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As global currencies fluctuate and instability seems to rule the global markets, investors are looking for something nice and stable. That was the fundamental reason behind the run up on gold before and during the recent, global economic collapse. It makes sense to purchase gold because gold protects against natural inflation as well as inflation generated by an increase in the money supply. One of the dirty little secrets of the Federal Reserve is that it started printing US currency as fast as it possibly could at the onset of the economic meltdown. That has made gold increasingly attractive.

The question for smaller investors is, what do I buy? Traditionally, investors bought gold certificates. A gold certificate is a promise from a gold warehouse, usually a bank, that they are holding the amount of gold on your certificate for you. It’s traditionally been done this way because it’s a lot easier to move around certificates than tons of gold as people trade. The only problem is that you never really know if a bank has enough gold to cover all of the certificates they have out there. Sure they’re supposed to, but unless you have insider access, you never really know if they do.

The only real answer to that is to purchase gold bullion. Having physical gold in your possession provides a piece of mind for those who are looking to hold on to a solid long-term savings rather than buy and sell quickly. The most common form of bullion is in coin form. Gold Coins Gain offers a bunch of the most commonly traded and therefore recognized gold coins. You can purchase gold coins from them and know that these coins will be recognized internationally.

The thing to remember is that gold isn’t really a growth investment because over time, supply and demand are fairly steady. It is a fantastic wealth preservation investment though. No matter what bonehead moves your government may make that might devalue your currency (read up on what happened to Iceland’s currency recently) your savings remain safe because they are independent of any currency.

Buying physical bullion is a whole other type of investment and needs proper research before you dive in. The single biggest piece of advice that I’ve read is that you must buy recognizable bullion. You can buy non-recognized bullion, but be prepared for a huge pain in the butt when you decide to sell it.