Gold has long been recognized as a great store of value. It is a symbol of wealth; a symbol so enduring that, to this day, gold still commands high respect among investors. As an investment, buying bullion gold is a way of hedging the other investments in an investor’s portfolio from stock market crashes and other economic downturns. So far, this has proven to be a wise decision.

Bullion gold includes gold bars and gold coins. They are the two physical forms of elemental gold. They are also the most common vehicles of gold investment. Others include holding gold certificates; investing in gold exchange-traded funds; trading gold derivatives such as futures, options and spread bets; and also holding the shares of a gold mining company.

Compared to these other vehicles, actually owning bullion gold has more merits. For example, when you buy gold bullion, your investment remains untaxed. This holds true the world over. With other vehicles, though, the value of your investment reduces as you pay taxes, brokerage fees and the cost of holding the gold on your behalf.

Furthermore, trading gold values, either as funds or derivatives, is almost as risky as trading shares and other futures. If the market crashes, you cannot expect to have any bullion gold on which you can wait to become more valuable.

In addition, bullion gold is a globally acceptable instrument. Certificates, derivatives and funds, on the other hand, can only be traded in certain markets and indices. Only the value of physical gold is easily translated in other economies, the values of the other vehicles are not.

During periods of wars and social crises, it is common for all kinds of currency to lose their values. They become worthless and are mere papers, and not instruments of trade. Bullion gold, however, is always accepted and can be used as money at any time, because it carries its own value in its weight and purity. In addition, this value can be converted without being lost.

Similarly, only bullion gold investment is a real gold investment. Owning the shares of a gold mining company, for example, is not a real investment in gold. Since the mining company will likely mine other metals, its share price is determined by factors other than the price of gold and the annual production of gold it can produce. Therefore, if you want all the great attributes of a gold investment, own bullion gold.