I had this debate just the other day with someone and they kept telling me I was nuts but my contention was that other than for some industrial purposes gold has no value. It's like freaking tulip bulbs, it's only valuable as long as we think it has some value. He insisted that I was nuts.
Of course he probably didn't want to tell me that he had purchased gold in 1980 @ $850 an Oz. and was pumping it to avoid a loss (grin).
I never saw or heard of anyone throwing gold in the trash bin. Gold is a beautiful lustrous compact convenient store of wealth. People know this instinctively.
As an aside, gold is used for NEW YEAR gifts in Japan; little gold bars and jewelry are the most popular gifts, followed by baskets of extremely expensive fruit.
Indians are HUGE gold jewelry buyers.
And yes, this is just like the Tulip Mania! It isn't any different than any other BUBBLE/MANIA...all of which burst; some sooner than others.
Oh yes, I well remember when hold was at $850 an oz.; too bad that the goldbugs here have no real feel for commodity history. LOL