Posted on 02/21/2009 2:47:20 AM PST by blueplum
Juggling glasses of white wine and baggies filled with baubles, dozens of women descended on a well-appointed Orange County home this week to trade in their old golden treasures for hefty checks.
There were earrings from ex-boyfriends, ring settings with missing stones and chain bracelets from sorority sisters. One woman brought in her husband's wedding ring -- from a previous marriage.
Julia Geivet, 39, had hopes of selling an "embarrassing" Italian horn bauble she had owned since eighth grade and a few other small trinkets, which she thought might get her $30.
"I figured I'd come get a little money and socialize and chat," said Geivet, who was recently laid off as a manager at Verizon Communications Inc. "It might not come out to a lot, but right now, every little bit helps."
She left with a check for $302.92.
Gold is hot. The precious metal soared $25.70 an ounce Friday to $1,001.80, topping the $1,000 mark for the first time in nearly a year.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
...by Saint Franklin, America’s foremost admirer of Joseph Stalin.
No, but you can eat the bodies of the people you kill who try to take your gold away from you.
.....Sounds more like a travelling PAWN SHOP.....
That is pretty well on target.
The unmentioned fact is how much did the gold sold for $300 cost when purchased. The women had no clue as to the actual value of what was sold. Other women were selling and the consensus of the thing to do was established.
The herd mentality of this group elected the Messiah
That is incorrect. Even in Argentina in 2001, gold was the preferred method of money (or USD). For day to day stuff, silver is better anyway. You going to use a 1oz gold coin to buy some food?
Good posts about possible gold confiscation
Our huge restive immigrant population will not accept this shit even if the sheeple do
Also in a confiscation Canada and Mexico would still be available to trade gold for paper money (hopefully)
Also one should have a core gold holding that is absolutely held until the dust settles, the chaos is over and the United States has a new honest investment climate and economic order
Prior to that, during the chaos, you spend down your junk silver dimes and quarters and some gold if need be
My husband is a metalsmith, although it is a hobby, these days, and we have been out of the business as such for 13 years.
We have fine silver, sterling and 18kt/24kt from back then. We were discussing just how gold would be used in the event of TEOTWAWKI. We think people will want gold melted down and tested or alloyed for karat. Same for silver, tested and alloyed for percentage of silver. Some people will want to produce their own local coinage. Some will want their old jewelry refashioned, because life will go on, gifts will be given, marriages will take place and some folks will decide to wear their hoard.
Keep some aside, when scrapping.
What is the dwt price, these days? I recall in the 1980s, with $800 gold, the scrap price was $9/dwt for pure. We paid $5-$7 per troy oz from the supplier for fine silver back then.
Still not nearly a “bubble”. When the U.S. Mint has product for sale, when you can buy silver on ebay for less than a 25% premium over ‘spot’, when you start seeing movies and TV shows about gold / gold mining / gold markets, when you overhear people at the office or in the Starbucks line comparing Morgans of different dates, then we might be a year or so from it starting to become a bubble.
That was common 'currency' in Weimar Germany.
I'm betting on coffee, chocolate, sugar and old US silver coins.
I think gold can be a good investment, but my point is that, not only is it not a panacea, but it could backfire.
As most see gold, investmentwise, it is an inflation hedge. However, if deflation persists, or the government simply confiscates it (as they did during the LAST GD) for a set sum. It really won’t do you much good.
You can’t eat a shovel either, but you can use it to plant a garden. You can’t eat a rifle, but you can use it to acquire meat. You can’t eat a shotgun, but you can use it to protect what you DO have.
Gold is not bad, but it is not as wonderful as some belive.
Unless you are making electronic components, that is.
>>You can eat Federal Reserve Notes but as a store of value and nutrition I believe you’ll be very disappointed in their performance.<<
Which is why I did not bring them up as a gold alternative.
:P
>>No, but you can eat the bodies of the people you kill who try to take your gold away from you.<<
Good point.
But what if I am a vegetarian. ;)
I agree with that. The problem I have with gold right this minute is that I think it is in a fear induced bubble. The dollar is rising against other currencies and against consumer goods.
This means the outcome could be that gold, right this minute, is the next bubble, like oil, real estate and credit before that, etc. And like the oil bubble, it is very limited and will be very short lived, I suspect.
Since there is currently no inflation fear (as the economy collapses) I will wait to see if gold hits a peak. If it is like oil, we could see it drop below 500. Meanwhile, I am stocking up on useful commodities. things that have real value, like tools, food, clothing, guns, liquor. These things can actually be used beyond their “barter” value.
But I am watching gold VERY closely.
Gold has been a store of value since before the birth of any on this website. In fact, before the birth of their parents, grandparents and many generations previous. It was a store of value in the Days of Caesar and has remained so thru time. I am amused by those who say you can’t eat it if you are hungry, that it has no useful purpose (of course, that is nonsense, it has many utilitarian purposes). But these same fools have no conception of the worthlessness of paper currencies in times of great inflation. Zimbabwe within the last few weeks issued trillion Z$ bills. As merchants would no longer accept them they turned to smuggled US$ currency. Recently they have turned to small grains of gold to buy bread and cooking oils. When the currency collapses it is amazing even in a primitive society how they can turn to the one and only real money and measure it in the smallest fractions of an ounce against goods and services.
Those who believe that paper currency has real value should consider giving a ring made of paper currency to their gal friend rather than a ring of gold and watch their reaction. That gold will always have a value, the paper when it becomes worthless as a currency is worthless even as scrap.
Yeah, I’m not buying now. I bought between 250 and 320. If it drops down to the 500- 600 level I will be back in. Long term, with the $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ debt we are piling up the price will go up, and I think quite a bit.
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