But why has this happened?

"The bigger picture is about the US Federal Reserve and the direction of the US dollar. Gold is priced in US dollars, so when the dollar gets weaker, it becomes cheaper for the rest of the world to buy it," Shanti Kelemen, senior portfolio manager of Coutts Bank, explains to Today.

"The biggest buyer in the world of gold on a retail basis is India. Gold also doesn't pay any dividends. So when interest rates go down, the opportunity cost of holding something that doesn't pay that falls."

She says that these factors, together with tensions with Iran, have led to the price of gold soaring.