$1,219 an ounce for 2014 gold price

The gold price will average $1,219 an ounce this year, according to a survey of analysts. The analysts expect the gold price to range between $1,067 and $1,379 this year, a report compiled by the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) found. Yesterday's gold price according to the LBMA's afternoon London "fixing" was $1,248. Gold ended 2013 at $1,202, 28pc lower than at the beginning of the year, bringing to an end 12 consecutive years of price growth. The most optimistic prediction for the gold price this year came from Martin Murenbeeld of Dundee Capital Markets in Australia, who said the price could go as high as $1,550, although he put the bottom of its possible price range at just $1,075. Read More.

Read More

1787 gold coin sells for $4.5 million

An extremely rare coin, the first of its kind to be minted in the United States, has sold at auction in Florida for more than $4.5 million. The 1787 Brasher doubloon has been called the most valuable coin in the world, and the price it fetched at auction - $4,582,500 - paid by an anonymous bidder, confirms that. The coin, the first of its kind, was made by a silversmith named Ephraim Brasher who lived next door to George Washington after the Revolutionary War at 1 Cherry St on Manhattan's Lower East Side. He created the Brasher doubloon in 1787.

According to Heritage Auctions, the design on the front of the coin was adopted from the New York coat of arms - a sun rising of the peak of a mountain with a body of water in the foreground. Brasher's name is spelled out below the waves in small letters and the words around the edge of the coin say NOVA EBORACA COLUMBIA EXCELSIOR - New York, America, Ever Higher. Excelsior remains the state motto to this day. Read More.

Read More