Advantage To Selling Thai Gold In Us?

[cloud96]

Lets say you bought 5 baht weight of Thai gold in Jewlery form. You decide later you want to sell, but you can either sell it back to the Thai shop you bought it from and get baht, or you are thinking to sell it in the USA and get dollars.

Are there any advantages or disadvantages to selling it in the USA?

Will you have problems with customs/ airport security bringing 5 baht of gold jewlery into the states?

Will any gold/jelwery shops in the states buy your 96.5% gold thai jewlery and will they give you a good price?

How will that price in the US compare to the price in Thailand?

Any other advantages or disadvantages or difficulties? Any other likely spots a novice could get screwed out of his money?

I've read a lot of gold in the states is something like 14kt, whereas Thai gold jewlery is closer to 23 kt. Will this present any problems?

At 15.16g/baht of processed Thai gold that puts you at 75.8 grams or almost 2.674 ounces.

At kitco.com the closing price of gold on January 30th for "NY Spot Gold" was $927.10 USD (per troy ounce right?). I assume this is the price basis for gold bought and sold in the USA? This would place the value of the gold at $2479 USD. How does this differ from the price you could actually get?

Yesterday the selling price at a Thai gold shop was 14,850 per baht of gold. This would give you 74,250 baht. Converting to USD, at 35 BHT per dollar, gives $2121 USD.

2479-2121= 358

Do these calculations sound right? Am I missing anything ? Would one really stand to gain an extra few hundred dollars by selling in the states?

[chiangmaibruce]

There are previous good discussion threads on the issue of buying and selling gold, including the issue of whether there is money to be made selling it overseas (the answer is probably not).

To access this info go to 'search' link top right of this page, click on 'advanced search', type in search terms (e.g. buying selling thai gold), click on 'search titles only' ... and there it all is

[Naam]

Do these calculations sound right?

unfortunately they don't sound right as they are based on the assumption that a jeweler would pay you for processed thai gold the the prevailing price of bullion. without going into further details... there is no free lunch and no money to make exporting or importing gold the way you thought it can be done.

[Khun Jean]

Money can be made and many do.

However it is the rareness of the jewelry items in the US and Europe, as most jewelry is 14 or 18 kt. The premium can be high when the design is good.

Gold everywhere in the world is the same, so buying in one and selling in another will not make you a profit.

Thai gold being of 96.5% purity does not help.

Buying bullion gold from the US is a little cheaper because you don't need to change another currency into US$ first. Availability and usefulness of bullion however can be dramatically different when you choose to buy it for speculation (paper gold is easier), wealth preservation or other reasons.

[cloud96]

Thanks for the replíes. So it sounds like a bit of a crapshoot to get a good price in the states since I would essentially have to walk into a jewlery shop and convince them that this gold chain is worth more than the price per ounce listed in the papers?

Excuse my inexperience, but if gold is all the same everywhere, why does gold seem to have different prices on different markets? i.e., Thailand, New York, London, and Hong Kong?

But, if one were to be leaving Thailand, and want to sell in the currency of ones country of original residence to save on exchange rate fees, is there any reason why this couldn't work? Would it be hard to find a buyer? I don't recall seeing many gold shops in the US. What about problems with customs?

Unfortunately the gold wasn't purchased for any of the above reasons. Needed access to potential cash above and beyond what I could get with a cash advance, and buying with a credit card and selling for cash seemed the best way to do it. In the end the deal turned out to be bad and didn't go through with it but still ended up with the gold. The real kicker is it was bought when the price was at a peak in late July of around 15k or 16k per baht (plus CC fees!), and dropped to about 11k a week later. Now 6 months later and I'm thinking of leaving the country, but don't really want to sell the gold at a loss, and so I'm sort of stuck with it. I realize the price has gone up recently so I'm tempted to sell it though.

Have used the search feature quite a bit but seems every topic has 10 rants or crap jokes for every one post that even remotely applies to my situation. Cheers.

[Naam]

Excuse my inexperience, but if gold is all the same everywhere, why does gold seem to have different prices on different markets? i.e., Thailand, New York, London, and Hong Kong?

gold does not have different prices in different locations. gold has different prices at different times and the price can change within seconds. but when gold is 900 dollars an ounce at 08.00 hrs in New york it will be 900 dollars an ounce at (depending on the season) at 13.00 hrs in London and 900 dollars an ounce at a goldshop in Bangkok at 20.00 hrs. as simple as that.

