Last week we talked about a woman who got her gold wedding band back after she had accidentally given it to a homeless man with some coins she was handing him. We said that while we know that now is a good time to sell gold to a gold buyer, in this case that was one gold item that one would not want to part with because the value of gold changes when the item has great emotional significance.
Martin Luther King, Jr. was posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 2004, along with his wife Coretta Scott King. Coretta Scott King, who died on 2006 we alive to accept this great honor and see the homage paid to her late husband. The Kings are not the only couple to be honored with a Congressional Gold Medal-Ronald and Nancy Regan were honored with a Congressional Gold Medal in 2002.
The Congressional Gold Medal ranks with the Presidential Medal of Freedom as the highest honor a person can receive from the United States and one does not have to be a U.S. citizen to receive The Congressional Gold Medal is an honor given to a person or persons who acted admirable in the interests of country.
Rather than being a standardized award, the Congressional Gold Medal differs for each recipient or set of recipients. So this means that no two Congressional Gold Medals are alike. Instead, these medals usually bear the likeness(es) of the recipients(s). The medal itself is not made to be worn around ones neck or to adorn clothing; instead it is made to be displayed the way one would display a trophy. However, replicas, often made of bronze, are made and there are fewer restrictions concerning how these bronze versions of the Congressional Gold Medal are displayed.
While viewing a timeline of the changes in the market for gold over the centuries, we were amazed that despite the ups and downs, gold still remains a sought-after commodity. The value of gold may change, but the fact that people still want to buy and sell gold means that it has lasting value. There are things that people in the ancient world thought were great that we do not make a big deal about anymore, but gold is not one of them. We can’t really say just why gold has such staying power, but we know that many of you are glad that you can still get cash for gold.
For example, in the United States, when we hear about a gold rush, our thoughts immediately turn to the California gold rush in the 19th century. That was a time when people made their way to California in search of gold, hoping to make a fortune. As you know history does repeat itself–did you know that Hungary had a gold rush in the 1330s? This gold rush pre-dates the times when Christopher Columbus and other explorers landed in the Americas. We can’t imagine just what a gold rush would have looked like in the 1330s, but if some record or evidence of it survived all these years, it must have been quite an event.
Luckily for you, you do not have to worry about traveling in car or hopping in a covered wagon to try to reach California or any other place that is rich in gold. If you have some old gold jewelry or gold coins around the house, then you may already be rich in gold. Your travels can be few when you contact an online gold buyer because you want to sell gold. The gold buyer will send you a postage-paid envelope. Just place your unwanted gold items into the envelope and put it in the mail. Before you know it, the gold buyer will contact you to let you know just how much cash for gold you can expect to receive. There will be no trampling, no rush and you will not need to even get your hands dirty.
Recently, Princeton University acquired a very rare gold coin–one that goes all the way back to the seventh century or the Byzatine era.
Princeton University in New Jersey has what is considered by some to be the oldest institutional collection of coins in the United States. The collected includes more than 100,000 gold coins from various countries that spans centuries. Among these coins, there are gold coins from the Greco-Roman era and medieval times. The collection also includes gold medals.
The latest gold coin that Princeton has received for its collection has an image of Jesus Christ. While one would expect to hear that such a coin is the subject of controversy today, you may be surprised to learn that this gold coin was controversial during the time it was minted as well. Why? Well, according to the experts, this gold coin was created at a time when it was not considered politically correct to uses pictures and image in way that might be considered ‘worship.’
Despite the times, the gold coin was still created and it is considered to be an important addition to Princeton’s gold coin collection. It is amazing to us that a gold coin that was around that long ago still remains intact and that people are able to identify an image on it.
We certainly do not recommend that you worship gold coins. You do need to know the value of your possessions, but you need not idolize them. For example, if you have gold coins, gold jewelry and other gold objects, but are unsure of their value, visit www.kitco.com to learn about the current value of gold. If you like what you read and decide to sell gold, a gold buyer will work with you so you can get cash for gold.
Those who watch pop culture in the United States have observed that over the last few years babies have become hot accessories. We don’t want to be flip, but yes, cultural critics have felt as if the baby boom in Hollywood is somehow related to a trend and not natural population growth.
