Gold/Silver

[Detroitgator]

To quote Buffett about precious metals:

"Gold gets dug out of the ground in Africa, or someplace. Then we melt it down, dig another hole, bury it again, and pay people to stand around guarding it. It has no utility."

Doesn't pay a dividend either.

Doesn't have counter-party risk either... but who am I kidding, as long as the govt will bail things out, only us retail types have counter-party risk. ;)

 

[78]

Doesn't have counter-party risk either... but who am I kidding, as long as the govt will bail things out, only us retail types have counter-party risk. ;)

AOC, Kamala, Pocahontas and Col. Sanders are all the counter-party risk I can stomach for the moment.

 

[Detroitgator]

AOC, Kamala, Pocahontas and Col. Sanders are all the counter-party risk I can stomach for the moment.

I was out of the loop all last week when you got this going, so thank you on that! That said, I'm just getting caught up on reading everything and hope to start posting soon. What I'm hoping we can do is maybe agree on somewhere between 5-10 "main subject areas" that we could get "perma-stickied" at the top of the forum, then post all other things as regular threads.

 

[bradgator2]

I was out of the loop all last week when you got this going, so thank you on that! That said, I'm just getting caught up on reading everything and hope to start posting soon. What I'm hoping we can do is maybe agree on somewhere between 5-10 "main subject areas" that we could get "perma-stickied" at the top of the forum, then post all other things as regular threads.

Divits go it going. But I have been hoping you would contribute!

 

[Detroitgator]

Divits go it going. But I have been hoping you would contribute!

Damn it! I knew in my head it was @divits and was going to double check, but didn’t! Thanks Divits!

 

[Gator By Marriage]

Mrs.G is a big believer in gold and silver, though she insists it be properly shaped. I.E., in the shape of a ring, bracelet or necklace. Never once in almost 30 years has she said “take it back.”

 

[CaribGator]

Main rule of investing in Gold or Silver, is take physical possession of the goods. DO NOT invest in one of those situations where you are holding paper and somebody warehouses/guards the metal. They are oversold by at least 30% scamming the people knowing that most won't take actual possession and if and when SHTF, oh well, they will either declare bankruptcy or say it was stolen or something where you investment is just gone.

FYI this will be a game changer in the money markets, countries that have their currencies backed by PM will be on solid footing, those that continue down the fiat path, probably hyperinflation and down the tubes
TNT Members: Return to the "Gold Standard" March 29, 2019

 

[divits]

Got a call from my dad a few years ago when he was only 90. He asked me if I could come over to his house to help him move some stuff. When I get there he shows me these small crates that weighed a ton. Turns out he had read some doomsday article and decided he needed to diversify his portfolio with a bunch of silver. He literally had 60-70 pounds of newly minted silver eagle coins. And when I told him he can't leave that kind of money in his house and needed a safe deposit box he said he didn't want to do that because "Obama was going to get at it that way."

Anyway, I had to try and find someplace in his house where I figured it would be safe. Hopefully I did.

BTW, with commissions paid on the silver and its devaluation since he purchased it he's down about 25%.

 

[Detroitgator]

Just my two bits on precious metals, because I don't want to get into a "first world problems/perspective" debate on them:

1. Precious metals are insurance, not an investment. If you want to "invest" in precious metals, you'd better be a very savvy options/commodities trader or ETF (from 3X to -3X) swing trader.
2. If you view them in their proper context of insurance, not investment, you should never look at them in terms of "dollars per ounce" today vs yesterday/100 years ago, but in therms of "ounces per commodity compared to". Like how many ounces of precious metals did it take to buy eggs/gallon of gas/square footage of real estate... 100 years ago vs today. When you do it that way, you see that an egg is still an egg, a house is still a house, but the dollar is toilet paper. Precious metals are insurance, not an investment. Ask people in Europe during 2007-09 how many times banks were flat out closed. Remember? Even ATMs were closed for withdrawals... good luck with that "safety" deposit box.But that could NEVER happen HERE!
3. If you don't possess them physically (and no, a safety deposit box is not possessing them), you don't have precious metals and bought them for the wrong reason.
4. If you are considering buying precious metals in case of something catastrophic societally/economically, don't buy anything larger than one ounce pieces. Actually, just buy the little 10/20 gram bits of gold, and for silver, just buy a bag of junk pre-1965 90% coins (like dimes and quarters). Everyone recognizes them and they are useful. All big online brokers like APMEX sell them. What the fuk are you going to do with a 1 Kg gold bar? You want to buy eggs? Who the fuk can "make change" for a 1 Kg bar? Stuff like that won't get you through a crunch and would only be useful if the dollar is ever revalued.
5. For those that think precious metals (even in small amounts) are a ridiculous relic, come travel with me to second and third world locations and get another opinion. EVERYONE in Ukraine asks me to bring them 10-50 gram bars. In most even second world countries, they sell them right at the bank teller window and guess what? They cost a LOT more than ask. Venezuela had the third highest standard of living in the WORLD 20 years ago and keep telling yourself that another "Great Depression" could NEVER happen in the US again or that it will never be worse than the crashes of 1987 (Black Monday), 1997-98 (Asia & Russian crashes), or 2000-03 (Tech bubble), or 2007-09... could never be worse... anyone see a pattern of escalation? Yeah, could never be worse or like the Great Depression again, right? ;)
6. Precious metals are insurance, not an investment. No need to buy a $20MM life insurance policy, but probably a little policy, just in case.

