There aren't any limits on how much gold you can own. Some 244,000 metric tons of gold have been discovered in the world so far. That includes 187,000 metric tons of mined gold and 57,000 metric tons of underground reserves.
Is there any limit on how much gold I can own ? No, there are no restrictions on private gold ownership in the United States.
Global Per Capita Gold Ownership in Ounces
We can determine what the average per capita gold ownership is in ounces globally: “Total gold above ground is estimated at 160,000 tons or 5.144 billion ounces. Divide this figure by a world population of 6.88 billion and you arrive at 0.75 ounces per capita.” Source.
Returns on physical gold tend to be poor. If you purchase gold jewelry, for example, you may not earn as much when you sell it as you paid when you bought it. Safely storing physical gold can be difficult, as it's vulnerable to theft.
Gold could be far more efficient than cash at storing wealth. Interest rates remain low, meaning that your money in the bank “earns virtually nothing,” reports CNN Money. When you account for inflation, that cash may have actually lost value. Gold is recognized as a having a long-term record of stability.
However, many experts warn that you should be wary of how much gold to include in your portfolio. One rule of thumb is to limit gold to no more than 5% to 10% of your portfolio. Depending on your situation and your risk tolerance, you might be more comfortable with a bigger or smaller share of gold in your portfolio.
Because of this, the amount of gold on earth is finite. While there is no way to know exactly how much gold remains to be mined, experts agree that there are few remaining, untouched gold deposits hidden in layers of rock. The world will run out of minable gold, though exactly when is unknown.
Though new gold veins are still being found, discoveries of large deposits are becoming increasingly rare. As a result, most gold production today is coming from older mines that have already been exploited for decades.
The Bottom Line
Silver is more volatile, cheaper and more tightly linked with the industrial economy. Gold is more expensive and better for diversifying your portfolio overall. Either or both may have a place in your portfolio.
Physical gold is one of the best forms of long-term wealth protection. It is ideal for your heirs since it will outlast any currency they may use in the future. Physical gold is not subject to the risks that come with paper assets. It can't be hacked or erased.
This statistic presents the gold reserves of largest gold holding countries worldwide as of the third quarter of 2022. At that time, the central bank of the United States held approximately 8,133.5 metric tons of gold. The United States has the largest gold reserve, with more than 8,000 metric tons of gold.
Legal Requirements For Bullion Purchases
Federal regulations require our company to collect photographic identification from the customer for purchases of Gold and/or Silver Bullion totaling more than $5,000 AUD for record keeping and reporting purposes.
If you bring in money or precious metals into Australia, there is no import duty. But you have to declare anything worth more than $10,000 Australia on arrival.
You can bring in as much gold bullion(99.99%) as you like but you need to declare it. Any other gold has a financial value and if it exceeds a nominated value it's subject to tax and maybe duties.
In Australia this concentration of gold took place in the Earth hundreds of millions of years ago in the eastern states, and thousands of millions of years ago in Western Australia. As well as gold, the fluids can carry other dissolved minerals, such as quartz. This is why gold is often found with quartz.
We do know that gold makes up about four parts per billion of the earth's crust. What we don't know, however, is precisely how much gold is still out there. The WGC estimates that there are 54,000 tonnes of “below-ground gold reserves” waiting to be mined.
Cadia Valley or Cadia-Ridgeway Mine
In terms of gold production, the Cadia Valley gold mine officially stands as Australia's biggest mine. In 1992, Newcrest Mining discovered the Cadia Hill gold-copper porphyry deposit and in 1994 Cadia East was discovered.
Unexpected gold: on the Moon
Satellite imaging has shown that the top 10 centimetres of regolith (moon soil) at the south pole of the moon appear to hold about 100 times more gold than the richest mines on earth.
It is possible that the price of gold could make a 1,000% move in the next ten years from its 2020 price. That could put the price of gold at $17,000 by 2032.
The answer is yes, absolutely! Gold can play a vital role in a robust, high-performing portfolio. It has helped millions of investors hedge against inflation, protect against economic downturns, and achieve superior returns. However, these results are not guaranteed.
If you want to invest only in physical gold, then gold bars and coins will always be more profitable than jewellery. As clear from the gold rate in Mumbai example mentioned above, you can easily observe that return rates of gold jewellery are never profitable due to the making charges.