in your hand and feel the weight. If it feels heavy, there’s a good chance it’s gold or platinum. On the other hand, silver alloys weigh approximately 70% that of gold, so if it’s gold plated silver, it will be a noticeable difference. Tungsten is roughly the same weight of 14 karat gold , however tungsten is a darker gray metal.
The last technique you can use is to check the jewelry to see if it is stamped and hallmarked. Gold Jewelry must be stamped either in it’s purity form, or it’s karat grade. Karat grades commonly used are 10K, 14K, 18K, etc. Purity is a 3-digit number calculated by the karat divided by 24, since pure gold is 24 karat gold . And then you just multiply by 100. So 14K is 14 divided by 24 times 100, which is 583 (or sometimes written as 585). Similarly, 18K gold is 750.
Tips: Be cautious when buying gold jewelry from websites such as Craigslist. If you decide to purchase something from a stranger, ask them to meet you at a jewelry store. It’s safer, and you can ask the jeweler to check it if you have any doubts. Also look for a second stamp on the jewelry near the karat grade. This is from the actual producer of the jewelry, also called a hallmark. Higher end gold jewelry tend to have the manufacturers logo which would allow you to trace back the origin of the jewelry. Therefore you can feel more confident you’re buying an item that was stamped accurately.
Learn more about gold chains at LuxeChains.com. Also, stop by Joseph Robbi’s profile page at Mevio, wholesale diamonds, and contact him there as well.
Tags: buy gold, currency, Finance, gold, investment, Money, Personal Finance, spending Posted in Personal Finance on August 24th, 2010 | No Comments »
During times of economic instability, investors naturally seek to find a way to minimize any potential losses and invest in assets that will hold their value. One such investment is gold, a traditionally popular choice during economic volatility for a number of factors.
During economic crisis, investors often try to invest in assets outside of the stock market which is vulnerable to loss because of its link with the economy, which would lose them money. In this situation gold is a wise choice of investment because gold’s value is not linked to the economy, unlike stocks. Gold has been used as currency in countless civilizations throughout history, yet isn’t linked to a specific economy or government, which makes it a globally recognised currency. While it isn’t completely impervious to variations in value, these changes are not linked to the economy and therefore are less likely to create losses.
Gold’s value does not depreciate, largely because it is globally significant as currency but also due to its status as a commodity. During unstable periods, therefore, gold is a prudent choice; gold will not fall in value to such a dramatic extent as stocks, which can vary wildly. Markets such as electronics and jewellery also rely on gold heavily which means it will always be in demand.
As gold is a hedge for inflation, it is often perceived as a safer investment to make. In situations where stocks and bonds depreciate, investments such as gold tend to increase in value and thus pose less risk. Gold is also a sound investment while the economy is enduring negative interest rates, a state where inflation is higher than the nominal inflation rate. In these circumstances it is often preferred to own tangible assets rather than saving with banks.
Although investing in gold is not a completely sound method of avoiding economic instability and does not ensure fully a hedge against inflation, it does have a proven record of minimizing losses during these times. This is evidenced by the fact that gold held its value through the worst of the last century’s economic crises, the Great Depression and World War Two. This established testimony to gold’s ability to hold its worth is a significant aspect in the tradition of investing in gold during economic problems.
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Tags: buy gold, currency, Finance, gold, investment, Money, Personal Finance, spending Posted in Personal Finance on August 24th, 2010 | No Comments »
Whether the economy is good or bad, gold has always been a popular choice for investors, but especially so during periods of economic volatility as an alternative to stocks and bonds. This trust in gold during a very unstable time implies that gold is a safer investment when it is difficult to predict how the economy will turn.
There are several factors which contribute to the image of gold as a ’safer’ investment than stocks. This is largely due to the fact that it has proven itself in the past to hold its value throughout large-scale economic crises. Even at the time of the Great Depression and the Second World War, gold continued to consistently hold value while stocks and bonds plummeted. This proven consistency is a huge factor in the decision of many investors to choose gold to avoid large losses.
Another key point in gold’s security is that gold is not just an asset; it also holds status as a commodity. Markets such as electronics, which rely on gold for manufacture, are expanding rapidly and create a demand on gold. Luxury watch and jewellery brands are also a large part of creating demand as their customers are less likely to have curbed their spending in economic volatility, hence gold’s status as a safe investment that will not lose value suddenly or dramatically.
Gold has been a key part in establishing currencies all round the world over thousands of years. Due to this, gold is effective as currency worldwide and being internationally recognised, does not depreciate and therefore lose money for investors. The dollar and pound’s values can change considerably depending on the economy and many other variables, whereas gold is not linked to a specific economy or government and its variations are less noticeable.
