Precious Metals protect you against the falling US Dollar.

By diversifying your portfolio with precious metals, you can add stability, and even profitability. Precious metals are a solid hedge bet against the declining US dollar, which experts say still has a lot to fall before it goes back up. Trade imbalance, the war on terrorism, and a huge deficit are all contributing to the fall of the dollar.

The fact of the matter is that gold and silver are becoming more of a bargain on a daily basis. The reason is very simple: Every day, the central bank money spigots are spewing out at least ten times as much money, as miners are able to produce gold and silver!

Precious metals are a worldwide “currency”. The value of gold, silver, and platinum are not dependent on the US dollar alone.

Precious Metals protect your wealth.

At the very least, investment in gold and other precious metals is “safe” investment. While they won’t make you rich, they definitely won’t make you poor if all of your assets are tied up in US Currency. This is especially true for those who have retirement funds waiting which lose value by the day. If you’re protected with precious metals, you will know that some of your assets won’t be wiped away when your stocks fall.

Take a look at the graph to the right to see how gold has performed against the stock market.

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Gold is one of the most precious metals in the world. It has been used in jewelry making for several thousand years because of its high value and high malleability (ability to mold and bend into shapes). Gold doesn’t fade, rust, or corrode, and has a high resistance to tarnishing. Its luster makes it the most important metal in jewelry making.

How is gold purity measured?

Gold purity is measured in Karats, or for European measurement, in fineness. To understand Karats, you must know that gold can be alloyed with other metals. There are numerous reasons for alloying, whether its to make the gold stronger, or getting more metal to work with while using less gold (which is more expensive than most metals). Nothing less than 10-karat gold can be legally marked or sold as gold in the United States.

Pure gold is 24K(arat). Lower karats will tell you the percentage of pure gold used in the piece of jewelry. It’s simple math really. 18 K gold, divided by the 24 K (pure gold), is 75% pure gold. (18/24 = 75%). Use the chart below.

How do other metals change the color of gold?

Alloying gold with other metals has different effects, depending on the types of metals used. Alloying can strengthen the gold for jewelry, as well as change the color of it. The amount of color change will depend on the amount of other metals used in alloying.

• Yellow Gold – comes from alloying with Copper and Silver
• White Gold – comes from alloying with Nickel, Zinc, and Copper
• Green Gold – comes from alloying with Silver, Zinc, and Copper
• Rose Gold – comes from alloying with Copper and Silver

“You’re going to see central banks start to cut rates,” said Nick Ruggiero, a trader at Eagle Futures Inc. in New York. “Gold will stay very strong.”

Gold futures for April delivery rose $5, or 0.6 percent, to $910 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The price earlier touched $915.20.

Silver futures for March delivery gained 22.5 cents, or 1.4 percent, to $16.775 an ounce. The metal has climbed 12 percent this year.

Gold has rallied 26 percent since Sept. 18, when the Fed began cutting rates because a housing slump and losses in the subprime mortgage market threatened to push the economy into a recession. The fed funds rate is now at 3 percent, down from 5.25 percent in early September.

Source: Bloomberg

Broken and Unusable Jewelry:

Old broken gold and silver chains and necklaces are the perfect things to send off for money. Remember, the condition of the jewelry does not matter, just the quality of the metal. Tangle, bent, or broken gold or platinum jewelry is just as good as brand new.

If you have an earring collection where you’ve lost one of the pair over the years, you can send it off for money. Old rings, such as class rings, are perfect too if you never wear them.

Other cash for jewelry items:

• Dental Gold
• Platinum Jewelry,
• Palladium Jewelry
• Loose Diamonds
• Swiss watches
• Rolex watches
• Pendants, charms, clusters
• Chain and bangle bracelets
• Foreign gold and silver coins
• Old gold watch bands, cases, buckles
• US gold coins