The True Value of Gold

Demand for gold has risen since September 2008, when the financial crisis began roiling the markets, following the collapse of Lehman Brothers. Investors may have lost faith in paper money, but by June this year, $81.6 billion was stored in gold-backed, exchange-traded funds -- more than eight times the amount invested in March 2006. Meanwhile, the Rand refinery in South Africa, which produces the world's most popular gold coin, the krugerrand, has been forced to increase production to keep up with demand. And in May the Austrian Mint sold 238,000 ounces of its Vienna Philharmonic coin, a six-fold increase in a year.