Posted on 10/16/2008 1:03:38 PM PDT by ovrtaxt
That’s exactly my financial plan right now! :p
Those silver coins of yours have also retained their purchasing power over time. Look back to 1964, which was the last year coins in the U.S. were minted at 90% silver. A gallon of gas could be bought for $0.25 in silver. Today a gallon of gas can still be bought for that 1964 silver quarter.
From my past orders, it appears they haven’t gone up. But they always sell high.
Not nearly as well as stocks and bonds, over time.
TIPS hedge inflation and pay interest, too.
“. I took a little cash out recently and bank teller had to get permission from two superiors to give me the funds. They did NOT want to let go of it; tried to talk me out of it and believe me, it wasn’t very much money.”
~~~
I’ve seen this very same story posted all over these threads
for weeks,,,
It took some a few days to get “Their” money away from the
Bank!...
A friend was telling me he sold all his gold (probably paper positions) and got into TIPS. Looks pretty strong right now.
What's your take on investing in less hyped metals like platinum and palladium?
They are viewed more an industrial commodity than a monetary vehicle. Platinum is way down because cars need catalytic converters, and there aren’t many cars rolling out right now. Not sure about palladium.
Silver became nearly worthless overnight when the Hunt brother's scheme to corner the silver market collapsed; silver going from $50 an ounce down to $11 and then even lower. Same pricing collapse occurred with gold in the '80s.
Investors in precious metals are exposed to the same market risks as investors in other financial assets, and gold doesn't pay a dividend. This is data mining, but:
In March 2008, the gold price increased above $1000, which in real terms is still well below the $850/oz. peak on January 21, 1980. Indexed for inflation, the 1980 high would equate to a price of around $2400 in 2007 US dollars.
Sometimes gold doesn't even protect against inflation.
That's true, but I'd think they would still retain their intrinsic value because of their physical properties and relative rarity. Since they aren't viewed as a traditional monetary vehicle, the prices would be less volatile, and the metal itself less likely to be subject to confiscation if the government decides to re-visit some of FDR's policies.
There are certainly advantages.
Personally, I like silver because an ounce is so liquid for common transactions at a lower value.
You might be interested in this Boglehead's thread on Harry Browne, who advocated a defensive 4x25 "permanent portfolio" of stocks, LT treasuries, cash and gold.
I’ve got a few pounds of pre-64 silver coins stashed away, but that doesn’t seem like it would be a good way to buy silver. Any suggestions for a good source? I could probably handle some small scale refining of industrial scrap if it was worth the effort.
try nwtmint.com. Actually, the pre-64 coins are the most common ‘starter’ investment for silver. They are extremely liquid, since they’re recognizable US currency. I’d keep those, along with some ammo. lol
If you've got dimes, you can put 'em in a 12 ga. for hunting vampires and werewolves, and have both at once!
1965-69 half dollars are 40% silver. The rest are just cupro-nickel.
If platinum is depressed because of the lack of automobiles being produced, then that might be a good choice, though it might always go down further. Platinum is perceived as being more precious than gold, and its present value isn't much above that of gold, so it might not be a bad choice. Note that platinum is especially counterfeit-resistant since the only denser metals are even more expensive. A bar of gold-coated tungsten would be almost as dense as a bar of gold, but noticeably less dense than a bar of platinum. If a rectangular bar of material weighs as much as platinum, that's a pretty good sign that it is platinum.
The semi-precious metal that I find boggling is rhodium. The price chart screams bubble, but it's still at many times the pre-bubble price.
How would one readily protect oneself against silver counterfeiters? Gold may be reasonably judged on the basic of chemical inertness or density, though one would still have to test the gold carefully to avoid being stung by a bar of gold-plated tungsten.
Platinum is probably the best counterfeit-proof metal because its density (21.9kg/l) is more than 13% greater than that of gold or tungsten. It's rather pricey, though, and the price may be affected by economic factors.
Sweet, the undead shotty!
http://www.fisch.co.za/home.htm
These people make an instrument for that purpose. I don’t know anything about it.
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