[simcity]

Cloud96

Price of gold jewelry is over expensive in said Australia (tax / craftsmanship) and content of gold at 18 carat.

To sell Thai gold to a second hand shop is difficult, he will said they are no stamp (government) on it & what is for him to buy it without resell value?

They do like buy jewelry at content gold price and hope to sell it back for more as Jewelry form.

The way to make a profit is if someone personally wants to buy it from you.

They get a high content gold plus low cost craftsmanship and perhaps prepare to make you as good offer.

What I have done in the past for me and for other is to custom make a gold band in Thailand & take it to Australia where a small professional gold smith insert a stone in it, you will need to see then if you want the piece to be stamp as law required.

[HYENA]

Cloud96

Price of gold jewelry is over expensive in said Australia (tax / craftsmanship) and content of gold at 18 carat.

To sell Thai gold to a second hand shop is difficult, he will said they are no stamp (government) on it & what is for him to buy it without resell value?

They do like buy jewelry at content gold price and hope to sell it back for more as Jewelry form.

The way to make a profit is if someone personally wants to buy it from you.

They get a high content gold plus low cost craftsmanship and perhaps prepare to make you as good offer.

What I have done in the past for me and for other is to custom make a gold band in Thailand & take it to Australia where a small professional gold smith insert a stone in it, you will need to see then if you want the piece to be stamp as law required.

There are farangs looking to buy gold for sin sod. I've bought most of what I've been seeking (from india and turkey since the craftsmanship prices are lower than thailand).

you can send pics to me if you'd like and your price or I can direct you to troll around on visajourney.com where fiancees are coming to the US and likely sin sod would be needed and if you can undercut local prices (what they could find) and just get your money out of it, that may be a good bet.

I'd use paypal since non-delivery would get them a refund and there's security doing it that way. Otherwise, I'm sure you can find a local to hold it or do whatever with it. My fiancee, my friend is going there Sunday. WHere are you located and what do you have? I'm seeking one piece (I've already got enough gold for sin sod now, though). I'm sure there are many shopping for gold and don't want to pay the "farang price" game in BKK or elsewhere.

[LivinLOS]

Excuse my inexperience, but if gold is all the same everywhere, why does gold seem to have different prices on different markets? i.e., Thailand, New York, London, and Hong Kong?

gold does not have different prices in different locations. gold has different prices at different times and the price can change within seconds. but when gold is 900 dollars an ounce at 08.00 hrs in New york it will be 900 dollars an ounce at (depending on the season) at 13.00 hrs in London and 900 dollars an ounce at a goldshop in Bangkok at 20.00 hrs. as simple as that.

I read the Vietnam it was 50 USD per teal under international rates only last week.

I think that they do have import / export controls to protect their currency, hence why the price isnt left free floating.

[Naam]

Excuse my inexperience, but if gold is all the same everywhere, why does gold seem to have different prices on different markets? i.e., Thailand, New York, London, and Hong Kong?

gold does not have different prices in different locations. gold has different prices at different times and the price can change within seconds. but when gold is 900 dollars an ounce at 08.00 hrs in New york it will be 900 dollars an ounce at (depending on the season) at 13.00 hrs in London and 900 dollars an ounce at a goldshop in Bangkok at 20.00 hrs. as simple as that.

I read the Vietnam it was 50 USD per teal under international rates only last week.

I think that they do have import / export controls to protect their currency, hence why the price isnt left free floating.

highly unlikely that the price is lower when restrictions exist. normally the contrary is the case. i remember India in the 1970s with a gold price of 50-60% and Nigeria in the early to mid 1980s with 100% above international price.

[hhgz]

US Customs will charge you 10% duty on anything worth over $400 US (I think). There goes a few hundred more bucks of your profit.

[colibra]

Well in theory you guys are right but having just come back from the US and having taken gold I bought only the week before for 730usd per oz. in thailand, I had no problem selling it their for over $1000 usd as there is a shortage of gold in the US. I bought gold coins here in Thailand 96.5 and and had no problem taking them into the US 4oz in my carry on. They pretty much went unnoticed. I have heard of people paying 1200usd an oz on ebay at auction. Op I would check your numbers though as I don't believe you did your math correct. 1baht =15.16gr. which is just under one half ounce which at the time of this writing is 912usd per oz. which would put the value of a baht of gold at 456usd X .965=440 per baht not taking into account the weight difference. about .5%. This would give you a value of 15,400baht with a 100 to 200baht premium added on it should be selling for 15,500 to 15,600baht. I have people willing to pay me to buy gold here and send it to them, for a tidy profit of a least $50 to $ 100 per oz. I wouldn't advertise the fact as one or both of the governments might frown on it. Not sure but I don't want to find out the hard way.

