Is it Stupid to Buy Gold?

Gold is a rare metal. But so are many othercharm around us. It was sought by mighty kings,
metals taken in their purity. Arsenic is rare.and worn by pretty queens. This history cannot
Uranium is rare. Platinum is rare. Even shells arebe done away with easily.
rare in some countries. A substance that does notPerhaps the worst part of buying gold is the
shine, is pale yellow, gets worn out easily wheninvestment aspect. It is difficult to get good
used pure, and yields poor returns when resoldreturns when the goldsmith deducts a good
has been one of the most sought afteramount of the weight to compensate for losses
commodities.in reprocessing. It may even turn out to be gold
What makes us do away with our reasoningof less purity than what it was claimed to be.
when it comes to buying gold ornaments? As aThe very word ‘Gold' has come to stand for
basis of money it made sense as it wassomething unique, precious, pure, and desirable.
procurable in purity and very rare compared toThe adjective ‘golden' has come to stand for
other available metals. Making ornaments fromthese qualities, so much so that alternative
this base made sense too, after all it was money.medicine formulations use gold as an ingredient in
Now that it is no longer related to money, whysome remedies.
do we still chase gold before any other metal?On the other hand, gold does have its positive
With extensive mining and processing, is it still asside. Its yellow dullness attracts just the right
rare as it was earlier?attention. A brightly shining metal would be
The reason perhaps lies in its history as adistracting to the eyes.
precious and rare commodity. Gold has woven its