The Amazing Story of Australia’s Perth Mint

 

Up to 2000, the Mint’s refined gold output totaled 4,500 tonnes, representing 3.25% of the total weight of gold produced by humankind. This is about the current holdings of gold bullion in the United States Mint’s Fort Knox Bullion Depository.

 

• The Amazing Story of Australia’s Perth Mint Information

The Perth Mint played a central role in the development of Western Australia’s gold industry. During the 19th Century, three branches of the Royal Mint of London were established in the Australian colonies to refine gold from the gold rushes and to mint gold sovereigns and half-sovereigns for the British Empire.

Pamp Fortuna Die-Struck Gold Bars

 

Each bar is ten troy ounces, or 311 grams, of pure .9999 gold. These bars are approximately 2 ½ inches tall by 1 3/8 inches wide and 3/8 of an inch thick.

 

• Pamp Fortuna Die-Struck Gold Bars Information

These die-struck bars feature the attractive “Fortuna” portrait common to bullion products by Pamp, a worldwide refiner and marketer of precious metals.
Each bar is ten troy ounces, or 311 grams, of pure .9999 gold. These bars are approximately 2 ½ inches tall by 1 3/8 inches wide and 3/8 of an inch thick.
Each Pamp Fortuna bar is stamped at the refinery with its unique assay number, and comes with the Pamp Suisse assay certificate bearing that same number.

Franz Joseph I Austrian Korona Gold Coins

 

The Austrian Korona Gold coins are minted of .900 fine (21.6 karat) gold, and each coin contains 0.9802 ounce of gold. The front bears the profile of Franz Joseph I, the Austrian Emperor 1848-1916.

 

• Franz Joseph I Austrian Korona Gold Coins Information

The Austrian Korona Gold coins are minted of .900 fine (21.6 karat) gold, and each coin contains 0.9802 ounce of gold. The front bears the profile of Franz Joseph I, the Austrian Emperor 1848-1916.
The reverse displays the Austrian Coat of Arms, a double eagle with crown. The edges of Austrian 100 Coronas are lettered Vnitis Viribvs.

GOLDEN PRICE

Price

Gold price history in 1960-2011

Like other precious metals, gold is measured by troy weight and by grams. When it is alloyed with other metals the term carat or karat is used to indicate the purity of gold present, with 24 carats being pure gold and lower ratings proportionally less. The purity of a gold bar or coin can also be expressed as a decimal figure ranging from 0 to 1, known as the millesimal fineness, such as 0.995 being very pure.

The price of gold is determined through trading in the gold and derivatives markets, but a procedure known as the Gold Fixing in London, originating in September 1919, provides a daily benchmark price to the industry. The afternoon fixing was introduced in 1968 to provide a price when US markets are open.

Historically gold coinage was widely used as currency; when paper money was introduced, it typically was a receipt redeemable for gold coin or bullion. In a monetary system known as the gold standard, a certain weight of gold was given the name of a unit of currency. For a long period, the United States government set the value of the US dollar so that one troy ounce was equal to $20.67 ($664.56/kg), but in 1934 the dollar was devalued to $35.00 per troy ounce ($1125.27/kg). By 1961, it was becoming hard to maintain this price, and a pool of US and European banks agreed to manipulate the market to prevent further currency devaluation against increased gold demand.

A Swiss-cast 1 kg gold bar.

On March 17, 1968, economic circumstances caused the collapse of the gold pool, and a two-tiered pricing scheme was established whereby gold was still used to settle international accounts at the old $35.00 per troy ounce ($1.13/g) but the price of gold on the private market was allowed to fluctuate; this two-tiered pricing system was abandoned in 1975 when the price of gold was left to find its free-market level. Central banks still hold historical gold reserves as a store of value although the level has generally been declining. The largest gold depository in the world is that of the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank in New York, which holds about 3% of the gold ever mined, as does the similarly laden U.S. Bullion Depository at Fort Knox. In 2005 the World Gold Council estimated total global gold supply to be 3,859 tonnes and demand to be 3,754 tonnes, giving a surplus of 105 tonnes.

Since 1968 the price of gold has ranged widely, from a high of $850/oz ($27,300/kg) on January 21, 1980, to a low of $252.90/oz ($8,131/kg) on June 21, 1999 (London Gold Fixing). The period from 1999 to 2001 marked the "Brown Bottom" after a 20-year bear market. Prices increased rapidly from 1991, but the 1980 high was not exceeded until January 3, 2008 when a new maximum of $865.35 per troy ounce was set. Another record price was set on March 17, 2008 at $1023.50/oz ($32,900/kg).

