Gold & Silver Dealers Across the United States

Precious metals - especially gold and silver - have historically been used as currency for over 2500 years. While their they have maintained its value for all this time - unlike paper currency and other assets - and are expected to carry on becoming more and more valuable over time. Due to their history of holding their value, buying and selling gold and silver is considered a very safe and lucrative way of investing.

One of the most interesting aspects of investing in precious metals is that they tend to be inversely correlated with the stock market and other financial instruments - that is, when the market is unstable and economies are weak, the purchasing power of gold increases exponentially - so while many investors go bankrupt and paper currency declines, those who have bought gold and silver can make a fortune out of selling it.

The main factor in making precious metals so safe is that there isn't much that can end up happening to them. When you invest on a company, there are way too many things that can go wrong and are completely beyond your control - maybe one of their competitors develop a much better product or services and they lose the majority of their clients, or a new law prevents them from using a very cost-effective material or substance which drastically lowers their profit - or even a major disaster, such as a fire or earthquake, could have them go bankrupt and make all your investment go to waste.

Gold and silver, however, are a tangible, physical objects you can store in a safe or even bury in your back yard - and there isn't much that can end up happening to them. It's not subject to this sort of unpredictability - and its supply isn't expected to drastically change anytime soon, its price depends exclusively on demand - which is guaranteed to go up sometimes.

Since currency is so stable and unpredictable, it is very important that you allocate at least 5 per cent of your investment portfolio in gold and/or silver - so you'll protect your global purchasing power in any situation, and be financially safe in situations of market shock. It's for this very reason the majority of National banks have been net buyers of gold for the last five years.

Buying and selling precious metals, however, isn't particularly easier than other means of investment. In order to do it properly, you need to learn to study this type of investment and make yourself familiar with the nuances of the market and the prices per ounce over time - so you can know when it's low enough to buy and when it's high enough to sell, depending on your needs and interests.

If you do decide to invest in precious metals, the next step is to figure out whether you want to buy gold or silver. The two commodities are very closely related - since the 70s, they have moved in the same direction on over three-thirds of all trading days. The difference is that silver, being a much smaller market, varies much more drastically - about three times as much - than its counterpart. For this reason, silver has been called "the Devil's metal", and is attracts "hot money" investors all around the world.

Regardless of your decision, make sure to keep in mind that, albeit safe, precious metals aren't always the most lucrative investment, unless you can buy them when their price is very low, and sell them when its much higher - and this only happens when the economy is going very well and suddenly crashes. In times of long-term economical stability, it might prove wise to hold off your precious metal investing for later.