Well, or to make something very nice out of it. If you were a Jewellery Designer, for example. Most amazing metal in the world. Worked with it for years... Still got some reserves, though. Not just because I like it. ~The Scientist
As others have said here as well, even if you are looking at gold as a "safety net" and not an investment, take a 50 year chart of gold and look at it correlated with everything "bad" that has happened in the last 5 decades. What you will find is that there was no "safety net", and gold provided no more security for your money than cash in your mattress (less, actually). If you really believe in the total collapse of the world monetary system, I suppose you could make the argument, but short of that, it has been a LOUSY safety net and a worse investment. Remember, to just cover the cost of carry, you have to be at least keeping even with inflation (and hopefully the risk-free rate of return) just to break even, and that hasn't been even close to the case with gold. The "safety net" myth has been around for a long time, and I guess it will die hard (or not at all). Jessie