It isn’t 1849, but it sure feels like a gold rush.

Gold reached an all-time trading high of $1,096.20 an ounce on Wednesday, leaving investors wondering just how much higher gold can go.

According to a CNNMoney.com report, the rise in gold prices likely isn’t due to worries about a meltdown of the financial system. The dollar has weakened, causing gold and other precious metals and commodities to rise, likely from inflation fears.

Gold has long been considered a safe haven when the dollar declines, and some investors buy it as an alternative to the dollar. Experts had mostly attributed the rise to traders taking advantage of fears of inflation, but a transaction on Monday supplied evidence that real demand for gold is having an impact as well, according to the report.

The International Monetary Fund sold 200 metric tons of gold to the central bank of India, leading to speculation that other nations will begin to stockpile gold. The move by India, possibly triggering most central banks to move into gold, was likened to the first domino falling in a series of dominoes by Darin Newscom, a senior analyst with Televent DTN.

Because of this, gold could go as high as $1,400 an ounce in the next year, according to the report. Other investors feel that the increased demand coupled with worries of inflation could lead gold to hit $1,150 by the end of 2009 and go as high as $1,500 by the end of 2010.

If the economy is truly in recovery mode, the report says the Federal Reserve policy-makers will start raising interest rates, which would reduce some of the inflation pressures, and quell the gold rush.