Gold has earned the image of a safe investment due largely because it is a hedge for inflation. This means that while assets linked to the stock market like bonds and stocks are declining, gold’s value will stay near enough the same, or even increase in value; this creates much less risk for an investor during economic downturns.
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Tags: buy gold, currency, Finance, gifts, gold, gold history, history, investment, jewellery, Jewelry, Money, Personal Finance, spending Posted in Personal Finance on August 21st, 2010 | No Comments »
Gold is a precious metal that has been mined at countless locations across the world for thousands of years. This timespan of gold mining, without any indication that its popularity is waning, implies that gold has something extraordinary that has captured hundreds of generations; and indeed it does. This is, quite simply, that gold is not just a precious metal used for making jewellery, but a vastly adaptable material; this is what has ensured its continued popularity along the centuries.
The first thing many people would associate with gold is, of course, jewellery. The Egyptians first crafted jewellery out of gold and coloured glass beads and the usage of gold as a setting for jewels has continued ever since, with wedding rings in many countries traditionally being gold. Although gold is used for this purpose due to its malleable nature, it is often alloyed with other metals, such as copper or palladium, to create a more hard-wearing piece that will last longer. Many different colours of gold, such as blue, white and pink gold, can be created from alloying other metals with gold, and these also have found popularity within the jewellery market.
Gold has also been historically significant with regards to currency and investment. A ‘gold standard’ has been used several times across the world, a system where a single monetary unit is assigned the worth of a fixed weight of gold. Gold is also seen as a safe investment due to the belief that gold is a hedge for inflation and therefore avoids the effect on the economy when socio-political factors change the market. Because of this, it is seen as a safe haven for investors and continues to maintain popularity as a sensible choice of asset.
There are further, very varied, uses for gold. It is often used within electronics manufacture in devices such as mobile phones and games consoles. Gold has been used in a range of products from USB cables to aircraft engines, due to its high level of conductivity and resistance to corrosion or oxidisation. There are also more specialised uses, such as coasting aircraft windscreens with extremely thin layers of gold through which electricity can pass and warm the glass, preventing it icing over. Medicine and dentistry have also found a number of different uses for gold. Isotopes of the metal can be used to treat cancer and gold injected into the body can alleviate the symptoms of arthritis and other painful illnesses.
The uses of gold are widespread and varied, although some - such as in the jewellery market - are more commonplace than others. It does however indicate what an adaptable material it is and how it has become an integral part of our live in many ways.
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Tags: buy gold, currency, Finance, gifts, gold, gold history, history, investment, jewellery, Jewelry, Money, Personal Finance, spending Posted in Personal Finance on August 21st, 2010 | No Comments »
Gold has been revered and coveted as far back as the ancient Aztec civilization, which called it ‘god excrement’, and is mentioned many times in the Bible. It has been mined since 25BC, over two thousand years, and such is the high demand for the precious metal that much of the gold mined over these years can still be accounted for. From fine jewellery to the gold mania that struck America in the nineteenth century, it is clear that the world’s love affair from gold is far from over. With other precious metals such as silver, palladium and platinum available, what exactly is it about gold that inspires such popularity?
One could say that the most historically significant use for gold is within the development of currency, although there are many others. From the thirteenth century onwards, gold was set as a standard economic unit and has been linked to currency and investment ever since. There are, however, less pragmatic uses for the precious metal, such as its popularity in jewellery.
Gold as a jewellery-making material was first pioneered by the Egyptians who incorporated coloured glass into gold settings to make pieces they wore in both life and death, signifying everything from fertility to power. As gold is fairly soft and pliable, therefore meaning it is easy to create exactly whatever jewellery you desire, it is partly for practical reasons that its use in jewellery arose. Its famous bright yellow colour and lustre, however, are also why people just cannot get enough of gold.
There are several connotations behind wearing gold jewellery; mostly connected with status and wealth, although in the case of marriage vows, it can also symbolise love. The connection between gold and status or wealth helps, in part, to continue to fuel gold’s popularity today. To see how widespread this popularity is, we need only look at traditional events across the world; in Welsh christenings, gold presents are given, and in Indian weddings gold pendants are worn. The luxury market also recognises the importance and luxury connotations of gold, with brands such as Rolex offering high-carat gold products.
Gold flaunts wealth and power, yet can be bought cheaply in the form of jewellery. It can be decorative and attractive but also be cold hard currency. Seemingly, it is this adaptability that means gold shows no sign of disappearing from society’s consciousness, thousands of years after it was first discovered.
