Gold, Gold, Gold!

If things truly break down, What are you going to do with all that gold? Going to try and trade it too me for food? Sorry, not interested. I can't eat the stuff. Going to try and spend it at whatever market square that opens up? Go ahead, but I'm thinking barter will be the rule of the day,

Nobody wants your stupid useless metal when the SHTF. Anybody that buys that stuff now is only feeding the machine and making somebody else rich. Buy knives and ammo and things you can trade. I'd rather have an egg laying chicken than a ton of "Precious metal"

That is what I was thinking. Wouldn't you rather be armed, ready for anything? People need to be smart, and instead of buying gold, get survival training, and like you said, stuff that is worht trading.

as the saying goes...he who has the gold makes the rules. totally hear what you are saying though, but that is why it is one of the only investments throughout the history of the civilized world to always retain a value. for instance, theoretically if SHTF and even though you may have no value or need for gold, their will always be someone who does. you are correct in ascerting that you can't eat it, but since they just can't make more gold and the world supply has been in decline since 2000 it will always remain a prize to the wealthy and powerful. Bling Bling

I feel like no matter what, gold will always be valuable, simply because the wealthy will always give it value. In a world with survival being the prime focus, someone who can afford to trade survival items such as food for lots of gold could be seen as someone wealthy and powerful.

I mean, if you think about it, gold only has the value given to it by us now. Just like any other item.

they most likely dont think there is going to be a universal collapse of world governments. there will be people who still find value in gold whether the world collapses or not (i.e. rappers )

[edit on 16-11-2009 by ELECTRICkoolaidZOMBIEtest]

Originally posted by Jnewell33
you are correct in ascerting that you can't eat it,

Just to be pedantic here (as I do from time to time ) you can most certainly eat gold... Well consume it may be a better word.

Actually they did a bit of an experiment in Japan, they took the sewerage from certain places and incinerated it... In the ash they were actually pulling out more grammes of gold per tonne than some successful gold mines were getting per tonne of ore

They put this down to a few reasons, one was the various industries using gold in their manufacture processes - another was that the Japanese love to eat and drink products with gold in them... Gold leaf on cakes gold flakes in champagne that sort of stuff.

Of course there is absolutely no nutritional value to it - but you can eat it, it will just pass right through your body unchanged... [/pedantic mode]

edit: Here is a link - they were actually getting 1.9 kg per tonne of ash!!

[edit on 16/11/2009 by Now_Then]

Originally posted by korath


Nobody wants your stupid useless metal when the SHTF.

Of course not.

They want things they can use.

Everyday items are most useful in a shtf situation.

What happens after that?

Will you be able to keep all of your savings and retirement money in MRE's and ammo?

What if you have a quarter million dollar retirement fund to protect? Are you going to cash it in, take the penalties and pay the taxes just so you can stock up on toilet paper and knives?

Not likely.

You might try rolling it over into precious metals or gold stocks.

Gold has been around for thousands of years.
It has been used in just about every culture since the Sumerians.

It holds value in excess of what you can eat or use for tools.

Nobody expects you to survive with gold. They just see it as another tool in the effort to hold on to some of the value we've worked so hard for all of our lives.

Just to be clear, If you have less than 10,000 in excess money then you don't really need gold. If you have a few thousand then silver might be a good bet. If you've been saving all of your life or have retirement funds or a nest egg that you want to protect, gold should be a part of what you put it into.

It's not a cure all but it is a useful tool when used properly.

Well i hid my gold in plain sight.But looking at it you would proberly not think its gold at all.I made solid gold model soldiers instead of lead soldiers and painted them.They sit in a sealed display cabnet diorama setting discribed as airfix napoleonic plastic soldiers.Who will ever know

You cannot eat dollar bills either.

So I suggest you send me all your gold and all your money.

Just transfer it into my Nigerian bank account.
Thanks in advance.

Originally posted by GORGANTHIUM
Who will ever know

Any one working for your internet service provider and who happens to follow your posts? Any one you know in your personal life who follows your posts? I can think of a few more maybe! - Hope your wireless network is secure

This kind of assertion that gold is useless or can't be eaten - I hear it - but I can't believe what I'm hearing.

Very simply - gold and silver are money. They are a type of money however, that does not rely on a central authority to 'imbue' them with some value - they have intrinsic value.

Gold has value almost solely because it is a store of wealth, and a medium of exchange.

Silver on the other hand is one of the most incredible industrial metals in existence.

Silver is anti bacterial - it is commonly used to plate surgical instruments - bacteria cannot survive in contact with silver. Silver is also the most reflective, the most thermally and electrically conductive metal. And due to silver being consumed over the last century in industry - there is now less silver around, then there is gold.

Both metals will always be useful to mediate bartering - how do you barter services for services for example? What if you want something, but have nothing they need from you to trade?

Then you need a medium of exchange that will be accepted by third parties, gold and silver fit that description. Because they have high value for low weight - they are very transportable, and can be divided into pieces to suit whatever transaction.

Gold is money - and when paper money has no value, you can be sure that gold and silver will retain their age old intrinsic value - as stores of wealth, and mediums of exchange.

If things really do go bad - I envisage that silver will become far more valuable - even eclipsing the value of gold - due to its properties, possibly the antibacterial characteristic will be considered very valuable.