Shouldn't gold be going up?

[oldman10mm]

With silver vs gold, it looks like gold is the better deal with the larger coins. 1 oz coins sell for about a 5% premium, while a 1 oz silver coin sells at about a 25% premium. The premium on gold goes up a lot on very small amounts. Not sure at what value the premium on silver beats gold.

Using the above figures, a 1oz gold coin at $1830 spot price would put an extra $91.50 on it. An equivalent amount of silver to equal the $1830 would be 87ozs. So that 87ozs of silver with the 25% would be an extra $457 on it.
So $1921.50 for an ounce of gold versus $2287 for 87 ounces of silver.

At the last show, the $21 spot silver was at $25, but buying in bulk would be at $24, so that would have been $261 extra compared to the $457 of the above example comparison. So it all depends on how you buy.

 

[Maddog 521]

COSTCO is selling 1 ounce gold bars for about $1900. Has anyone bought any of that? They say they're sell out almost every day.

 

[THE PILGRIM]

Lots of Gold Dealers out there.
For us non COSTCO folks, Walmart has one ounce bars starting at $1911.29.

 

[JohnHL]

I have always wondered, if the dollar becomes worthless, how does one buy things or pay bills with gold or silver? If you have a bar of gold and you need $20 worth of groceries, do you take it to the store and whittle off some gold dust at the checkout counter? Do you send gold dust or coins in the mail to pay the mortgage and utilities? How does that work in practical terms?

I remember hearing that back in the days when coins were minted from gold and silver, that some dishonest folks would shave a little off the edges of the coins they had, and then pass off the coins as full value.

I heard that is where the pejorative "chiseler" came from.

It was also the reason mints started putting ridges (called "reeding") around the edges.

Anyone else heard that?

John

 

[oldman10mm]

Yes,but mostly done on gold coins.

 

[Bald1]

Do you go bankrupt if there is a blackout?

That’s funny!!!!! I made a similar comment to my son. He laughed and counted his money.

 

[venomballistics]

I'm with you, Ed.

I think if we want gas prices to go down, you and I should put a ton of money into the futures market speculating that oil will rise.

That should kill it for good (and wipe us out).

John

I have a friend that plays the market.
As he describes it. if you see something on the way up, you're already too late.
You have to place nearly blind bets on apparently languishing dogs. It's more a function of betting on the fully tanked rather than the rising star.
As they recover, your investment rides the full distance to it's top floor. This would be a long term approach.
A more advanced approach would start with the same selection process of betting on the bottomed out pooch,
as it recovers, it's path is not going to be a straight line. It will saw tooth.
If you can babysit that stock, jump in for it's upswings and sell at it's peaks, effectively being absent during it's declines to jump back in for the next rise, you can do far better than the long term gain, which includes those periods of decline.

 

[.38SuperMan]

I have always wondered, if the dollar becomes worthless, how does one buy things or pay bills with gold or silver? If you have a bar of gold and you need $20 worth of groceries, do you take it to the store and whittle off some gold dust at the checkout counter? Do you send gold dust or coins in the mail to pay the mortgage and utilities? How does that work in practical terms?

Exactly what I’ve said. Name one store setup to accept gold or silver as a payment for goods. Go try and buy a car with bars of gold. Does the local pharmacy take gold? The kids at the grocery checkout can’t even count change from a dollar much less deal in something like weighing out a gram of gold.

Edit:
If times get tough which would you rather have in exchange for a pound of beef or loaf of bread, a box of cartridges for your rifle, a bottle of antibiotic for an infection, a gallon of gasoline or an ounce of shiny gold? Gold has value in the industrial and fashion world but outside of that you can’t eat it, cure disease or drive it.

 

[Aggie1906]

Yes, I remember this from college class. History, not business class if I recall correctly. Somehow I remember the terms "Kippers & Wippers" to distinguish their chiseling techniques from coins. Have not tried any of them.

 

[CalifEd]

I'm with you, Ed.

I think if we want gas prices to go down, you and I should put a ton of money into the futures market speculating that oil will rise.

That should kill it for good (and wipe us out).

John

Well, we must have done something.
Costco gas has gone for 5.99 a week ago to 4.99 yesterday.

 

[Rudi]

I once heard this, "in the 1880s a $20 gold piece would buy you a nice Colt SAA, it still will today."

 

[oldman10mm]

If times get tough which would you rather have in exchange for a pound of beef or loaf of bread, a box of cartridges for your rifle, a bottle of antibiotic for an infection, a gallon of gasoline or an ounce of shiny gold? Gold has value in the industrial and fashion world but outside of that you can’t eat it, cure disease or drive it.