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Tags: cash for gold, debt relief, diamonds, Finance, gold, Jewelry, make money, Money, Personal Finance, platinum, sell gold jewelry, sell jewelry, selling gold jewelry, silver Posted in Personal Finance on August 20th, 2010 | No Comments »
Getting cash for gold in this tough economy is a must for a lot of folks these days. But the most important thing that you should do is to make sure that your gold jewelry is real. You don’t want to get embarrassed, right. I simply did not have time to go all over town trying to have my jewelry examined. I had fallen on hard times so I needed to sell my gold jewelry for a little extra money. I needed to be really be sure that my gold was real so I could have some idea of how much it was valued.
Try the magnet test. It’s easy.
The first test that you need to do is to try out the magnet test. This test is easy and here is how it works. First of all, precious metals like gold and silver are not attracted to magnets. Or another way to say it is they are not magnetic. But steel is magnetic. But be wary of this test. It will sometimes yield a false positive.
If you don’t have a magnet or are not sure how to find one, check in your kitchen. Do you have some refrigerator magnets? Most people do and this type of magnet should work just fine. But look for the bigger ones. The flat plastic type may not be strong enough.
Have you ever heard of the hallmarking of jewelry? It’s simple and easy to find, but you need to know exactly what to look for.
The hallmarking of jewelry has been around for centuries. Most of the time genuine gold jewelry will be marked with the karat stamp. For example, most jewelry is either 14K or 10K gold. Sometimes you will find 18K gold in men’s and women’s jewelry, but most of the time, that purity of gold is just to soft for jewelry. Look on the clasp of necklaces for the hallmark. If it’s there, then you probably have genuine gold.
These markings relate to the purity of the gold. 18K gold, for example is 75% gold. The percentage is determined by dividing 18 by 24. You divide by 24 because 24K gold is the purest form of this precious metal. Yep, it’s as simple as that.
Go to selling gold jewelry articles for some more information on the best place to sell your gold jewelry. You will be glad that you did.
Tags: buy gold, economic bubbles, Finance, gold, gold prices, inflation, investing, Money, money supply, Personal Finance Posted in Personal Finance on June 25th, 2010 | No Comments »
Inflation moves some of the cheeses away from hardworking producers every year, but what really causes inflation? Doesn’t it sound strange to have something that steals away an average 3% of your wealth, but no one says anything about it? If someone has to lose, then who receives the gain?
Popular perception is that inflation is inevitable and it just happens. Well, nothing just happens. There are always causes and effects. Inflation is human-induced and the perpetrators know what they are doing.
Inflation makes money worth less. How can money bills worth less? A 5 dollar bill is a 5 dollar bill right? The market doesn’t care if the face value tells you it is worth X dollars. What the merchants and workers are willing to offer at a set price tells us how much money is really worth.
There is a set amount of dollars in the system at any time. If there is an influx of freshly printed money into the system, while the amount of real assets and services stay the same, then the money bills will be worth less. The same goods and services will need more money to purchase. In other words, the market determines the value of money based on the rule of supply and demand.
It also means that the people who receive the new money relatively early in the process will enjoy the most value, because they get to use the money before prices reflect the reality of more money in the market. Unfortunately, the people who receive the money relatively late in the game will absorb the real cost of inflation, when they offered their goods and services with old prices while everything cost more and more.
This is why investing in the market is so important. Your purchasing power will be protected if you exchange money bills for real assets. It is also very crucial to see where inflation starts. Does the government give away free money again? To whom? Are there new government regulations or protection for certain corporations in certain sectors? Paying attention to these things can pay huge dividends to investors down the road.
If you simply want to park your money in a safe place, but are concerned with the low rate of returns on bonds and Certificates of deposit, then precious metals such as gold are probably the best place to protect your wealth safely, and it offers very handsome returns too. Gold is precious because it is hard to find. It is not something that can suddenly increase. In fact, the more money supply increases, the more gold prices will increase. If you want to know more about the reasons and the strategy of buying gold, you can visit the link below.
Who are the people that receive the most benefits from inflation? Do “they” even exist? See “Why Buy Gold?”, and then you may also want to read “The True Cause Of Inflation” by Robert Ringer
Tags: Advice, business, coaching, fashion, Finance, goal setting, gold, Jewelry, marketing, Personal Finance, sales, self esteem, self help, Success Posted in Personal Finance on May 29th, 2010 | No Comments »
Now is the time to sell, if you have some unwanted gold. Gold pieces are going for an all-time high and you still have time to get in on the gold boon.
Don’t just mail off your unwanted gold to some unknown person and agree to take whatever they want to pay you! Instead, you need to know how to sell your gold effectively so you don’t get cheated.
