Commonly used size/quantity of Gold

Gold is right now the most sought after commodity and darling amongst the traders. This yellow Precious Metal is handled in different size/quantity and I've listed a few commonly used units of size of Gold:

• Gram(s)
  
• 1 Sovereign (பவுண் in Tamil) = 8 Grams
• 1 Ounce(Oz) = 28 (approx.) Grams
  
• Troy ounce
• Gold Bar
• Chip Gold

Below are the units used previously in India:

• 1 Tholam (தொலாம் in Tamil) = 12 grams
• Varaham
  

Btw, refer my last post about Purity of Gold.

Srikanth Ramu

Purity of Gold

Have you ever wondered what words like 916, Carat, Hallmark mean, well, these are related to Purity of Gold. Gold metal in its pure form is very soft in nature, hence it is alloyed with metals like Copper, Silver, Nickel etc., to make it suited for Jewelry and other usable purposes. The common notation for purity is Carat (Ct.)/Karat.

Pure gold has a purity of 24 Carats, with 99.9% of Gold and remaining alloyed with other metals. In India, 22 Ct. gold (91.6%) is widely accepted for Jewelry, however 18 Ct. and 14 Ct. gold jewelry are also available. The other notation of purity of gold is millesimal fineness i.e Gold in parts per 1000. For instance, fineness of 999 refers to 24 Ct. gold and the commonly used 916 refers 22 carat gold.

Hallmarking is a way of tagging the purity of gold for universal acceptance and in India, BIS is the hallmarking agency. So, next time when you buy any gold jewelry do check for hallmarking.

Srikanth Ramu

Gold Semma Hot machi!!! - Prices touching new heights

Gold seems to be the hottest commodity, as Gold rates breached Rs: 1600 mark in local market in Chennai for 1 gram 22 Ct. of Gold. In global market, the per Oz Gold price, went past $1100 mark and its now, little short of $1150. In Chennai market, the prices of 1 gram 22Ct. gold leaped to Rs:1600, an increase of Rs:100 in two weeks i.e from November 1st.

Please note that, the Chennai rates specified are as per The Madras Jewellers and Diamond Merchants Association. For specific jewelry mart rates, visit specific the shops.

Srikanth Ramu

Auspicious Days to buy gold

Its been close to a month since I started writing about Gold @ http://golddata.blogspot.com/. Unlike Wordpress, in Blogger.com there is no built-in analytics option, hence, I singed up with StatCounter.com to analyze the web stats of my blog. Interestingly, StatCounter.com shows good stats like Number of visits, Regions, Referrer link, Keyword details etc. Analyzing search keywords helps a blogger to understand reader preference and write about it, and this posts does exactly that. From the recent search keyword stats, couple of searches were on auspicious days to buy gold, so here it is:

Auspicious Days that are considered good for gold purchases are:

1. Akshaya Tritiya
2. Dhanteras
3. Pushya Nakshatra days
4. Gurupushyamrit
5. Vijayadasami
6. Shubha Muhurtham Days
7. Regional New Year like: Gudi Padwa , Yugadi etc.

It is believed that when you purchase Gold on these auspicious days, you would have a prosperous year ahead. And, you would be blessed with wealth and happiness. No matter you believe on auspicious days are not, its always good to manage your funds by diversifying your investments periodically. And, gold is one such investment option.

Now, to the keyword analysis, it is surprising to see for some search keywords, my blog http://golddata.blogspot.com/ is listed on the first page of search results. Below are a few search keywords:

1. Gold prices, 22ct, India, November 2009
2. rate of gold in India in the month of October
   
3. 1gm gold chennai 7 november
4. trend in gold coin rate
5. gold price graph chennai
   

Srikanth Ramu

Gold prices touches the magical $1100 mark

At a time when the world economy is still at the clutches of recession, and investors favoring Gold as alternate commodity to dollar, you only expect the prices to surge. Today (6/Nov/2009), the gold per ounce price breached record $1100 mark. Although Indian Rupee strengthened against US Dollar, the gold prices in the local market were still at a record level. As per The Madras Jewellers and Diamond Merchants Association, the per gram 22ct gold rate in Chennai was about Rs:1563. The peak price of gold (1 gram 22ct) was Rs: 1482 during first week of October, however November first week witnessed an increase of approximately Rs:80.

Srikanth Ramu

India buys 200 tones of gold from IMF

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) buys 200 tones of gold from International Monetary Fund (IMF). More details @

http://www.imf.org/external/np/sec/pr/2009/pr09381.htm

IMF plans to sell 403.3 metric tons, representing 1/8th IMF's holdings.
http://www.imf.org/external/np/exr/faq/goldfaqs.htm

Srikanth Ramu

October 2009 Month Gold update

Overall, for the month of October 2009, the Gold prices saw an increasing trend with marginal fluctuation during mid of the month. The least price of Gold per gram was Rs: 1447 recorded on 5th/Oct and the highest rate touching Rs: 1496 on 23rd/Oct. During second half of the month, the rates predominantly remained above Rs: 1480 mark. In global scenario, the yellow metal prices per ounce remained above USD 1000 hovering around $1050 - $1060 mark. Moreover, October month saw Gold prices breaching record high over $1060.

Amidst the furor over the surge in Gold prices, India celebrated important or rather auspicious days for buying gold during October. However, there were some sporadic good news as well, following the global cues, the local market witnessed a slight drop in prices on 27th/Oct recording Rs:1486, but subsequently had an upward trend.

Srikanth Ramu