Greece, Spain and Portugal have a surprising amount of gold in reserve.
"The portfolio of China's foreign exchanges should be adjusted based on changing conditions, " says economist Li Yining, member of the 11th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.
Have investors become too downbeat on the barbarous relic?
When the fundamentals fail, turn to the charts.
La Rinconada is one of the frontiers of a thoroughly modern phenomenon: a 21st-century gold rush.
Not to be confused with the real Mr. T helping GoldPromise.com sell their cash for gold service, a Chicago pawn shop takes things up a notch.
Gold's 23 percent surge this year to a record is proving no deterrent to George Soros, John Paulson and Paul Touradji, whose investments signal more gains for the longest winning streak in at least nine decades.
He's a small individual investor looking to gain "incremental access to ownership" via E-Micro gold futures.