If you want to have peace of mind, follow these tips to sell your gold the right way and protect your interests.
You want to sell gold in person. If you are there in person, you can ask the seller relevant questions. You can also be there to control the situation.
The first thing to do is to protect your interests by asking for a quote. Ask for the quote in gram weight, not pennyweight. Gram weight is a more exact weight, and will make it easier for you to compare offers from different potential buyers. You want to find the best deal you can.
The quote should be based on weight, but also take into account different karat designations. The higher the karats, the more pure the gold, and the more you should be paid for that piece. Ideally, you want the buyer to test the items in front of you, so you can be sure it’s all above board.
Don’t get bullied into making a quick sale. Some buyers will try to lowball you by using aggressive scare tactics that imply you need to sell right away. This prevents you from comparing different offers and getting a fair price.
A reputable buyer will quote you a figure and will honor this figure for a few days to give you time to decide. If gold prices change the figure may change, however. The quote would then be adjusted accordingly.
With truly valuable pieces, you need to do some research to determine what they are worth. You want to know which offers are reasonable before you make your choice.
Besides gold, the writer also frequently pens articles regarding cat condo and Da Bird interactive feather cat toy.
Tags: economy, gold, gold coins, metals, Personal Finance, politics, silver Posted in Personal Finance on May 28th, 2010 | No Comments »
Gold is one of the most exquisite investments that any wise-minded businessman can consider. Not only is it priceless as a jewelry collection, it is also a good way of seeing that the future will look bright. Those who have enough money to invest in something that will not go out of style and will always retain a high value should invest in gold, even if it is only in the form of coins. As the time comes, its value matures and you will be surprised at how convenient it is to keep some for emergency expenditures.
Buying gold as an investment demands that you know where to look and how to evaluate the price it is being sold at. Finding local acquisitions is recommended to avoid distant traveling that will in effect make the gold more expensive. Gold coins are also being traded and sold over the Internet for those enthusiasts who live in the virtual world. You can either keep them in a safe or in a safety deposit box at a bank to ensure that they are safe.
Gold stocks is another way you can invest in gold. Stocks are great because you don’t have the storage issue as you do with gold coins. They may also be more convenient for those who have more dollars to invest. Needless to say, gold stocks can be used to add a stability factor to any portfolio and with the right investments, you will find yourself building quite a nest egg for your future.
Gold bars may also be a part of your investment portfolio, however be aware that they are quite expensive and can create a safe storage problem. Shopping for gold bars carries with it a commitment to finding a good long term place to keep it protected. You must make sure you don’t buy too many gold bars when you do not have any plalce to hide them safely.
Investing and accumulating gold will not be for everyone. Some people do it purely because they like the look of gold. Others do it for safety it brings to their investments and the hope that gold is an effective hedge towards inflation. Still others do it hoping to profit if the price of gold rises. No matter what your reason for buying gold is, hopefully it will be a enjoyable and rewarding experience.
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Tags: cash, fashion, Finance, gold, gold jewelry, Jewelry, Money, Personal Finance, selling gold Posted in Personal Finance on March 24th, 2010 | No Comments »
More and more people these days are looking for ways to exchange their cash for gold to make a fast profit. If you want to get the most money for your gold you need to do a little bit of research to find out the best way for yourself how to make the most money.
I am going to try to get you headed in the right direction with a few quick tips. Exchanging your unwanted gold pieces does not need to be a hassle or an unprofitable experience.
Here’s how to Exchange Gold for Cash.
The very first thing to do is gather all of your gold that you are wanting to sell so you can get an idea of what you have. Gold jewelry will have the karat stamp on it. You should find a 14k or 18k stamp on it somewhere. Now you need to determine what the current market value of your gold is.
Check out the business cable channels for the current market price, but don’t dwell on that price too much. This price is an indication of the broader gold market. This will give you an idea of how much money you can expect for your unwanted gold jewelry, but you still need to do more research to figure out how much you will actually get for your gold.
Can Online Gold Buyers Be Trusted?
Online gold buyers are typically very reputable and have been around for a while now. They usually offer a very straight forward process that lets you mail your gold straight to them so they can test, weigh and do a basic evaluation of your gold. Then they will make you an offer, usually by check.
Many of these online gold buyers guarantee their process with a free return policy on your gold. If you are not happy with the check that they send you, you can send it back and they will return your gold at no cost to you.
There is no uncomfortable negotiating and you never have to feel like you are being taken advantage of. And most importantly, they typically offer more cash for your gold than brick and mortar stores do.
Visit Where to sell jewelry to find more information on where to sell your gold. And check out Gold Party Scam to get more information on gold parties.
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