Pa. experts evaluate slight dip in gold price

The price of gold dropped by about $10 over the weekend as debt- ceiling talks continued on Capitol Hill.

Economists and precious metal dealers in Pennsylvania, however, say the price dip is not significant.

Gold is used as an insurance policy–a way for investors to retain value in the event that runaway inflation causes currency to lose its value.

As word of a tentative deal in Congress to raise the debt ceiling spread, the price of gold went down. But Dan Dolan, who works at Gold Mine and Jewelry in Cumberland County, said people don’t tend to beat a path to his door because of a $10 change.

Gold’s value has been rising for the past decade. “Just look around,” Dolan said.

“You don’t see as many people wearing gold chains and stuff and gold bracelets as they used to,” he said. “It seems like for the last 10 years, we’ve been getting a lot of scrap off the general public and I think it’s getting to the point where most of the people who have anything now, it’s older people, it’s family belongings and stuff like that. It’s not young kids with gold chains.”

A Penn State economist said gold’s value, now about $1,600 an ounce, will stay high because investors don’t see the debt limit plan as a comprehensive solution to the problem of U.S. debt.