We really cannot say whether or not this is true. People have children when they do and since Hollywood is like a small town that every focuses on this may seem to be a trend, when really it is just the cycle of life.
What we can say is that in recent years baby accessories (and not the babies themselves) have gotten more and more press. But this may not be new either. People have probably been trying to top each other with extravagant baby gifts since the time of the pharaohs.
So we were surprised to hear that a very costly baby gift, one made of gold, had gone on sale, not in Hollywood, but in Dubai. Then again, gifts made of gold to welcome babies have been traditional in this part of the world for quite a while.
It seems that the best dressed babies in Dubai can add 18 carat gold pacifiers to their outfits. We imagine that such a gift would become a family heirloom that might be passed on to other family members.
Or, as is the case with the gold bracelets that some women in this part of the world get when they get married, a gold pacifier could act as an insurance policy against hard times. Someone might hold onto a gold pacifier and if they recognize the value of gold, they could sell gold to a gold buyer if hard times hit.
Today is October 12, the day we celebrate as Columbus Day. Whether or not you agree with the idea that Christopher Columbus actually discovered America, you can probably agree with the notion that finding what we now call America was not really what Columbus set out to do.
So what did Columbus set out to do? There are some will tell you that he set sail from Spain in search of spices. While spices were certainly of great importance in the ancient world, it is hard to believe that a crew would undertake such a dangerous mission solely to find spices.
According to the famous poem “In 1492″,
Columbus sailed on to find some gold
To bring back home, as he’d been told.
He made the trip again and again,
Trading gold to bring to Spain.
Yes, that is right–Columbus set off on a dangerous mission because he hoped to find gold for his Spanish benefactors.
Gold has certainly not lost its luster or appeal in the years since Columbus sailed the ocean blue. We recognize the value of gold, just as the people who lived in 1492 did. In fact, it might even be easier to obtain and sell gold now than it was back then. For one thing, you do not have to seek the patronage of any king or queen s that you can purchase ships and supplies to mount a major expedition. Nor do you need to have to worry about being away from home for an untold number of months. You just need to find some old gold jewelry that you probably already have and send it in to a gold buyer who will be happy to give you cash for gold in exchange for gold you no longer want.
Last week, we discussed how people how take their items to the experts who are a part of PBS’s Antiques Roadshow are often pleasantly surprised to find that the objects they bring are worth much more than they ever imagined. And as we said, the show does not tell us what the people do when they find out that their gold watches and other items are highly valuable, but it is likely that some of these items are sold at auction.
In the world of auctions, one really never knows just what to expect. The experts come in and based on their knowledge of an object’s history, condition and the availability, they estimate just how much they think something will fetch at auction.
For example, a highly valuable gold object that is connected with someone famous may garner a higher price than if that same object belonged to someone without celebrity status.
A gold-leaf covered sculpture that was once owned by filmmaker Ingmar Bergman was recently sold for a lot more than anyone expected. This may be due in part to the fact that Bergman was so very famous, but who is to say. Still, in Swedish currency it was thought that the sculpture would sell for 4,000 kronors. Instead, this gold leaf covered sculpture of someone’s head was sold for a whopping 62,000 kronors, a price that double and tripled the original estimate many times over.
Well, if you are hoping to sell gold to a gold buyer, you should know that the main criteria that will affect the amount of cash for gold you get is the current value of gold and the amount of pure gold your gold objects contain. So if you are well-known you will not get any special consideration. At the same time, if you cannot count on fame or celebrity for a boost, you can rest assured that this is one situation where no one else can use such things to their advantage either.
On Monday we mentioned that a business association in Idaho is holding a raffle and the prize is a most unusual one. It’s not dinner at a chic local restaurant or a really big flat screen television…no the Wallace Business Community Association is giving away a gold mine.
You may be wondering just how one acquires a gold mine to give away in the first place…well, the Wallace Business Community Association bought the 30-acre claim on which the gold mine sits for $3,500. While we know more about the value of gold in terms of small pieces, we can say that this was a bargain since this claim could possibly bring in $15,000 in today’s market.
