gold
Gold vs Diamond: Which Should You Choose for Investment?
Are you considering investing in precious materials but unsure whether to choose gold or diamonds? Understanding their key differences is crucial when making investment decisions. In this article, we will weigh in on the benefits and shortcomings of both gold and diamonds. By the end, you'll have the insights you need to determine which investment aligns best with your financial goals and risk appetite.
Advantages of Investing in Gold
Safe-Haven Asset:
Gold is often considered a safe-haven asset during economic uncertainties and market volatility. It tends to retain its value and can act as a hedge against inflation and currency fluctuations.
Diversification Benefits:
Adding gold to an investment portfolio can provide diversification benefits, as it typically has a low correlation with other assets like stocks and bonds. This can help reduce overall portfolio risk.
Read more: Gold Buyer's Guide: Know the types, colors, karats of the precious metal
Tangible Asset:
Gold is a physical asset that you can hold in the form of coins, bars, or jewellery. This tangibility can provide a sense of security and ownership compared to other investments like stocks or bonds.
Man held with 15 gold bars in Rangpur
Members of Narcotics Control Department arrested a man and seized 15 gold bars from his possession at Kamarpara in Rangpur city on Wednesday.
The arrestee was identified as Foysal, son of Abul Hossain of Munshiganj district.
Acting on a tip off, that a consignment of gold was being smuggled to Rangpur from Dhaka, a team of Narcotics Control Department, intercepted a bus and arrested the man, said Aslam Ali Mandal, inspector of Narcotics Control Department, Rangpur.
Also read: Man held with 13 kg gold bars at Benapole
Later, they seized 15 gold bars from the belt of the young man.
The market value of the seized gold bars, weighing 150 tola, is Tk 1.27 crore.
Also read: Man held with 15kg gold at Dhaka Airport
Gold worth TK 63.17 lakh seized at Shaha Amanat Airport
Customs Intelligence and Investigation Directorate officials seized 736 grams gold worth Tk 63.17 lakh from a luggage at Hazrat Shah Amanat International Airport on Monday.
However, no one was arrested in this connection.
Tipped off, a team of Customs Intelligence and Investigation Directorate officials seized the gold from a luggage near conveyer belt of the airport in the morning, said Bashir Ahmed, additional director general of Customs Intelligence and Investigation Directorate.
Also read: BGB seizes 3kg gold in Jashore
The seized golds were deposited to the customs office.
3 held with gold bars worth Tk 1.74cr in Benapole
Customs intelligence officials detained three people and seized 20 gold bars from their possession at Benapole Check-post in Jashore district on Monday.
The arrestees were identified as Md Habib, 37, son of Mosharraf Hossain of Nagarkanda village in Faridpur district, Mahiuddin, 36, son of Shahid Molla and Rony Ahmed, 44, son of Amzad Molla of Gopalganj district.
Acting on a tip-off that a huge consignment of gold is being smuggled to India, a team of customs officials intercepted three passengers while crossing the immigration point around 8 am, said deputy director of Benapole Custom Intelligence Sayekh Arefin Zahedi.
After interrogation, all of them confessed about possessing gold in their rectums.
Later, the customs intelligence officials seized gold bars.
The market value of the seized gold bars is Tk 1.74 crore.
Two passengers arrested in Dhaka Airport with 1 kg gold
Airport Armed Police (AAP) Battalion arrested two passengers along with gold weighing around 1.111 kg while they were trying to come out from the customs hall of Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA) on Sunday.
The arrestees were identified as Saddam Hossain (33) and Nizam Khandkar (29). Both of them arrived at the airport by a flight of Emirates airlines from Dubai at around 12:20 pm, said Additional Superintendent of Police (SP) of the AAP Mohammad Ziaul Haque.
The AAP officer said when the two detained passengers were collecting their luggage from the baggage belt, the Intelligence wing members of the AAP found them trying to tamper with the baggage trolley.
Also Read: 204 gold bars worth Tk25 crore seized from Biman flight
When the two passengers crossed the green channel of the airport, members of the intelligence wing of the AAP detained them and brought them to the AAP office. During primary interrogation, the two passengers denied carrying any item illegally, but later they admitted to having gold with them.
