2012-02-09 @ admin
Gold is measured using the Troy ounce, which is equal to 1.09714 of the more commonly used (avoirdupois) ounce. The benchmark for gold prices is the gold-fixing price determined by the five members of the London Gold Market Fixing LTD through balancing some buyers’ and sellers’ offers.
In 1971, President Richard Nixon ended the policy of backing U.S. dollars with gold, allowing gold prices to fluctuate. Most gold mined in the past few thousand years is still present today; next to existing supply, demand and speculation, gold production fluctuation has little effect on gold prices.
The graph illustrates historical data of average yearly gold price fixings from January 1971 to August 2011 in both dollars paid and 1971 dollars to control for inflation.
The data shows the gold price fixings of 2001 at merely half the 40-year average. The data also shows prices rising above the 40-year average for the first time in 17 years in 2007, and continuing to rise to over twice the 40-year average by 2011.