Gold is measured in troy ounces with 1 troy ounce equal to 31.1034768 grams. This precious metal can be bought and sold in the form of coins, bullion, and also jewelry. Gold coins such as the "American Eagle," "Canadian Maple Leaf" and "Krugerrand" as well as 24 karat gold jewelry are the best for investment purposes.
In order to put a dollar value on an ounce of gold we first need to look at what was known as the Gold Standard. This system was used until the early 1930s and allowed the government to say what an ounce of gold's value would be. At that time, then President Roosevelt set the price at $35 an ounce. Gold prices have been on a steady rise since the early 1930s when President Roosevelt also declared it illegal to privately own gold. With this occurrence his hopes were to put more value into the paper dollar that had already begun to devalue. The gold window was closed in 1971 by President Richard Nixon.
As the dollar continues to lose its paper value, experts believe the price of gold will continue to rise. As evidence the return on gold over the last year is up 20%, which is definitely a much better return than the 2-3% that is offered at most banks for their fixed rate products such as Certificate of Deposits and Saving Accounts. Just within the past 30 days gold has gone from $740.75 an ounce to today's price of $915.66. The price of gold is always fluctuating and can vary from day to day.
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