After piercing the sky-high, yet psychologically important $1,000-an-ounce barrier two weeks ago, the price of gold hit yet another record high yesterday.

The surge in the spot price of gold to $1,069.70 an ounce yesterday comes at a time of international worry about the perceived weakness of the U.S. dollar, the vulnerability of the U.S. economy and the growing potential for runaway inflation.

Gold closed yesterday at $1,064.20 an ounce.

"Gold is ultimately the only currency you can't print more of," said Natalie Dempster, head of investments for the World Gold Council in New York. "The rally should not be seen as news, but a continuation of an eight-year trend."

With the collapse of technology stocks and the lingering effects of the real estate crash still haunting investors who bought those assets at the top, some commodities experts are betting the ranch on gold, while others warn against buying when prices are at record highs.

David Morgan, a nationally recognized precious metals expert and publisher of "The Morgan Report," says the gold market may be overbought and investors should taper their expectation that prices will continue to rise this year.

"I do think it's in dangerous 'buy' territory," Mr. Morgan said. "The general stock market is very shaky. It's due for a correction and will take all asset classes down including precious metals."

Mr. Morgan is still convinced, however, that gold will top $2,000 an ounce within the next couple of years.

"The more days it stays over $1,000 an ounce the more of a guarantee $1,000 will be a new support level," he said.

The price of gold briefly soared past the $1,000-an-ounce mark for the first time in March 2008 but it didn't stay there long. For the first time in history, the Midas metal has sustained its rally north of the $1,000 mark for more than two weeks throughout the month of October.

"It's a sign that a psychological barrier has been broken," said Blaine Shiff, co-owner of Cybercoins.net in Dormont. "That's never happened before. "I think we've become so used to bubbles bursting that the obvious next bubble would be gold. … Bubbles burst when markets become overextended. That's not the case here. In fact, if anything, based on their relationship to the money supply, gold and silver have a long way to go before that happens."

A number of factors have influenced the meteoric rise in the price of gold.

With the United States just starting to come out of recession and world economies still recovering from the global credit crunch, many investors are concerned the enormous volume of money that governments around the world created to prop up their ailing economies could lead to inflation. That has led to more investors switching to the ultimate hard currency -- gold.

Also, the U.S. dollar took another beating last week amid rumors (later denied) of oil producing countries having secret meetings to create a new monetary system for trading oil through a basket of foreign currencies that would not include the U.S. dollar but would include gold instead.

The price of gold and the U.S. dollar have an inverse relationship. When one appreciates in value, the other usually loses value.

"The U.S. government is behaving much like Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns in the way it has expanded and spent money and leveraged itself. Many of the programs being proposed have no cap," said James DiGeorgia, author of "The New Bull Market in Gold: $5,000 Gold and How to Profit From It."

Mr. DiGeorgia said if the monetary expansion that has taken place since 2001 is taken into consideration, the current price of gold is a bargain. Its fair market value is more than $2,000 an ounce right now, he said.

"Gold is your best hedge against the greed and stupidity of politicians," he said. "They spend money they don't have to ingratiate themselves to constituents without regard for fiscal responsibility."

There are two major markets for the yellow metal.

Investors hoard gold bullion coins and bars that they hope to sell for a higher price at a later date while consumers pay a premium to buy gold jewelry and artwork made with gold, which often costs more than the gold content is worth.

Cash-for-gold businesses have boomed as rising prices have inspired more people to go treasure hunting through their sock drawers and old jewelry boxes to sell long-forgotten items that are either bent, broken or out of style.

"In my business, things have gotten a lot busier," said Eddie Lowy, owner of Banner Coins, Downtown. "I'm fielding a lot more phone calls, and there's a lot more people coming in the door and selling old gold. It could be jewelry. It could be coins. But they are cashing in.

"Sellers are noticing that they are getting considerably more for the same amount of scrap they brought in a year ago, six months ago or even two months ago," Mr. Lowy said.

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