[colibra]

Only error was using 28.34gr instead of 31.1 for the number of grams per troy oz.

. Troy oz. = 20 Pennyweight = 31.10348 Grams. 1 Kilogram = 32.15 Troy ozs. = 2.204 Avoridupois lbs. 1 Avoridupois lb. = 453.6 Grams = 14.5836 Troy ozs.

[IMA_FARANG]

Lets say you bought 5 baht weight of Thai gold in Jewlery form. You decide later you want to sell, but you can either sell it back to the Thai shop you bought it from and get baht, or you are thinking to sell it in the USA and get dollars.

Are there any advantages or disadvantages to selling it in the USA?

Will you have problems with customs/ airport security bringing 5 baht of gold jewlery into the states?

Will any gold/jelwery shops in the states buy your 96.5% gold thai jewlery and will they give you a good price?

How will that price in the US compare to the price in Thailand?

Any other advantages or disadvantages or difficulties? Any other likely spots a novice could get screwed out of his money?

I've read a lot of gold in the states is something like 14kt, whereas Thai gold jewlery is closer to 23 kt. Will this present any problems?

At 15.16g/baht of processed Thai gold that puts you at 75.8 grams or almost 2.674 ounces.

At kitco.com the closing price of gold on January 30th for "NY Spot Gold" was $927.10 USD (per troy ounce right?). I assume this is the price basis for gold bought and sold in the USA? This would place the value of the gold at $2479 USD. How does this differ from the price you could actually get?

Yesterday the selling price at a Thai gold shop was 14,850 per baht of gold. This would give you 74,250 baht. Converting to USD, at 35 BHT per dollar, gives $2121 USD.

2479-2121= 358

Do these calculations sound right? Am I missing anything ? Would one really stand to gain an extra few hundred dollars by selling in the states?

Basically no, it won't pay. First of all, Thai gold is not regarded as pure gold. You would probably get a discount from any U.S. Jeweler for that fact. And don't expect them to pay top price anyhow. How do you think they make a profit? The gold idea just doesn't work.

The only real possibility you have is to get the gold made into a ring here in Thailand with a nice design that could be sold for a good price in the U.S. However, you would probably need a jeweler's license to bring in any quanity of jewelry through the U.S. customs. Jewelry has a good value and is profitable. But again, don't expect to get full price from any jeweler...because they have to sell at a profit, so they buy low to sell at a higher price. But because of the difference in cost, even at a discount price, you can make a profit on good quality jewlery...but you'd have to get a license to import that.

I used to have a friend who worked for a Thai jeweler. My friend took the gemnologist course and got a license as a gemnologist/jeweler. He worked for that Thai jeweler for several years carrying jewelery legally back to the U.S. to resellers there. (Sales by appointment only).

[flying]

Well in theory you guys are right but having just come back from the US and having taken gold I bought only the week before for 730usd per oz. in thailand, I had no problem selling it their for over $1000 usd as there is a shortage of gold in the US. I bought gold coins here in Thailand 96.5 and and had no problem taking them into the US 4oz in my carry on. They pretty much went unnoticed. I have heard of people paying 1200usd an oz on ebay at auction. Op I would check your numbers though as I don't believe you did your math correct. 1baht =15.16gr. which is just under one half ounce which at the time of this writing is 912usd per oz. which would put the value of a baht of gold at 456usd X .965=440 per baht not taking into account the weight difference. about .5%. This would give you a value of 15,400baht with a 100 to 200baht premium added on it should be selling for 15,500 to 15,600baht. I have people willing to pay me to buy gold here and send it to them, for a tidy profit of a least $50 to $ 100 per oz. I wouldn't advertise the fact as one or both of the governments might frown on it. Not sure but I don't want to find out the hard way.

May I ask when/date you bought at 730 an ounce & in what form in Thailand

Also what type of coins did you get in Thailand?

Thanks

[boarbaboon]

Lets say you bought 5 baht weight of Thai gold in Jewlery form. You decide later you want to sell, but you can either sell it back to the Thai shop you bought it from and get baht, or you are thinking to sell it in the USA and get dollars.

