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Throughout thousands of years of history, most people regarded gold as the most purest form of wealth one can possess. Unfortunately, as gold has been driven out as a monetary unit, interest for the medal has been fading away, especially among younger generations. Yes, people will still wear gold jewellery and one might possess a golden coin or bar ‘just in case’. But where does this tradition actually come from, and why is it still very relevant to own gold in our modern western society?

History of Gold

For many years, local and international currencies have come and gone. This was especially the case in places where war was not an anomaly, but something that was certain to happen every now and then. Corruption, incompetent governments, and international trade were also many factors for gold to rise to the pinnacle of the monetary spectrum. The first free market and democratic state in history, Athens, had accepted gold as 100% of their currency base many centuries before the dawn of Christianity. From the Mayans in Mexico, to the Inca’s in Peru and even on the scattered islands of the Philippine Archipelago, gold was found everywhere in the world in the form of jewellery, or sacred artifacts used by Kings, Pharaohs, and rulers of cities and empires.

Besides the fact that gold is by far one of the prettiest metals to look at, these ancient people did not just have it for this specific purpose. For them, it was the most notable form of wealth. If you did not have any gold, you were considered undesirable as a person to conduct trade, or form a relationship with. Even in this century, gold fulfills this role. In India, one can not get married unless the groom presents his bride with a notable golden object that most likely has been passed on from generation to generation. Just the symbolism of the metal is magnificent, but considering all other forms of wealth we have today, gold is the single store of wealth that does not corrode over time. Where houses, paper, businesses, and castles have been eradicated as time went by, the gold used by the Egyptians to construct the mighty pyramids of Giza 5000 years ago, is still among us. Gold is only formed when a star explodes. One can consider it therefore as the ‘money of god’. It can be reformed and rebranded by human hands, but only the forces of the universe around us can create the noble metal in the first place.

The Rise of Gold

As we speak, the world is going through turbulent times. Many citizens have been prevented by their governments to leave there houses. This has caused the economies of global superpowers to come to a standstill. The price of gold in both euros, dollars, yens and pounds has risen fairly significant. It has even done exceptionally well when comparing it to the prices of global stocks and real estate. To counter this problem, central banks have gone wild by printing trillions of numbers of currency into existence in order to buy up the government debt so governments can tackle the economic problems associated with the virus. However, these actions have consequences. The debt-to-gdp ratios in various countries including global superpowers such as the United States and China has risen enormously and will probably continue to rise while the clouds of the disaster fade away.

Gold as Safe Haven

Printing money always leads to forms of inflation. In some cases, even hyperinflation. Before the corona-outbreak, countries like Argentina, Turkey and Indonesia have been suffering from currency devaluations. This has lead to exponential growth of the price of gold in these countries. While bank savings have been swept away and became worthless, gold has once again entered its role for which it was destined since the dawn of mankind; preserving wealth no matter the circumstances. Even without huge crises, the last fifty years, gold has seen a rise in price of almost 5.000% and yet it has been denounced as a barbarous relic of the past or ‘just a shiny rock’ by mainstream economics.

As this crisis continues, gold will become scarcer and scarcer and eventually, gold will have to renamed to match its disappearance. Unobtainium or unaffordium would be credible characteristics as Michael Maloney used to say. With so much evidence, why even wait? As proven hundreds of times, gold will do what it always has done: rise to the pinnacle of monetary values. Don’t wait, act now. Ready… set… go…

Contributor: Mr. Sander van Dolder, Author of "Why Gold is the New Money", www.hetzilverenzwaard.nl