Ziaul Haque also said, after that, the hidden gold was recovered from the trolley, bag and wristwatch with passengers Saddam Hossain and Nizam Khandkar. Apart from gold bars, gold plates were also recovered. Although the plate appeared to be white in color, chemical tests have confirmed that it is 24 carat gold. 420 grams of gold was recovered from passenger Saddam Hossain and 691 grams from Nizam Khandkar. Both arrived on the same flight from Dubai. The total weight of recovered gold is 1 kg 111 grams. Its market value is around 1 crore 10 lakh taka, he said and added that legal action has been taken against them.
Gold Buyer's Guide: Know the types, colors, karats of the precious metal
As an ornament, gold has been cherished for centuries due to its inherent beauty and lustrous appeal. Often the word jewelry synonyms gold. Even sometimes gold is related to religious beliefs. Gold can be a valuable resource too. Gold is a highly conductive metal and is used in different types of applications. For instance, gold is used in dentistry for its biocompatibility and resistance to corrosion. Even gold is used in electronic systems and space exploration because it is reliable and durable.
Gold has been a popular investment for centuries. Its value mostly follows an upward trend during times of economic growth. Gold is a tangible asset that is not subject to inflation or government control.
Different Types of Gold Used in Jewelry
Though gold is always a precious metal, the value and quality of gold jewelry differ based on its manufacturing process. Here are some types:
Gold Plated
Gold-plated jewelry is the most affordable option and is made by covering a base metal like brass or copper with a thin layer of gold. The gold layer can be as little as 0.05% or less and may fade or tarnish over time. Gold-plated jewelry is produced in many countries, including China, India, Thailand, and the United States.
Read more: Gold’s Shiny Secret: How to clean gold jewelry right way
Gold-Filled
Gold-filled jewelry is made by bonding a solid layer of gold to a base metal like brass, with nearly 100 times more gold than gold-plated jewelry. This process results in a more durable piece of jewelry that won't rub off. Gold-filled jewelry is commonly produced in the United States, Italy, and Turkey.
Gold Vermeil
Gold vermeil jewelry features a sterling silver base coated in a thick layer of gold plating, typically 2.5 microns thick. The gold plating is done through the electroplating process, and the resulting piece is more durable than gold-plated jewelry. Gold vermeil jewelry is commonly produced in countries such as the United States, Italy, and France.
Solid Gold
When the jewelry is made of gold metal with no other base metal, it is called solid gold jewelry. Not to mention, it is the best type of gold jewelry.
Read more: Is Gold a Good Investment?
However, the solid gold jewelry comes in various karats. High karat golds offer more purity, and quality in exchange for a higher price tag. Solid gold jewelry is produced in many countries worldwide, including China, South Africa, Australia, the United States, and Canada.
The value of each type of gold can vary depending on several factors such as its purity, rarity, and demand in the market. Solid gold will always be the most expensive due to its high purity and lack of base metals.
Gold-filled and gold vermeil feature higher quality and are more expensive than gold-plated jewelry. But they are more budget-friendly than solid gold made jewelry. Solid gold made jewelry is the most expensive one as it offers better quality than gold-filled and gold vermeil jewelry. Gold-plated jewelry is the most affordable option, but its gold content is minimal, which affects its durability and longevity.
Read more: Is Sanchayapatra a Good Investment in 2023?
Man held with 1 kg gold at Dhaka airport
Members of the Armed Police Battalion (APBn) arrested a man along with six gold bars and ornaments, weighing around one kg, from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka earlier today.
The arrestee was identified as Oli Ahad, 46, son of Bazlu Mia of Ashuganj in Brahmanbaria district.
Based on a tip-off, a team of APBn conducted a drive at the airport area and arrested Ahad around 1:10 am, said Additional SP of Airport Armed Police (AAP) Mohammad Ziaul Haque.
Also Read: Man held with gold worth Tk 1 crore at Dhaka airport
However, according to APBn, Ahad received the gold and who provided the gold to him, could not be known immediately.
