General points
Gold, whether used as a means of payment, monetary counterpart or safe investment, now seems to have been relegated to the simple role of industrial raw material.

Industry, particularly the jewellery trade, consumes about 80% of the annual world production in gold (2,300 tonnes). If we add to this mining production the gold recycled and sold each year by private individuals, supply and demand are more or less balanced.

However, this balance is somewhat precarious when we take into account the fact that the Central Banks keep reserves of approximately 35,000 tonnes of gold. It is easy to imagine what the market repercussions could be if just a small fraction of this bullion was sold off!

But is the world economic organisation sufficiently solid to get along without this relic?

Today's market trends
With the sharp rise in the value of the dollar against the Euro in recent days, the price of the ingot in Euros varies from 9,600 to 9,800 Euros, while the price of the ounce in Dollars has dropped below $ 280.

In France, the market for coins quoted in the Stock Exchange is very quiet and investors are still pretty scarce.