Contrary to fiat currency and many financial instruments, physical gold constitutes no liability or debt. It has no credit risk exposure.

Gold is not a paper. It's a natural commodity. It's one of the rarest elements on earth. It's estimated that roughly 200'000 tons of gold have been mined over the course of human history, a cube of only 20x20x20 meters. This scarcity, together with gold's particular physical attributes, make it a unique and unchallenged store of wealth.

2000 years ago, during the Roman Empire, an ounce of gold paid for a complete Roman business outfit. Today, equally, one ounce of gold buys you a complete business suit. Zero inflation since the Roman Empire! By comparison, the US dollar has lost more than 98% of its purchasing power since 1913, when the Federal Reserve was founded.

The global gold market trades more than USD 180 billion daily on a variety of exchanges and over-the-counter (OTC) markets. That turnover is greater than most sovereign debt or fiat currency pairs (e.g. USD/CHF at 178 billion). This liquidity underpins gold's role as a store of wealth, an investment, or a means for collateral.

Gold has a very high density of value. Just one kilogram of gold is worth USD 77'000 at current rates. Large values of gold can easily be transported and stored.

History has many stories of gold's role as a cash reserve in times of crisis and war. Repeatedly, gold was the preferred currency during such periods. Those who had gold, kept their options open, increasing their chances of survival or rebuilding their wealth after hard times.

The oldest artifacts of gold were found in a 6'500-year-old shrine at lake Varna (Bulgaria). For thousands of years gold has been regarded as beautiful and valuable. It has retained its shine to this day.

Gold can be melted and refabricated at low cost and without loss of value. Thus, large standard bars can be transformed into smaller bars or vice versa, as the circumstances may require.

Gold is virtually indestructible. Once mined, it continues to exist in one form or another. Unlike other valuable real assets such as diamonds, art, or real estate, none of the elemental risks (fire, water, earthquakes) can destroy gold.

With modern methods like x-ray or ultra-sonic testing, validating gold's authenticity is easy up to a probability of 98.8%. For 100% certainty, melting and refabrication is an inexpensive option in Switzerland.