The continuing inability of the U.S. federal government to come to grips with its fiscal problems largely explains the enduring, some would say stubborn, presence of gold coins and bullion in millions of investment portfolios around the world – including those of central banks, hedge funds and sovereign wealth funds. Until such time as fiscal rectitude takes hold in the halls of Congress -- an unlikely proposition any time soon – current gold owners are likely to hold tight and new gold owners are likely to continue joining their ranks. In the end, contemporary gold owners by and large do not own gold to become wealthy, but to protect the wealth they already have.