South Africa’s commodity-backed currency edged up on Monday, helped by higher gold prices, as investors digested last week’s unexpectedly weak U.S. jobs data and awaited tariff updates ahead of the United States’ August 8 deadline.
The bourse was boosted by South African miners, including Gold Fields , up 8%, AngloGold Ashanti (AU.N), at 6%, and Harmony Gold , which rose 7%.
“Our foremost priority is protecting our export industries. We will continue to engage the U.S. in an attempt to preserve market access for our products,” President Cyril Ramaphosa said in a newsletter on Monday
Industrial silver demand set a record last year, but despite the increase in offtake, overall silver offtake declined by 3 percent to 1.16 billion ounces, primarily due to weak investment demand.
Silver jewelry demand grew by 3 percent to 208.7 million ounces in 2024.
The Silver Institute reported that improving exports to key Western countries also lifted silver jewelry demand.
Growth in demand for silver jewelry will likely contribute to increasing overall demand, putting further pressure on already limited silver supplies.
Gold prices surged to a one-month peak on Thursday, nearing $2,700 per ounce, as softer U.S. inflation data fueled hopes of lower interest rates in 2025. Spot gold rose to $2,697.45 an ounce, while February gold futures climbed 0.4% to $2,728. Lower rates enhance gold’s appeal by reducing the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding assets.
Other precious metals saw mixed movement: platinum futures dipped 0.1% to $948.15 an ounce, while silver edged up 0.3% to $31.622.
Copper prices steadied after recent gains, with London futures rising 0.3% to $9,192.50 per ton.
What are goldbacks? Well I’m happy you stumbled upon my blog to learn more about this amazing and innovative way to pay for goods and services with actual gold.
This isn’t paying with gold coins or bars but actually paying with gold bills. These bills contain gold within them and are measured on the bills itself. Gold foil if you will.
These bills are gold and have the amount of gold listed on the front of each bill from 1/2000th of a troy ounce to 1/10th of .999 fine gold (24k gold). They are beautifully decorated with art work from the Goldback artists and an added combination of anticounterfeiting features within each bill.
There are currently (as of 2025) 6 states with representation on these bills. Those states include Utah, Nevada, New Hampshire, Wyoming, South Dakota, and Florida. Florida is the newest goldback series for this year. The bills start at 1/2, 1, 2, 5, 10, 25, 50, and 100 gold bills.
I do not yet have any of the Florida or South Dakota goldbacks but I’m in the process of purchasing and I really can’t wait to have them.
As of this posting, Oklahoma will be available for preorder Aug. 1st, 2025 at various online sellers. If you’re lucky to find a vendor who is actually selling the goldbacks in person, pick them up! That’s how I learned about these, from a seller at a coin show.
Well that’s a great question! Some could argue that getting these bills is not worth purchasing because you can’t spend these anywhere you want. Or, why are you buying such a small amount of gold when you can get gold bars for a much higher trade in value?
These bills are apart of the sound money movement. Sound money means it recognizes the value in gold and silver not paper fiat. Which is basically saying that paper money does not hold value like gold. For many investors, this is a real concern and is why this movement is a big deal during these economic times.
So why should you buy goldbacks? Goldbacks, like gold, retain their value and give you more purchasing power. While these have a very small amount of gold on each bill the form factor makes it easy to use your gold for everyday purchases.
On their website they say that goldbacks are “The currency for now, Currency for the future.” I for one am very into the idea of this being a great way to use my gold for purchases and my currency. Unfortunately, this cannot be used anywhere……Yet!
Pros and Cons of Goldbacks
As you just read, you cannot use these anywhere. Which is the biggest con but only for now. But they is much more to it than just spending.
The pros:
Hedge against inflation – as gold has been known to be a safe haven against inflation
Spendable – can be spent at small businesses that accept goldbacks
Collectability – certain bills could be collectable
Privacy – allows you to spend at your own leisure and without banks
Substantial – Goldbacks are real they are physical and unlike digital currency this is in hand
The cons :
Liquidity – this product my be hard to find buyers
Volatility – this is tied to the gold prices and will
Storage – if this product will need to be taken care of properly to avoid loss or damage
Higher premiums – you will pay more than the gold value because of the cost of production to make these bills.
I feel that the pros outweigh the cons as the pros are more valuable when it comes to owning these bills. Storage and higher premiums are not that big of a deal to me. I wouldn’t not take care of my investments and I expect to pay a certain price when buying from someone anyway. Just like silver rounds. But that’s a different topic.
Are Goldbacks worth it?
In my opinion, I will not tell you to go and do something unless you feel it’s the right option for you. I believe it is worth it for those that appreciate all forms of gold and ways to spend their investments in person and upfront. This might also be right up your ally to collect these bills as they are absolutely beautiful and stunning to look at and hold in your hand
These goldbacks are still very new. They just started in 2019. I think that this will go a long way but we don’t know how long these will last. There are more and more small businesses that are accepting these as payment and that’s a good sign.
I will continue to purchase these and add to my portfolio and, as I said in previous posts, would actually use these if ever I needed or had the opportunity to do so. Even with some cons to these bills they won’t stop me or many others who are currently investing.
Make sure to do more research if you’re on the fence. Talk to dealers, get some reviews, and look up the website for more info here.
*Disclaimer: I have not received any payment, products, services, or other compensation for discussing this topic. My comments reflect my personal views only.*
While U.S. tariffs and other factors have added fire to already hot demand for gold as an investment, the impact is different for gold jewellery, according to Andrew Naylor
“In markets like Dubai, this creates a two-fold effect: on one hand, you see stronger interest in gold as a safe-haven asset, on the other, high prices dampen jewellery demand.”
“There are no potential customers nowadays because of the gold prices,” said Fahad Khan, a sales representative at retailer Damas Jewellery.
“Higher gold prices are likely to dampen demand for jewellery, in a classic example of how the best cure for high prices is high prices,” said Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell.
“We could envision a situation where inflation migrates higher, while the economy slows down as the auto sector grinds to a sudden halt, for example,” said Bart Melek, global head of commodity strategy at TD Securities. “Higher inflation and low rates, and the associated angst with the president’s imposition of tariffs, so uncertainty and risk are helping gold.”
“These tariffs create a strong tailwind for gold,” Bank of Montreal analysts wrote in a note. “Not only because of their inherent inflationary effects but also as the USA’s increasingly hawkish foreign policy may accelerate de-dollarisation plans.”
Gold prices rose on Monday, supported by a weaker U.S. dollar ahead of U.S.-China trade talks aimed at resolving tensions, while platinum extended gains for a sixth straight session to scale a four-year peak.
Spot gold rose 0.4% to $3,323.71 an ounce, as of 0806 GMT, after dropping earlier in the session to $3,293.29, its lowest level since June 2.
Spot platinum rose 3% to $1,210.80, its highest level since May 2021.
Spot silver was up 1% to $36.3 per ounce, while palladium rose 2.3% to $1,070.97.