Are there any advantages or disadvantages to selling it in the USA?

Will you have problems with customs/ airport security bringing 5 baht of gold jewlery into the states?

Will any gold/jelwery shops in the states buy your 96.5% gold thai jewlery and will they give you a good price?

How will that price in the US compare to the price in Thailand?

Any other advantages or disadvantages or difficulties? Any other likely spots a novice could get screwed out of his money?

I've read a lot of gold in the states is something like 14kt, whereas Thai gold jewlery is closer to 23 kt. Will this present any problems?

At 15.16g/baht of processed Thai gold that puts you at 75.8 grams or almost 2.674 ounces.

At kitco.com the closing price of gold on January 30th for "NY Spot Gold" was $927.10 USD (per troy ounce right?). I assume this is the price basis for gold bought and sold in the USA? This would place the value of the gold at $2479 USD. How does this differ from the price you could actually get?

Yesterday the selling price at a Thai gold shop was 14,850 per baht of gold. This would give you 74,250 baht. Converting to USD, at 35 BHT per dollar, gives $2121 USD.

2479-2121= 358

Do these calculations sound right? Am I missing anything ? Would one really stand to gain an extra few hundred dollars by selling in the states?

To be honest is there really any point going to all that hassle of flying, buying and then trying to find a seller in the US when if you moniter the thai gold market you can make money just by the gold sitting in

your drawer!

Two months ago i bought a 10baht weight in gold for 125,000 and a few days ago cashed it in for 145,000 making 20,000baht for doing nothing.

[gregb]

I watch this extremely carefully, as I have a few friends with big money who have offered me a percentage if I can find them an arbitrage opportunity.

What you will find is that it is impossible to do this on Thai 96.5% gold, because 96.5% is treated as scrap in the US, and the refining costs are way too high. There is a possibility of arbitrage on 999 gold however. While it is more difficult to find in Thailand, it is not impossible.

Unfortunately, the Thai Gold Retailers Association is WELL aware of this possibility, and when they set their prices, they ALWAYS place it so it is just beyond the reach of profitability for arbitrage. They have it down to an art form. You can watch the spread between 96.5% and 999 vary from about 350 baht to 650 baht depending on exactly which way they are trying to smooth the market, but they never let anything get to a point where it would be profitable for you to attempt arbitrage. They're not stupid. If you are making money, then they are losing money, and a mistake like this could cost them billions very quickly.

If you had access to your own refinery, you could actually make money on the 96.5% stuff on certain days, but if you have to pay someone else for this service then you actually wind up losing money. They know this too, which is why the spread between 96.5% and 999 varies. 999 is set so just at the extreme of where arbitrage is not possible and volatility is minimized. They then set 96.5% at an offset where refineries wouldn't be tempted to get into the game. This gives them some room to try and smooth volatility in the local market, but not much.

Just be aware people who are alot smarter and with alot more money than you would happily be doing this right now if it could be done. It can only be done if you own your own refinery, and in that case, it is usually more profitable for you to buy directly from the mines.

[flying]

There is a possibility of arbitrage on 999 gold however. While it is more difficult to find in Thailand, it is not impossible.

Hey greg I am not interested in arbitrage but will be back in TL soon.

I would like to get some 999 for my family there.

How hard is it to find & in what forms have you seen it?

Thanks for any info

Edited February 7, 2009 by flying

[gregb]

Well in theory you guys are right but having just come back from the US and having taken gold I bought only the week before for 730usd per oz. in thailand, I had no problem selling it their for over $1000 usd as there is a shortage of gold in the US. I bought gold coins here in Thailand 96.5 and and had no problem taking them into the US 4oz in my carry on. They pretty much went unnoticed. I have heard of people paying 1200usd an oz on ebay at auction. Op I would check your numbers though as I don't believe you did your math correct. 1baht =15.16gr. which is just under one half ounce which at the time of this writing is 912usd per oz. which would put the value of a baht of gold at 456usd X .965=440 per baht not taking into account the weight difference. about .5%. This would give you a value of 15,400baht with a 100 to 200baht premium added on it should be selling for 15,500 to 15,600baht. I have people willing to pay me to buy gold here and send it to them, for a tidy profit of a least $50 to $ 100 per oz. I wouldn't advertise the fact as one or both of the governments might frown on it. Not sure but I don't want to find out the hard way.