Priorities
1) air - gas masks
2) water
3) food
4) medicine/first aid
5) shelter
6) gasoline
7) Weaponry- to protect 2 thru 6

 

[TeamPB]

I once heard this, "in the 1880s a $20 gold piece would buy you a
nice Colt SAA, it still will today."

The above: an ounce of gold would have bought George Washington a fine rifle or a fine suit of clothes, it would do the same for us today.

That said, as an investment it does not make economic sense, but I possess gold-

Civilization collapse can take many forms. I do not intend to buy any goods with my gold in any nasty scenarios. If I need to get my family on the last plane, ship or train out of town Krugerrands or Eagles will work better than paper by that point.
And if it is a border crossing to (relative) safety we are talking about even the Swiss border guards have been known to accept bribes, but never in paper.

LARPing, perhaps, I hope never to "need" the gold I possess, but I am lucky enough to be suffering no loss for having it. I actually prefer to see gold lowish and the U.S. dollar strongish.

 

[Bald1]

Last Tuesday I paid $3.89 a gallon for regular 87 octane gas. By Thursday I was paying $2.89. Oh wait I forgot I went from NY to South Carolina. The south just does things right!!!!!

 

[Moo Moo]

My concern with the future predictions of a cashless economy is, what's going to stop our government from taking control of our digital money. Eg, at the moment, with high inflation, our government (Australia) has increased interest rates through the " Independent" Reserve bank; Monetary Policy. What might happen if there is only digital currency, the Government might just take control of people's accounts and stop them spending their money, thereby controlling inflation without the need to increase interest rates. You would lose your freedom to spend your money on what you like.

 

[Old 44 Guy]

A man I knew long ago told me he had all his money was tied up in cash. He died a million aire.

 

[Breakaway500]

Gold off and running today! Sad because of the reason but understandable considering all the turmoil out there.
Safe haven asset that has been around for thousands of years and is always trustworthy in scary times.

 

[ladder13]

My concern with the future predictions of a cashless economy is, what's going to stop our government from taking control of our digital money. Eg, at the moment, with high inflation, our government (Australia) has increased interest rates through the " Independent" Reserve bank; Monetary Policy. What might happen if there is only digital currency, the Government might just take control of people's accounts and stop them spending their money, thereby controlling inflation without the need to increase interest rates. You would lose your freedom to spend your money on what you like.

That’s the whole idea. It’s even more devilish than that, but we can’t discuss that here.

 

[lawandorder]

Oro, Plata & plomo. All of us need some.

 

[Kinman]

Exactly what I’ve said. Name one store setup to accept gold or silver as a payment for goods. Go try and buy a car with bars of gold. Does the local pharmacy take gold? The kids at the grocery checkout can’t even count change from a dollar much less deal in something like weighing out a gram of gold.

Edit:
If times get tough which would you rather have in exchange for a pound of beef or loaf of bread, a box of cartridges for your rifle, a bottle of antibiotic for an infection, a gallon of gasoline or an ounce of shiny gold? Gold has value in the industrial and fashion world but outside of that you can’t eat it, cure disease or drive it.

Exactly why one of the best investments in silver for SHTF scenario is junk silver: pre-64 dimes, quarter, halves and dollars. You can still buy a car at some local car lots with gold and silver due to our mining history, side benefit is no sales tax, its a trade. Golds value has never diminished, when your paying a silver dime for a dozen eggs you will be able to buy a house or other land with gold. One of the biggest banks in San Francisco after the early historical earthquake was started by a guy that had made a decent strike in the gold fields, gold has power.
When the move is made to make all of your purchases by credit card, watch the value of gold and silver skyrocket. People will always prefer something of value in hand, bunch of numbers on a card mean nothing, hold a one ounce gold coin in your hand and feel the value. I remember a guy's eyes lighting up when I offered him a one ounce Kruggerand in trade for his pristine Browning Hi-Power. I laid that coin in his hand and his eyes got big, "Whats this worth?" He said. I told him it was worth a grand in trade, he told me he would talk to one of his buddies, came back and said "Done." I would never begin to discount the value of gold and silver, the problem is that they require an investment and 90% of the people need to get something in return on their investments. Gold and silver are investments you hope you never need, I have a friend whos grandmother got them out of East Germany barely ahead of the Russians because she had kept the few gold coins her father had given her on her wedding day. She traded the gold coins to a German soldier that gave her and her grandkids a ride to relative safety in a truckload of bombs. They wrote a book "Riding the Bomb."