By Mark Ferguson - COIN VALUES
In just one short month, the spot price of gold bullion has risen more than $75 per ounce from a low of $657.50 during mid-August to $735 in intraday trading during this writing in mid-September.

One of the reasons stated by economists and precious metals’ specialists for causing this rally is a record low exchange rate between the U.S. dollar and the European Union’s euro – now at about $1.40 per euro.

Another reason is the recent U.S. Federal Reserve interest rate cut of .50 percent to help boost the U.S. economy. The price of oil also hit a record of more about $82 per barrel recently, and using gold as an inflation hedge is often initiated by a higher oil price.

The price of gold hit a record high of $850 per ounce during January 1980. It then quickly retreated and bounced around during the next several years between about $500 and its low of nearly $250 during spring 2001. But since then, the price of gold has been on a fairly steady climb to the levels it is now hitting, after briefly reaching a 2006 high of $725 in May and then falling to $560.75 during October 2006.