This sounds suspicious, as gold COINS are almost impossible to find in Thailand. Not saying you're wrong, but your credibility is being stretched with this statement. Gold jewelry is available everywhere, but Thais simply don't buy or sell coins as a general rule. If you actually found coins, then you may have a winning business model. I doubt whether this would be repeatable however on any reasonable scale, simply because the necessary form of gold in coins will not be available locally.

You can probably find people who will purchase Thai jewelry in small amounts. Try doing this with several million dollars however on a large scale, and you'll quickly find that it becomes impossible. If you really want to try and do this, I recommend E-Bay. People there are crazy, and will sometimes pay unreasonable amounts. If you have a bunch of money, you might be able to make a small profit here if you establish a good reputation.

Another option is opening your own gold shop in one of the Thai areas in the US. There used to be one that I knew of in Thai Town near Los Angeles. They bought gold in Thailand and sold it at a markup in the US to local Thai's. You better be Thai if you are going to attempt this though, because that is who your market is.

This being said, some people have connections that us ordinary people don't, and if you are one of those, then I congratulate you and wish you well. But for the average guy, this is not going to be profitable for you.

P.S. There is no shortage of gold in the US. There is a shortage of gold COINS in the US. There is a huge difference here. Just wanted to make sure anyone reading this thread doesn't get the wrong idea.

[gregb]

I would like to get some 999 for my family there.

How hard is it to find & in what forms have you seen it?

I've only ever seen it once at at a retail gold shop in Chinatown. If you're going to try and find it at these places, be prepared to go on a treasure hunt.

It is readily available from the larger houses like YLG or Ausiris that cater to investors. The only forms I've ever seen in quantity are 10 baht, 20 baht and 1kg bars, as well as 999 gold shot used by jewelers. The bars are usually PAMP certified and come with a serial number and certification card.

10 baht and 20 baht are kind of strange sizes that only make sense domestically, but the 1kg bars are an international standard that are bought and sold everywhere in the world.

The easiest way to get 999 is to open an account at an investment house. You'll need a local bank account, and then you place your order on the phone. You transfer the money to them, and then go pick up your gold when they tell you it is available. It always used to be available the next day, but recently the delays have increased to about 10 days unless there has been alot of selling. They'll probably be in stock right now after the huge selling spree that happened over the Chinese New Year, so you might be able to get it immediately if you're lucky.

[flying]

It is readily available from the larger houses like YLG or Ausiris that cater to investors. The only forms I've ever seen in quantity are 10 baht, 20 baht and 1kg bars, as well as 999 gold shot used by jewelers. The bars are usually PAMP certified and come with a serial number and certification card.

Thanks for the info!

[OxfordWill]

Given that individual shops in Thailand publish varying prices on gold, is it always a matter of searching around for the best deal, or is it known that certain areas always offer better prices?

I ask as a friend wishes to sell her Thai gold necklaces and bracelets and asked me, of all people (I know nothing about gold), to advise her.

[JimsKnight]

All the jazz about thai gold being 96.5% is no big deal for the casual dudes who buy and sell. In fact having a slightly inferior quality is wisdom if you're always handling it, according to some website thai gold has a tiny bit of silver and bronze in it, giving it strength. As I'm sure all you gold bugs know if the gold is at near 100% purity it'll wear away at a faster rate if being touched etc.

Which you don't want as you'll start to 'wear away' your gold.

I've got some gold (thai). Before that I owned a kuggerand, that was considered 96.5% purity (copper being the strengthening alloy). Outside BKK no gold trader would touch it. I moseyed on down to a place in Silom. The quirky Chinese dude there knew foreign gold coinage well and he did his assaying and peering and weighing etc. He reduced the value by 3.5%. The gold-trader told me that he'd have to send the coin away to get be melted down and the copper seperated. I still got a fairly good price though. I think (if memory serves me) he quoted me 22k baht for the 1oz coin. This was back in October 2008.

It was there that I saw another gold coin (a chinese one with a panda). I might get that when I go back to Bangers.

In Thailand that's the only place I've seen gold coin on sale.

Nowadays I just buy the 1 baht rings as you can buy and sell them anywhere in the kingdom no problem.

[cloud96]

Sounds like the best option is what Hyena and Simcity said. Find someone in Thailand who wants to buy it and split the difference between buy and sell price of the shop, right?

