Pandas were first introduced in 1982. This was another response to the popularity of The South African Krugerrands. The Chinese Mints have created a unique collectors item in the panda series by changing the design on the back side of the coin every year.

Panda's can be found in 1oz and fractional ounces.

panda 1/10th oz
panda 1/4 oz
panda 1/2 oz
panda 1 oz

The Panda's are generally more expensive due to the premiums that the Chinese Mints charge, yet still remain an attractive coin for serious collectors.

Investment-wise, you are paying a little more for your gold, and that is always a factor in making final investment decisions.

eBay buying tip - consider your sources carefully. Always buy from a reputable merchant that has high ratings.

In 2006 there was a large quantity of counterfeit SILVER pandas released in the ebay marketplace. These coins had one common characteristic - no denominations - where most panda coins have denominations.

Buying from a reputable source will generally guarantee a safe purchase.

Buying and selling scrap gold is an age old endeavor.

Tips for Buyers - Check the reputation of the seller carefully. The scrap gold found here is coming from a wide range of sources.

Look for the purist forms unless you have the equipment to extract the gold from the other metals.

The purity of gold is as follows:

24 karat is 999.99 fine
22 karat is 916.6 fine
18 karat is 750 fine
14 karat is 585 fine
9 karat is 375 fine

Tips for sellers - be aware of the exact karat ratio of the gold you have. Most common jewelery scrap is 18k. Although you'll also find 10k, 14k and sometimes the purist 24k gold. It's usually stamped on your gold.

Identify the spot value of gold by going online - it's currently hovering around 900-950 a troy oz.

Weigh each separately, or take to a reputable dealer and have them weigh it for you. Be prepared to pay less than full value - up to 20% below spot value.

I wouldn't advise sending your gold by mail to the scrap merchants that advertise on TV - they are known to undervalue the gold substantially. If you don't have much of a choice in the matter, then be clear on your weights and take a firm stance with your acceptance offer.

by: Avery Webb

White gold is created when white metal like nickel or palladium is mixed with gold.

You'll find a wide variance in the use of white gold esp. in jewelery. For example if the gold is blended with palladium it remains soft and malleable. If it's mixed with nickel, you'll get a very hard and durable result.

Nearly all white gold jewelery is coated with rhodium to reflect a genuine white appearance.

In addition, there are other gold blends like black, green, rose, red, blue, purple and gray golds. These blends are mainly used for jewelery making purposes.

Jewlery featuring white gold is often elegant and when it's paired with diamonds can be a stunning addition to any jewelry collection

More Info @ Wiki

Solid Gold deals are all over eBay in the form of bullion, jewelery, and coins.

Gold facts - there are quite a few fanatical gold investors dedicated to buying and selling gold. They're known as goldbugs and have been with us for thousands of years.

In fact, it's quite possible the gold crown on your tooth was mined thousands of years ago as well. On average, at least 15% of all gold is recycled.

Gold leaf is a good example of how malleable gold is... pounded and flattened gold leaf takes on a translucent shimmer with a thickness of .0001112 mm.

This Ancient Metal of Kings (ref: Mr. Hamilton!) has seen it's value rise and fall as demand dictates, and no doubt through the subtle manipulations of the goldbugs.

Pure gold is 24 carats. The word carat comes from carob, in which carob seeds were used to balance the scales in the Asian marketplace.

Canadian Gold Maple Leaf

Here is the purist of the minted gold coins - with a rating of 99.99% purity. The Maple Leaf was introduced by Canada as a testament to their minting prowess.

It's not easy minting pure gold, and in fact, dealers have had a few complaints over the quality of some of the maple leafs. They tend to mark easily. However, this coin is still coveted in investment circles.

Denominations include

1/20th oz - face value $1
1/10th oz - face value $5
1/4 oz - face value $10
1/2 oz - face value $20
1 oz - face value $50

Just as all of the American Eagles are produced from US mined gold, so to is the Maple Leaf mined from Canadian gold.

The maple Leaf made it's first appearance in 1979 as a response to the Kruggerand, which were hard to come by during the apartheid era.

The Royal Canadian Mint has struck more than gold, they also have approx 500 sets of Platinum Maple Leafs in circulation.