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Is Gold A Commodity Or Currency?

Published Friday 14th January 2011

If you’re a regular reader of financial and investment articles and reports, you’ll often hear gold being referred to as a commodity, which by definition is classed as ‘an item of value with a consistent value regardless of source’, something which is the almost perfect description of Gold, a product that in its raw, refined form is bought and sold in uniform weights and measures and in its processed state sold according to a globally recognised carat scale.

But, gold isn’t technically a commodity, throughout history, almost since the birth of mankind, gold has been used as a currency – the only currency that maintains a central, singular value across the entire world.

Does it actually matter how we classify and regard gold? Yes… While other precious metals like silver and platinum are most certainly commodities, gold, being a currency is subject to different market forces which manipulate its value. Supply and demand effects all precious metals, gold included but being a trans-border currency, gold is bolstered by additional economic factors.

Over time, the price of primary precious metals such as Silver, Platinum and Palladium tends to trend in a similar pattern to rising gold prices yet are more volatile to economic market pressures. During an economic downturn, many investors will look to gold for assurance, while other precious metals, traditional used to a higher degree in manufacture and industry see a decline in demand and a resulting reduction in value.

So while gold is traded as a commodity, it will almost always behave like, and should always be considered a currency.

Clubcard Gold

Published Wednesday 5th January 2011

Tesco’s have jumped feet first into the Scrap Gold market with the launch of the Tesco’s Gold Exchange! The arrival of yet another mega UK brand name is a clear indicator that the retail greats of the UK High Street are convinced the Scrap Gold business is still onto a winner!

Like other high street scrap gold buyers, Tesco’s offering is something short of competitive! While writing this article our Scrap Gold Prices are currently £10.04 per gram of 9 carat gold, Tesco are just managing a rather poor £7.81 – We pay 28.5% more! Like H. Samuel and WH Smiths (Post Gold For Cash), Tesco’s are relying on un-researched, non-savvy regular customers, the 7 club card points Tesco’s are throwing in to sweeten the deal most certainly won’t be the deal clincher!

Scrap Gold UK’s advice? Don’t be a high street moron, research the true value of your gold before your make your decision, we appreciate the Tesco’s brand name provides customer with a feeling of security and confidence in what is quite a big ask – to post personal valuables to an unknown source! But with some basic checks, or a phone call to speak to us in person, you could end up with a significantly better price for your scrap gold, silver, platinum or palladium.

But don’t just take our word for it; use our Scrap Gold Calculator to compare our prices to the Tesco’s Gold Exchange website.

Scrap Silver Calculator

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