Gold has always been considered the safe haven par excellence for its characteristic of preserving value over time, even in periods of uncertainty, crisis or high inflation. It therefore contributes to ensuring the central bank reserves’ internal financial stability.
Gold plays an important role as an element of portfolio diversification and proves to be effective in preserving long-term purchasing power: in inflationary periods, it represents a good defense against a decrease in the currency’s purchasing power; it is the perfect way to preserve your wealth.
The reasons why investors buy it in times of crisis include the absence of counterparty risk and the hedge against a possible devaluation of the currency. Gold is a liquidable asset worldwide, traded as currency and as a raw material in the main international markets and exchanges.
Gold is a metal that has physical characteristics of absolute uniqueness, which have always given it great value throughout history. Even the industrial sector, in particular goldsmiths, makes extensive use of gold, taking advantage of its simplicity of processing, due to its high malleability and ductility.
The weight unit commonly used in the gold trade is the troy ounce. Below are the main units of measurement used:
| Unit of weight | Grams | Troy ounce |
| 1 Kilogram | 1.000,00 | 32,1507465 |
| 1 Troy Ounce | 31,1034768 | 1 |
| 1 Standard gold bar | 10.886,217 ~ 13.374,495 | 350 ~ 430 |
Fineness purity is expressed by the title in terms of one thousand parts for retail and banks while in carat, measured in parts fine per 24 parts whole for gold used in jewellery:
| Carat | 8 | 9 | 10 | 14 | 18 | 22 | 24 |
| Purity | 333‰ | 375‰ | 417‰ | 585‰ | 750‰ | 917‰ | 1000‰ |