2nd Youth Games: Neer, Alo win gold medals in blitz chess
Candidate Master (CM) Manon Reza Neer of Dhaka Division and Nusrat Jahan Alo of Chattogram Division won gold medals in blitz chess of the Sheikh Kamal 2nd Bangladesh Youth Games 2023 Sunday.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the week-long competition in the evening at the Bangladesh Army Stadium in the capital's Banani.
Four thousand athletes, aged under 17, are taking part in the final round of the Games for 193 gold, 193 silver and 287 bronze medals. They qualified from district-level competitions.
CM Manon scooped up the gold medal in the boys' blitz chess today; Nusrat clinched the gold medal in the girls' blitz chess.
The matches were held at the Chess Federation.
Read more: PM Hasina opens final phase of Sheikh Kamal Youth Games
CM Manon earned 6.5 points in seven matches to clinch the title. CM Sakline Mustafa Sajid of Rajshahi Division won the silver medal after securing six points. Mohammed Saker Ullah earned the bronze medal with five points.
Nusrat won the gold medal, securing seven points from as many matches. Omnia Binte Yusuf Lubaba of Chattogram bagged the silver medal while Maiesha Mahzabin Tisha earned the bronze medal.
In the boys' blitz chess, 16 players, two each from eight divisions, participated in the event.
Another 16 players, two players each from eight divisions, took part in the girls' blitz chess event, based on a seven-round Swiss-system tournament.
After the day's competitions, Chattogram Division earned two gold, two silver and one bronze medals in chess.
Dhaka Division earned two gold, one silver and one bronze medals.
FBI records deepen mystery of dig for Civil War-era gold
The court-ordered release of a trove of government photos, videos, maps and other documents involving the FBI's secretive search for Civil War-era gold has a treasure hunter more convinced than ever of a coverup — and just as determined to prove it.
Dennis Parada waged a legal battle to force the FBI to turn over records of its excavation in Dents Run, Pennsylvania, where local lore says an 1863 shipment of Union gold disappeared on its way to the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia. The FBI, which went to Dents Run after sophisticated testing suggested tons of gold might be buried there, has long insisted the dig came up empty.
Parada and his advisers, who have spent countless hours poring over the newly released government records, believe otherwise. They accuse the FBI of distorting key evidence and improperly withholding records in an apparent effort to conceal the recovery of a historic, extremely valuable gold cache. The FBI defends its handling of the materials.
Parada's dispute with the FBI is playing out in federal court, where a judge overseeing the case must decide whether the FBI will have to release its operational plan for the gold dig and other records it wants to keep secret. The judge could also order the FBI to keep looking for additional materials to turn over to the treasure hunter.
“We feel we were double-crossed and lied to,” Parada said in an interview at his cramped, wood-paneled office, where huge drill bits and high-end metal detectors compete for space with rusty miners' picks, Civil War-era cannon parts and other odds and ends he's dug up over the years.
“The truth will come out,” said Parada, co-founder of the treasure-hunting outfit Finders Keepers. Solving the mystery is not his only goal — he had hoped to earn a finder’s fee from the potential recovery of hundreds of millions of dollars worth of gold.
An FBI spokesperson declined to answer questions about the agency’s gold dig records or respond to the coverup allegations, citing the ongoing litigation. Last year, the FBI released a statement publicly acknowledging for the first time that it had been looking for gold in Dents Run. The statement said the FBI did not find any, adding the agency “continues to unequivocally reject any claims or speculation to the contrary.”
There is little evidence in the historical record to suggest that an Army detachment lost a gold shipment in the Pennsylvania wilderness — possibly the result of an ambush by Confederate sympathizers — but the legend has inspired generations of treasure hunters, Parada among them.
He and his son spent years looking for the fabled gold of Dents Run, eventually guiding the FBI to a remote woodland site 135 miles (220 kilometers) northeast of Pittsburgh where they say their instruments identified a large quantity of metal. The FBI brought in a geophysical consulting firm whose sensitive equipment detected a 7- to 9-ton mass suggestive of gold.
Armed with a warrant, a team of FBI agents came in March 2018 to dig up the hillside. An FBI videographer was on hand to document it, at one point interviewing a Philadelphia-based agent on the FBI’s art-crime team who explained why the FBI was in the woods of one of Pennsylvania's most sparsely populated counties.