I wasn't looking to start a business or do this on a large scale or anything of that nature. I basically have this gold, and I'm either going to sell it in Thailand when the price gets sufficently high (hopefully soon!) and use the resulting cash all in Thailand (so I don't lose on the exchange to USD), or I'm going to save it till I get back to the US and then sell it for USD there. Was just wondering which is the better option. And it seems that the Thailand option is the better bet since a) might have trouble at customs probably not a wise idea to backpack around SE Asia with 5 baht of gold for x months c) probably won't be easier to find a serious buyer in US. Not too sure about C, I know they have to make a profit, but thought there might be a difference in price due to shipping, duties, etc as is the case with many commodities between USA and Thailand.

Sigh, just wish I had waited a few weeks and bought the gold when the price was 11k or so, then it might be useful to hang onto longer term considering the potential volatility of the US dollar and baht in the current economic climate... but since I bought it at 16 or so psychologically I feel the desire to unload it.

[hhgz]

"...because 96.5% is treated as scrap in the US..."

Oh, please. 96.5% is better than 23 karat, and 23 karat gold is not scrap.

[gregb]

"...because 96.5% is treated as scrap in the US..."

Oh, please. 96.5% is better than 23 karat, and 23 karat gold is not scrap.

You miss the point. It's a nonstandard size, and therefore no market. E.g., it has to be sent to a scrap house and refined to something else.

Scrap doesn't mean without value. It simply means it can't be easily resold in its current form.

[Naam]

As I'm sure all you gold bugs know if the gold is at near 100% purity it'll wear away at a faster rate if being touched etc.

a fairy tale which does not become true no matter how often it is repeated Honourable Knight.

Edited February 7, 2009 by Naam

[colibra]

Well in theory you guys are right but having just come back from the US and having taken gold I bought only the week before for 730usd per oz. in thailand, I had no problem selling it their for over $1000 usd as there is a shortage of gold in the US. I bought gold coins here in Thailand 96.5 and and had no problem taking them into the US 4oz in my carry on. They pretty much went unnoticed. I have heard of people paying 1200usd an oz on ebay at auction. Op I would check your numbers though as I don't believe you did your math correct. 1baht =15.16gr. which is just under one half ounce which at the time of this writing is 912usd per oz. which would put the value of a baht of gold at 456usd X .965=440 per baht not taking into account the weight difference. about .5%. This would give you a value of 15,400baht with a 100 to 200baht premium added on it should be selling for 15,500 to 15,600baht. I have people willing to pay me to buy gold here and send it to them, for a tidy profit of a least $50 to $ 100 per oz. I wouldn't advertise the fact as one or both of the governments might frown on it. Not sure but I don't want to find out the hard way.

May I ask when/date you bought at 730 an ounce & in what form in Thailand

Also what type of coins did you get in Thailand?

Thanks

As I recall it was the week of nov 15 2008 and they were chinese coins. I also bought somegold jewelry at the same time. It was a few days before i was off to Hawaii and we left on Nov 17, Would love to do it again but gold is up over 900 now.

[colibra]

I don't know i think some of you live in a different Thailand then I do. I had no problem getting gold coins and 5 and 10 baht bars here in chiang mai. I had no problem selling them to private parties in the US as they are paying high prices for coins in the US. I think there is a split unofficial of course between forex gold, paper gold and gold bullion. As time goes on I think this will become more obvious. I'm not a big player just took enought to get free airfare to hawaii and back. Had a nice vacation. Also took machettes 5usd each and sold for 30 usd as well as a few other well chosen things to sell.

As far a thai jewelry goes there is money to made there also. Most jewelry stores have a mark up of 2 to 3 hundred percent on there jewelry 14k. You can take thai jewelry 23k and make a tidy profit for under what people are paying for 14K and there happy to get it. I have done this with silver chains also.

[thetravellingcat]

.....just wish I had waited a few weeks and bought the gold when the price was 11k or so, then it might be useful to hang onto longer term considering the potential volatility of the US dollar and baht in the current economic climate... but since I bought it at 16 or so psychologically I feel the desire to unload it.

Last year 16,000 was when gold peaked at $1,000 /oz that is a huge psychological barrier to break because markets trade around round figures. For gold to go over $1,000 /oz something will have gone seriously wrong with the dollar, like Congress not authorising the next cash injection. I wasn't quick enough and bought and sold at the wrong time without checking historic graphs. Now i've got a regular habit of checking kitco and goldtraiders.