Gold: How to Buy Gold Bullion

Gold is one of the most sought-after precious metal for investment, arts and jewelry. In ancient times, gold was used as a means of monetary exchange in different parts of the world. Gold occurs naturally as grains in rocks and as gold-bearing veins in solidified magma.

Gold is the most malleable and ductile of all metals. Pure gold is relatively dense and soft and has a specific density of 19.3. One ounce of gold can be beaten into 300 square feet.

According to ngm.com, as of 2009, a total of 161,000 tons of gold have been mined in all of human history and in the past 50 years, over 85,000 tons has been extracted . South Africa has been the world's number one gold producer since 1880. Over 50% of all the gold in the market came from South Africa. But in 2007, China out beat South Africa, with a production rate of 276 tons, while that of South Africa was at 272 tonnes.

Since 1905, South Africa's production has been about 1,000 tons, but due to continuous difficulty in extraction and the economic factors affecting the commodity market there was a sharp decline to 272 tons, which now made China the largest gold producer, with its 276 tons gold production. Other producers of gold are the Australia, Peru, Russia and United States. Indians buy about 25 per cent of the gold produced in the world, making India the world's largest consumer of gold.

Gold comes in different forms and shapes. A mass of precious metals are known as bullion. A bulk of gold is known as gold bullion. Since the price of gold tends to increase in a poor economy, gold bullion is a good and long term investment. Gold bullion, like every other bullion metal, is valued by its mass and purity.

Gold bullion are usually in the form of coins, mutual funds, bars, or ETF's (Exchange Traded Funds). However, the most popular gold bullion are gold bullion coins and gold bullion bars.

Examples of modern gold bullion coins include; American Buffalo gold bullion coins, American Eagle gold bullion coins, Canadian Maple Leaf gold bullion coins, South African Krugerrand gold bullion coins and Austrian Philharmonic gold bullion coins. All this coins comes in different sizes and weights.

Gold bullion bars unlike South African Krugerrands, American Eagles, and Canadian Maple Leaf are not backed by the government for their purity and weight, so anyone planning to invest in gold bullion bars needs to have a good knowledge of the product and its market value.

When thinking of how to buy gold bullion, the investor also thinks of which gold bullion has the highest quality, highest purity and which would get him more money in the long run. Goldwhy.com, advised new gold investor to go for popular bullion gold bars that are produced by Credit Suisse because the gold content and purity of Credit Suisse bars are from a well known and respected institution, and always comes with assay certificates.

American Buffalo and Canadian Gold Maple Leaf bullion coin have a purity of 99.99%. Here are few steps to take if you are planning to buy or invest in gold bullion.