History of Gold
- Gold is thought to have been brought to earth by metal-bearing meteor about 4 billion years ago, with most of the gold sinking into the earth’s crust.
- Gold was believed to have been first used by humans during the Chalcolithic Period (Bronze Age) and artefacts have been found that are older than the current Christian era by up to four millennia.
- Gold in the form of electrum coins – a combination of gold and silver – was first used as currrency in Lydia around 700 B.C. by merchants.
- The use of gold as a universal currency, known as the gold specie standard, was first instituted by the British West Indies. This continued until a proclamation by Queen Anne in 1704 made a de facto gold standard with the Spanish gold coin.
Modern-day statistics for Gold
The top 10 producers of gold:
Top 10 countries with the largest gold reserves:
How is Gold Traded
Due to its popularity as an investment vehicle, gold is traded in a variety of ways. Broadly speaking they can be broken down into two major groups, physical forms and non-physical forms.
The non-physical forms in which gold is traded include:
Derivatives and CFDs
Trading Gold as a CFD is offered by most CFDs like London Capital Group. Trading Gold Futures and Spot Gold as a CFD has opened up the door for more traders because it requires less capital than trading a traditional Future. For example:
Minimum Trade Gold Future:
Latest price of a Gold future on the CME exchange was $1,224
Contract size for a single Gold Future contract = 100 troy ounces
Therefore a minimum trade for a single futures contract for Gold would be 100*$1224 = $122,400.
*The maintenance margin required by CME for a Gold futures contract is $5,400.
Minimum Trade of a Gold Future CFD with LCG:
Using the trading conditions offered by London Capital Group, a maximum margin for Gold of 0.5% and a minimum trade size of 0.1 lot (contract size). The minimum cost of a trade of Gold Future using London Capital Group in this example would be $61.20 (10*$1,224/200=$61.20).
Comparison of CFD Gold and Futures gold contracts
Trading conditions for Gold futures with London Capital Group
*All information collected from https://www.lcg.com/uk/, see website for full terms and conditions. Your capital is at risk. Last updated on February 14, 2017.
100 oz Gold Future Contract example with Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)ICE
Trading Hours
*Next Day
Market opens at 6:00pm on Sunday, for Monday’s trade date. Pre-open at 5:30pm Sunday, 7:30pm Monday through Thursday
Exchange-Traded Products
These are traded on a stock exchange and include Exchange Traded Funds and Exchange Traded Notes.
Certificates
The first paper currency were gold certificates and they represent a promise by the issuer to provide a stated quantity of gold.
Certificates allow their holders to avoid the stress and risk involved in storing or carrying around a large amount of precious metal.
Gold in physical form can be traded in:
Bars
This is the most popular form in which gold is stored and traded, both in reality and pop culture.
These bars are available in various sizes including 12 kilogramme bars (400 troy ounces), 1 kilogramme bars, and less commonly, 1 gramme (31 troy ounces) 1 Tael and 1 Tola bars.
The use of large gold bars, however, carries a significant risk of counterfeiting as larger bars could be made hollow and filled with a variety of less valuable substances.
Also, gold bars can not be weighed and compared to a previously set value to confirm their authenticity, unlike gold coins.
Coins
Bullion gold coins differ from numismatic coins which are collected for their rarity rather than any intrinsic value of the gold contained.
The use of gold coins for trading is also very popular with over 50 million ounces of Kruggerands, – a type of gold coin – in circulation around the world.
Sizes of gold bullion coins vary from one-tenth of an ounce to two-ounce and examples of popular gold bullion coins include the South African Krugerrand, Australian Gold Nugget, Canadian Gold Maple Leaf and the American Gold Eagle.
What Influences The Gold Market
The monetary policy set out by the Federal Reserve is one of the biggest influencers of Gold. Higher interest rates can lower the demand for gold as holding cash can becomes more attractive and in times of low-interest rates, demand for gold can increase as holding gold over cash becomes more attractive.
Commodities related to gold include:
- Platinum
- Silver
- Aluminium
- Tin
- Copper
Popular gold exchanges
- Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)London Metal Exchange (LME): offers exposure to futures and options of a large variety of metals and commodities
- The New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX): the world’s largest commodity futures exchange platform, offering a wide variety of products
- The Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (ICE): operates futures and over the counter contracts through internet marketplaces
Summary: trading gold
Trading Gold futures and Spot gold as a CFD is a popular choice for traders who are looking for a low-cost approach to trading. With a combination of leverage and smaller contract sizes, the required capital to trading gold is minimised as a CFD.
BrokerNotes.co 2023 Overall Rankings
To recap, here are our top forex brokers for 2023, sorted by Overall ranking.
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At BrokerNotes.co, our data-driven reviews of online brokers are based on our own extensive testing of each broker's products and services as well as the qualified observations of our expert editorial team. In conjunction with our sister site, ForexBrokers.com, we’ve published well over 100,000 words of research and collected thousands of data points across hundreds of variables. Our in-depth trading guides are created with the same rigorous, data-driven approach.
Our proprietary Trust Score rating system tracks data from over 100 regulatory jurisdictions to help forex traders understand the regulatory status of their forex broker and choose a broker that they can trust.
Our editorial team is led by Steven Hatzakis, an industry veteran with decades of experience and a deep understanding of the forex market. Our team conducts thorough testing on a wide range of brokers, platforms, products, technologies, third-party trading tools, and mobile apps. We also test for the availability of high-quality educational content, actionable market research resources, and the accessibility and capabilities of mobile platforms. All of our ratings and rankings are based on the collection and validation of thousands of data points and our in-depth product testing.
Part of our testing process involves in-depth research into commissions and fees. We dive into each broker’s trading costs, such as VIP rebates, inactivity fees, custody fees, bid/ask spreads (we always strive to determine the average spreads for each broker to better serve our readers), and a variety of other fee-based data points.
All websites and web-based platforms are tested using the latest version of the Google Chrome browser. Our Desktop PCs run Windows 11, and we use MacBook Pro laptops running the latest version of macOS to test trading on the go.
When testing mobile apps or mobile products, we test on both Apple and Android devices. For Apple, we test with the iPhone XS running iOS 16, and for Android we use the Samsung Galaxy S9+ and Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra devices running Android OS 13.
All of the content on BrokerNotes.co is researched, fact-checked, and edited by members of our editorial team. Our ratings and rankings are driven by our independent data collection. We may use generative AI tools to assist in some of the rote aspects of our content production processes, but the substance of our content, as well as our opinions and evaluations are based on our extensive research and product testing. Read our Generative AI policy to learn more.
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There is a very high degree of risk involved in trading securities. With respect to margin-based foreign exchange trading, off-exchange derivatives, and cryptocurrencies, there is considerable exposure to risk, including but not limited to, leverage, creditworthiness, limited regulatory protection and market volatility that may substantially affect the price, or liquidity of a currency or related instrument. It should not be assumed that the methods, techniques, or indicators presented in these products will be profitable, or that they will not result in losses. Learn more about foreign exchange risk.
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