At the close of trading yesterday in the United States, gold sold for approximately $385 an ounce.

Before the trade embargo, 21-karat gold sold here for 50 dinars a gram.

Their record year was 1,700 ounces back in 1981, when gold was selling for around $700 an ounce.

Stakes and Costs High In the gold rush days, gold sold at $20 an ounce.

Copper, gold, palladium, silver and tin are valuable metals sold to smelters for recycling.

At current levels gold is selling cheaper than it costs to mine it.

In London, gold was selling at $354.80 an ounce at the afternoon fixing, down $9.45 from Monday.

Last week, gold was selling for $460 a Troy ounce, or about $420 an avoirdupois ounce.

In London, gold was selling at a late bid of $390.25 an ounce, down from $392.55 late on Tuesday.

At the Republic National Bank gold sold for $392.50 an ounce, up from $392.10 late Tuesday.