The United States has the largest gold reserve in the world by a considerable margin, with more than 8,100 tons. The government has almost as many reserves as the next three countries with the largest gold reserves combined (Germany, Italy and France). According to the survey results, a combined 10.8% of Americans own gold, while a combined 11.6% own silver. That represents a new supply each year of hundreds of thousands of coins, and some Americans also invest in Physical Gold IRA's or buy gold bars and coins from other countries. Gold IRA Guide conducted a survey that included 1500 respondents aged 18 to 65 or older.
Gold IRA Guide, a consolidated publication that provides investors and retirees with all the relevant information about investing in precious metals, launched the survey. For most of the history of the United States, that question has been almost irrelevant (during the 19th century, the vast majority of Americans could not afford to invest in any asset other than those that kept them alive) or a non sequitur (from 1933 to 1975, it was not legal for Americans to own gold as an investment). But perceived value is, of course, a very different matter than how many Americans actually own gold in the form of currency or ingots. The World Gold Council, which gathers and disseminates mountains of statistics on gold, says it cannot provide an estimate of the number of Americans who own gold as an investment.
The Gold IRA Guide survey does not explain the reason for the gender divide or the slight preference of the United States for silver over gold, although, as with age demography, it may have to do with each group surveyed's access to disposable income. As this writer points out, gold jewelry is likely to make up a large part of Westerners' gold reserves. It shows that there is only enough gold in the world so that every adult in the world can store 1 ounce of gold on average. Almost all of this gold will be in the form of solid gold jewelry and coins in carats, with some gold-filled jewelry and electronic scrap.
When I transmitted an estimate that less than 10% of American adults own gold as an investment, a spokesperson did not confirm this, but insinuated that it was accurate. In addition, the fact that more Americans own silver instead of gold is intriguing, said Amine Rahal, executive director of the Gold IRA Guide. According to a survey by the World Gold Council, “the number of respondents who will increase their own gold stocks has risen to 21%, compared to 20% last year. These conjectures suggest that between 2.5 and 25 million Americans own gold as an investment, a range so wide that any concrete analysis is impossible.
