Investing in Gold? How much imaginary Gold has been Sold?
- Thread starter MorelCabin
- Start date
k0xxx
Mr. Sunshine
Most modern gold coins have reeded edges (the ridges around the outer edge of the coin), and shaving is quite apparent.Wifezilla said:
As for plating, sure any metal coin can be plated. However if it says 25c, and it looks like it is made with gold, you can generally be suspicious.
There is only one metal than can be used to make a fake gold plated coin, and the coin to end up being close enough to the same size and weight as a real gold coin to be used in counterfiting , tungsten. It's takes very sophisticated and complex machinery to make a tungsten coin, the average person is not going to make them in their basement, and it end up looking like the real thing. For one it's melting point is over 6000 degrees.
Buying American Gold Eagles is straight forward and safe. However, for the average person silver would be more practical. At under $20 per ounce, it is a bargain and easy to acquire. American Silver Eagles are easy to come by and contain 1 ounce of .999 fine silver. Pre 1965 US dimes, quarters, and halves are 90% silver and are widely recognized. Canada also produced silver coinage, in varying purity.
- Thread starter
- #13
MorelCabin
Quilting Extraordinaire
Well, I, for one would not be buying gold or silver or any of it right now...the prices are too high and there's likely going to bhe alot of people lose thier shirts when it comes back down...and don't doubt it, it will. I grew up in a gold mining town, and gold has gone up and down all my life, mines have opened and closed, the town paniced then settled... Just another cycle as far as I'm concerned, but don't buy high just because everyone is panicing.
After hearing a discussion on gold investment, the speaker made a point that stuck in my mind. Buying small things with gold won't be practical. I have several 10th oz gold coins that I received as gifts, but even these are going up in value and not something I would like to exchange for a $7 pack of T.P., losing $30-$40 for the exchange.
As someone who does occasionally sell things, I am not confident
that I could accurately test the gold that I might receive.
As someone who does occasionally sell things, I am not confident
that I could accurately test the gold that I might receive.
dacjohns
Our Frustrated Curmudgeon
Surely your taste in chocolate is better than that.Wifezilla said:Now those gold foil colored chocolate coins I would trade for! LOL
(and yet another thread devolves in to talk of chocolate!)
Back to the discussion about gold.
k0xxx
Mr. Sunshine
Generally unless there is an actual shortage, gold neither goes up or down. Rather it is the relative value of the dollar fluctuating with respect to gold. As the dollar becomes worth less, it takes more of them to buy gold. That is why it take four times as many dollars to buy gold, as it did 10 years ago, the dollar has lost that much value.MorelCabin said:
If you are confident that the dollar will regain its' value, then gold is not for you. I have no such confidence, however I would prefer to be wrong.
Silver, on the other hand, is greatly undervalued. Mining industry and commodity sources are now saying that there is more gold in reserves than silver. According to those sources, world gold inventory has increased from 1 billion ounces in 1940, to 5 billion ounces today. Silver reserves by contrast, have declined from 10 billion ounces in 1940, to 1 billion today. This is due to silver being "consumed" in industrial processes, where as most gold is recycled. As silver reserves continue to fall, and as more and more investors are turning to silver to protect their wealth, silver could be in for a rapid increase.
The bottom line is that everyone should do what they feel is best for themselves and their families. The small amount of money that I use to purchase precious metals, at least to me, is no different than money spent on any other type of insurance. I hope that I don't need it, but it's there if I do.
I wouldn't. My parents bought a Krugerrand for my brother and I when we were born. We are both in our mid-thirties now and sold them at market value a few months ago. They really were pretty much the same price now as they were back then when we were born. So there was no appreciation in value. My brother and I also inherited after my mother's death a beautiful designer silver dinnerware set that's worth over $30,000...
Which is completely worthless right now because NOBODY is buying due to the economy. And right now is when my brother and could have use that kind of money. So we have a lovely set of silver in a bank vault that's just going to have to sit there until the economy digs itself out again and maybe we could get full price for it. We've already lost out a great deal on selling a house. That's the problem with solid assets, they don't have stable values depending on the economy.
So personally, I wouldn't buy precious metals as an investment. The trick with money is you want investments that GROW for you. It's better to get a mutual fund or a Roth IRA or something. Your mutual fund is going to keep appreciating regardless.
If you want something to help your family out in case of bank collapse or natural disaster, then you're going to be much better off with a self-sufficient flock and skills to use for barter.
Which is completely worthless right now because NOBODY is buying due to the economy. And right now is when my brother and could have use that kind of money. So we have a lovely set of silver in a bank vault that's just going to have to sit there until the economy digs itself out again and maybe we could get full price for it. We've already lost out a great deal on selling a house. That's the problem with solid assets, they don't have stable values depending on the economy.
So personally, I wouldn't buy precious metals as an investment. The trick with money is you want investments that GROW for you. It's better to get a mutual fund or a Roth IRA or something. Your mutual fund is going to keep appreciating regardless.
If you want something to help your family out in case of bank collapse or natural disaster, then you're going to be much better off with a self-sufficient flock and skills to use for barter.
patandchickens
Crazy Cat Lady
But the point isn't whether you'd want gold from *other* people to buy your stuff in case of emergency; the point here I think is that some people are storing some so they have a "currency for barter" that OTHER people would accept. There will probably always be a reasonable number of people willing to take gold. And it is THEIR tough luck whether they know how to tell the purity of the gold, not your problemWifezilla said:
Personally I don't think there's a lot of point in owning gold as a means to buy things off other people if the SHTF, as if things get to that point you will be in SO over your head that survival will be more a matter of other things (luck figuring largely among them) than whether or not you've buried a few gold coins or ingots in the backyard of your wilderness retreat. However, I don't see any harm in doing so if it makes a person feel more comfortable, as *mental* security does count for *something*
JMHO,
Pat
