A gold bar is now worth $1 million

New York (CNN) — The value of a barroom of golden is worthy a cardinal dollars for nan first time, acknowledgment to soaring prices for nan precious metal.

The value of spot golden reached much than $2,500 per troy ounce Friday, hitting a grounds high. The mean golden barroom weighs 400 troy ounces – which, erstwhile you do nan math, hits a cardinal dollars.

Bloomberg News first reported nan golden barroom price.

Spot golden prices person changeable up much than 20% twelvemonth to date. Higher golden prices tin beryllium a motion that investors expect nan Federal Reserve to trim its benchmark liking complaint soon. Central banks led by China are besides buying up golden to easiness reliance connected US dollars.

Central banks – and investors – spot nan precious metallic arsenic a long-term, reliable shop of worth during periods of economical turmoil. That’s because erstwhile liking rates fall, golden prices thin to rise, arsenic bullion becomes much appealing than bonds.

Investors besides respect golden arsenic a hedge against inflation, betting bullion will clasp its worth erstwhile prices rise.

Of course, not each golden barroom weighs precisely 400 ounces. And nan United States Gold Bureau said that golden bars are usually traded internationally by cardinal banks and bullion dealers, not by individual people.