“We’ve identified through our investigation a site that we believe has U.S. property, which includes a significant sum of base metal which is valuable ... particularly gold, maybe silver,” the agent said on the video, his face blurred by the FBI to protect his privacy.
Calling it a “155-year-old cold case,” he said the FBI had corroborated Parada’s information about the location of the reputed gold through "scientific testing." He stressed the test results did not prove the presence of gold. Only a dig would help law enforcement “get to the bottom of this story once and for all,” the agent said.
Parada obtained the video and other FBI records through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, hoping they would help answer lingering questions about what took place at Dents Run five years ago. Parada was mostly kept away from the dig site while the FBI did its work.
He suspects the agency conducted a clandestine, overnight dig between the first and second days of the court-authorized excavation, found the gold, and spirited it away. Residents have previously told of hearing a backhoe and jackhammer overnight — when the dig was supposed to have been paused — and seeing a convoy of FBI vehicles, including large armored trucks. The FBI has denied it conducted an overnight dig.
Parada and a consultant, Warren Getler, have focused on a handful of FBI photos and an accompanying photo log that have them questioning the FBI's official gold dig timeline. At issue is the presence or absence of snow in the images and the timing of a storm that briefly disrupted operations. For example, an FBI image that was supposed to have been taken about an hour after the squall does not show any snow on a large, moss-covered boulder at the dig site. That same boulder is snow-covered in a photo that FBI records indicate was taken the next morning — some 15 hours after the storm.
They accuse the FBI of altering the sequence of events to conceal an overnight excavation.
“We have compelling evidence a night dig took place, and that the FBI went to some large effort to cover up that night dig,” said Getler, co-author of “Rebel Gold,” a book exploring the possibility of buried Civil War-era caches of gold and silver.
There are other seeming anomalies in the records, according to Finders Keepers' legal motion. Among them:
— The FBI initially turned over hundreds of photos, but rendered them in low-resolution, high-contrast black-and-white, making it impossible to tell the time of day they were taken or even, in some cases, what they show. The treasure hunters went back and requested several dozen of the photos in color, which the FBI provided.
— The agency did not provide any video of the second and final day of the dig. Nor did it produce any photos or video showing what the FBI’s own hand-drawn map described as a 30-foot-long, 12-foot-deep trench — which the treasure hunters claim could have only been dug overnight. Government lawyers acknowledged these gaps in the photo and video record but did not elaborate in a court filing last week.
— The consulting firm hired by the FBI to assess the possibility of gold produced a report on its findings, but the version given to the treasure hunters seems to be missing key pages.
— The FBI did not provide any of its agents' travel and expense invoices, which could shed further light on the dig timeline.
The records released so far “cast doubt on the FBI’s claim to have found nothing and raise serious and troubling questions about the FBI’s conduct during the dig and in this litigation, where it has gone to great lengths to distort critical evidence,” Anne Weismann, a lawyer for Finders Keepers, wrote in a legal filing that seeks records, including the FBI’s operational plan, that she says were improperly withheld.
The Justice Department did not address the treasure hunters’ most explosive claims of a possible coverup in its latest legal filing. The government instead told a federal judge in Washington, D.C., that the FBI had satisfied its legal obligation to the treasure hunters to search for its records of the dig, and asked for the case to be closed.
The judge has yet to rule.
Parada said he will keep asking questions until he gets satisfactory answers.
“I will stick at this until the end, until I know everything that happened to that gold,” he said. “How much, where it went to, who has it now. I gotta know.”
8 gold bars recovered from Benapole border
Members of the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) recovered eight gold bars worth Tk 75 lakh from the border area in Benapole early Saturday.
Lieutenant Colonel Moahmmad Tanvir Rahman, commandant of the BGB-21 Khulna battalion, said tipped-off they conducted a drive along the Patukhali border with India around 1am.
Sensing presence of the BGB members, the smugglers fled the scene abandoning a bag wrapped with a black cloth in Sajaler Morr area, he said.
Eight gold bars weighing around 938 grams were found inside the bag.
BGB has so far recovered 66 kilograms of gold in 23 drives in last 13 months and arrested 23 people in these connections.