What would you do with a gold mine? There are a good number of historic museums and parks set up on the sites of gold mines that people opened up during the 19th century gold rush days. That is one way to use a fold mine
Surely someone has entered this raffle on a whim, having no idea what they would do if they actually won. The winner could always sell the gold mine if they had not interest in recreational gold mining. (The rules stipulate that the mine is only to be used for recreational gold mining, as opposed to commercial gold mining.) We are fairly certain that it is much easier to sell gold that it is to sell a gold mine. There is a lot less paperwork and legalities when you sell gold to a gold buyer.
The raffle will take place on October 2, so you still have time to hurry over to Idaho (if you are not already there) to purchase your raffle ticket.
Earlier in the week, we discussed the Greek myth about King Midas. After an act of kindness, Midas was granted the ability to turn anything he touched into gold. At first Midas rejoiced because he was thinking about the value of gold and about all of the riches and cash for gold he would have once he was able to continuously sell gold. What he hadn’t considered was that when the Greek gods granted a wish, they didn’t get into all of the little details. Midas gold-making power was absolute and it did not go away when he wanted to touch something and NOT have it turn into gold, like his food for instance.
Midas sought help from the god Dionysus, the one who bestowed the gift in the first place. Dionysus took pity on him and told him to wash in a river to get rid of the power to touch things and make them gold. The river where he washed was known to contain a lot of gold, so perhaps this myth was a way to explain just why this was so.
Now that he was disillusioned with the idea of wealth and riches, Midas became a follower of the god Pan. Midas was there when Pan challenged the mighty god Apollo to a music contest. When it came down to deciding who won, Midas took the side of Pan. This was a mistake since Apollo did not like to be opposed. Because he felt that something was amiss with Midas’s ears for thinking that Pan’s music was better, Apollo turned Midas’s ears into donkey ears.
Once again, Midas’s did not think enough about his response. Thinking more before asking Dionysus to grant him the power to turn all that he touched into gold would have spared him some grief. And thinking about what was at stake might have made him reconsider voicing his opinion about Apollo’s music.
News outlets recently reported that the land down under is set to surge ahead of the United States when it comes to gold production this year. You may not have event realized that the U.S. is a top producer of gold, but it is. And now, if reports are true, Australia is going to be producing even more gold that the United States. If this were to happen, that would mean that the only country that would produce more gold than Australia would be China.
The increase in gold production is a result of an increased demand for gold. More and more people are looking to buy gold. The price of gold rose this past week and some predict that the price for an ounce of gold will rise even more next year. A gold buyer keepa a close eye on the value of gold and you can too. That way you will know when is a good time to trade in your gold so that you can get the cash for gold you need. However, that does not mean that you should spend your days trying to see which day has the best price for gold. Especially if you think that getting some cash for gold could really help you out of a difficult situation.
Bearing all of this in mind, anytime is a good time to sell gold if you are looking for some extra cash. After all, they say that one should sell high, right? Unlike mining companies, which have complex machinery and operations, you will not have to mount a huge enterprise to extract gold. You may only have to open a drawer or check in your jewelry box to see that unused or broken gold jewelry is ripe for the taking.
There was a time when doctors and other professionals were paid with crops like wheat or corn, animals, and other non-monetary items. When people were desperate they sometimes would hand over gold that may or many not have been equivalent to what they would have paid in cash. For a while it seemed as if those days had all but disappeared, but the recession brought on a return of bargaining for goods and services…but one area in which we never expected to hear about such a trade is an internship. After all, many internships are unpaid anyway. Who would think of paying interns in gold?
A web-based service is offering to give internship participants gold coins instead of give them money. The founder of web service did not want interns to go without payment of any kind, so he came up with the idea of giving them gold coins. So what were unpaid internships are now paid in a sense, since the value of gold increases on a regular basis. And unless those interns are sentimental and want to keep the gold coins as some kind of souvenir, they will sell gold to get cash for gold.
How would you feel about being paid in gold—either for a limited-time internship or on a regular basis? As we mentioned above, there have been times when this happened regularly. It would be difficult to do this now in place like the U.S. where you are expected to have cash or some kind of credit or debit card handy when you want to buy something. Most retailers are not exactly willing to accept gold nuggets or gold coins. A gold buyer is always receptive, though. So, if you need to cash for gold, a gold buyer is your best bet.