The actual value of Gold(or silver for that matter)doesn't change. The reason gold is so high now is because of the very low value of the US dollar. If Gold goes down it will still buy the same amount of goods for the same volume of gold(in other words an ounce will buy the same regardless of the "price" of gold)because the value of the dollar will have gone up. It is simple once you figure it out. Buying Gold, actual gold not gold on paper, is a very smart move and will pay off big for those who do if the SHTF.
I’ll add to your post that silver is actuall a metal being consumed by industry. Heck, they put it in socks now, for it’s bacteria fighting qualities.
First, when the world is starving, nobody is going to give you a loaf of bread for a gold coin.
Second, in 1934, you could buy a car for $405, and an ounce of gold was $35. A good pair of shoes cost you $3.
Today, an ounce of gold is $1600, and a car is $25,000. The shoes? $50.
Gold has gone up 45 times.
The car has gone up 65 times.
The shoes, only 15 times.
So, shoes are a bad investment. Except that, if you had a pair of shoes and an ounce of gold in 1933, and put both of them in a vault, the shoes would be much more valuable.
It is interesting that people always compare gold, a single commodity, to the entire stock market, or the entire world investment market. They prove that gold is an above-average investment.
But compare gold to a specific stock, and you’ll find lots of stocks that outperform gold over any particular time period, except maybe 2008-2011.
And the entire market has outperformed gold in the past two years, although that could be a momentary thing. Gold is good today with Italy’s problems.