He tried to sell a 1 oz canadian maple leaf with $1,100 for $50...then lowers the price to $20...then $5...then for just a cup of starbucks! All these people have no idea what gold is worth...can you imagine what will happen the price of gold when these people get a clue? <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Gk5aRIz17fk&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Gk5aRIz17fk&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
If some random asshole walked up to you on the street and offered you an ounce of gold for $50, would you really believe it's genuine? If so, I have a couple of Rolex watches to sell you as well.
Quite the contrary, I think it's an excellent example of how little gold is really worth. Think about it. What makes gold valuable? People say it has intrinsic value, while currency does not. I beg to different. In a state-of-nature society, gold is useless. It's a shiny, soft, yellow metal, nothing more. At least I can burn my USD's to keep warm. When the world goes to shit and people just want a meal, who's going to actually pay $1,100/ounce for all that gold you've got? If you're looking for true SHTF investments:
See...its that kind of dollar based thinking that you cant get past. When the world goes to shit and people want a meal, they are going to have to pay for it in gold and silver and how are they going to get it? Who is going to trade gold & silver for worthless peices of paper called dollars. When you made that statement, you assumed that dollars would still be worth something, but like you said...if the world goes to shit...that generally means that dollars are going to be worthless and gold & silver will be the money again like they were for 1000s of years. Remember it was only in the 1960s when they took silver out of coins. Good luck holding those dollars though.
If someone offered me a fake Rolex watch for $5....or even for the price of a cup of coffee, i would take it. Even if its fake, you can resell it for 20-30 bucks to someone else. I know what gold looks like, so yeah...i would've bought it for $50 bucks.
You misunderstood me something fierce Let me restate... When the world goes to shit, gold won't be worth shit either. You can't do anything useful with gold. Think about it. Let's take it to the extreme: we're stranded on an island. I saved all the gold, you saved all the food. Are you going to sell me $1,100 worth of food for an ounce of gold? Of course not. What are you going to do with the gold? Nothing. Gold is worthless; food keeps you alive. Are you even going to give me a mouth-full of food for a pound of gold? Of course not. Gold is totally worthless in and of itself. My dollar comment was tounge-in-cheek. However, it's true. When stranded on that island, what has more value, paper that you can burn or gold that you do... nothing... with? Hence my ammo/guns comment. Those have value no matter what happens. Gold, dollar, and world economy be damned - guns can be used to provide what everyone needs: food and protection. Bottom line: answer me this - what gives gold intrinsic value? Don't say it's because it's been used for trading for thousands of years. That still depends on someone else wanting it for the purpose of selling it to someone else for something they need (food/selter). In and of itself it's useless. Where does this idea of the intrinsic value of gold come from?
But those don't matter if the world is going to hell in a handbasket, as all the gold bulls predict. In addition, gold was popular eons before anyone know what industry was. Where did the intrinsic value come from then?
Barter has been the medium of exchange for thousands of years. Gold and silver have very few practical applications outside of electronics or space satellites. If/when TSHTF, do you honestly believe that people are only going to be willing to trade in gold and silver? Agricultural commodities will be far more valuable.