In late 2009, gold markets experienced renewed momentum upwards due to increased demand and a weakening US dollar. On December 2, 2009, Gold passed the important barrier of US$1200 per ounce to close at $1215. Gold further rallied hitting new highs in May 2010 after the European Union debt crisis prompted further purchase of gold as a safe asset. On March 1, 2011, gold hit a new all-time high of $1432.57, based on investor concerns regarding ongoing unrest in North Africa as well as in the Middle East.

Since April 2001 the gold price has more than quintupled in value against the US dollar, hitting a new all-time high of $1,913.50 on August 23, 2011, prompting speculation that this long secular bear market has ended and a bull market has returned.

gold consumption

Consumption

The consumption of gold produced in the world is about 50% in jewelry, 40% in investments, and 10% in industry.

India is the world's largest single consumer of gold, as Indians buy about 25% of the world's gold, purchasing approximately 800 tonnes of gold every year, mostly for jewelry. India is also the largest importer of gold; in 2008, India imported around 400 tonnes of gold. Indian households hold 18,000 tonnes of gold which represents 11 per cent of the global stock and worth more than $950 billion.

Gold jewellery consumption by country (in Tonnes).

Country	2010	2009	% Change
India	745.70	442.37	+69
Greater China	428.00	376.96	+14
United States	128.61	150.28	-14
Turkey	74.07	75.16	-1
Saudi Arabia	72.95	77.75	-6
Russia	67.50	60.12	+12
United Arab Emirates	63.37	67.60	-6
Egypt	53.43	56.68	-6
Indonesia	32.75	41.00	-20
United Kingdom	27.35	31.75	-14
Other Gulf Countries	21.97	24.10	-10
Japan	18.50	21.85	-15
South Korea	15.87	18.83	-16
Vietnam	14.36	15.08	-5
Thailand	6.28	7.33	-14
Total	1805.60	1508.70	+20
Other Countries	254.0	251.6	+1
World Total	2059.6	1760.3	+17

Minute gold lock that works

Lilliputians wouldn’t think twice about declaring Ganesh Subramaniam jeweller laureate and a prized national treasure. The 36-year-old jeweller, who passionately crafts nano gold artifacts, has now come up with a tiny gold number lock that actually works!
It’s almost invisible that Ganesh keeps it locked on the eye of a needle. You have to view it through a magnifying lens to appreciate the microscopic craftsmanship. Even the numbers from triple zero to triple nine are hand-crafted, he explains.‘’It took me nine months. For all purposes, it’s a real lock, save for the fact it’s so small,’’ says Ganesh, who runs the Kamala Jewellery, named after his mother, at Poojappura. Made from 40 milligrams of gold, the lock stands three millimetres high and has a circumference of one millimetre. There are three number rings, two base rings, a spine and a hook - all made of gold, of course. But why a number lock, of all things? ‘’I’ve crafted only tiny gold statuettes up to now. I wanted to make a mechanical object. We use number locks at home, and I thought, why not make one?’’ Unlike statuettes, mechanical objects require a high level of precision, he says. ‘Boat and Boatman’, in 30 mg gold, was Ganesh’s first miniature. That was six years ago. Three years ago, he crafted ‘Ananthasayanam’ in 20 mg gold and presented it to Uthradom Thirunal Marthanda Varma. A 17- mg gold Nataraja idol presented to actor Mohanlal and a 35-mg cannon gifted to former President A P J Abdul Kalam are some of his other miniatures. His tiniest work to date is a 3-mg Christ. He dropped the Christ once, and it took two hours of careful combing of the floor before he could spot it. Ganesh says his odd pastime has not affected his eyesight. After all these years of squinting at microscopic objects, he still doesn’t wear specs.Now he has also taken up painting on rice grains. His first works in this direction include water colours of Mohanlal in Army uniform alongside the tricolour and another one of Mecca on a single grain of rice. Ganesh hopes to get his number lock into the Guinness and Limca books soon.

Goldmerchant: gold production

Goldmerchant: gold production: Production Main articles: Gold prospecting , Gold mining , Gold extraction , and List of countries by gold production Global gold...