Worth its Weight: Six Reasons to Buy Gold Today

Imagine the surprise of the world’s first circumnavigator, Ferdinand Magellan, when upon arriving on the sandy shores of the present-day Philippines in March 1521 after the first- ever Pacific crossing, he was offered a gold bar and some spices by the native king. Gold – it was a store and show of wealth, even there, even then – in uncharted, uncivilized territory, halfway around the world, half a millennium ago.
Perhaps Magellan shouldn’t have been so surprised. Gold had been “money” for more than 2000 years prior to his time. The first gold coins were struck in about 700 B.C. in modern day Greece. Throughout recorded history, other assets like weapons, spices, art, metals and even food have had their day as leading stores of wealth, but gold has endured as the supreme evidence of wealth across all cultures and time.

Reason 1: Hedge Against Inflation
Reason 2: Store of Wealth
Reason 3: Central Banks Fill Their Vaults
Reason 4: Protecting Your Purchasing Power
Reason 5: They Ain’t Making More of It
Reason 6: It Pays to Cover the Field

 Worth its Weight: Six Reasons to Buy Gold Today by Axel Merk