 

[Pablos Tunnel]

If you are buying gold and silver for the “doomsday” scenario, you better also be buying ammo. Because if it gets that bad you will need to defend and protect what you value. Just saying.

 

[g8tr72]

Great thread, lots of great info.

Simple question.

I have inherited some pure silver bars of various weights. If I am understanding the advice given in this thread, it would better (as insurance) to exchange those bars for pure silver coins?

 

[bradgator2]

Great thread, lots of great info.

Simple question.

I have inherited some pure silver bars of various weights. If I am understanding the advice given in this thread, it would better (as insurance) to exchange those bars for pure silver coins?

I guess the real question is for what purpose?

I have not found a dealer to do something like that for free or even near free. So you are going to lose some of your value just to do this exchange. Although from what I can tell, some others on here know some better dealers.

Personally, I would simply keep it as is. But like DG said... physically keep direct possession of them. If it is for currency for doomsday, I would simply add to your pile with some junk pre65 coins.

 

[g8tr72]

I guess the real question is for what purpose?

I have not found a dealer to do something like that for free or even near free. So you are going to lose some of your value just to do this exchange. Although from what I can tell, some others on here know some better dealers.

Personally, I would simply keep it as is. But like DG said... physically keep direct possession of them. If it is for currency for doomsday, I would simply add to your pile with some junk pre65 coins.

Simply insurance in a SHTF scenario.

My thought, influenced from a practical standpoint was that in that Event, I would be better established to do transactions with coins rather than much larger bars.

But if it would substantially reduce the value of my silver to do that, then nevermind.

 

[Gator By Marriage]

I guess the real question is for what purpose?

I have not found a dealer to do something like that for free or even near free. So you are going to lose some of your value just to do this exchange. Although from what I can tell, some others on here know some better dealers.

Personally, I would simply keep it as is. But like DG said... physically keep direct possession of them. If it is for currency for doomsday, I would simply add to your pile with some junk pre65 coins.

Sometime I wonder if the best currency for doomsday is going to be ammo. It does have the added benefit of being less likely than gold or silver to be stolen before doomsday........

 

[bradgator2]

Simply insurance in a SHTF scenario.

My thought, influenced from a practical standpoint was that in that Event, I would be better established to do transactions with coins rather than much larger bars.

But if it would substantially reduce the value of my silver to do that, then nevermind.

Probably depends on what exactly you were left with. To me... silver is silver. But there are buyers who pay huge premiums for name brand mints like Pirth or Pamp.

Take a peak at the differences in price:
Silver Bars by Brand | Buy Popular Silver Bullion Bars Online Today | APMEX

 

[Detroitgator]

Great thread, lots of great info.

Simple question.

I have inherited some pure silver bars of various weights. If I am understanding the advice given in this thread, it would better (as insurance) to exchange those bars for pure silver coins?

I would just hold what you have.. you inherited it and you'd lose on the exchange.

 

[no1g8r]

Sometime I wonder if the best currency for doomsday is going to be ammo. It does have the added benefit of being less likely than gold or silver to be stolen before doomsday........

Are you saying that you would trade ammo for other goods and services in a doomsday scenario? Arming someone else seems like a bad idea, especially if they know that you have something that they want (like more ammo).

 

[Gator By Marriage]

Are you saying that you would trade ammo for other goods and services in a doomsday scenario? Arming someone else seems like a bad idea, especially if they know that you have something that they want (like more ammo).

I was actually being somewhat facetious, though I imagine ammo would end up being worth more than gold and silver.

 

[no1g8r]

I was actually being somewhat facetious, though I imagine ammo would end up being worth more than gold and silver.

Sorry, didn't pick up on the facetiousness. I do think a person would be better off in a doomsday scenario by having guns and ammo instead of silver and gold, but even better might be to have some of both.

An old prepper friend of mine used to say something about "beans, bullets, bullion, and band-aids" as being the necessities in a SHTF scenario. I hadn't thought about that in awhile until this thread. :)

 

[Detroitgator]

Are you saying that you would trade ammo for other goods and services in a doomsday scenario? Arming someone else seems like a bad idea, especially if they know that you have something that they want (like more ammo).

If you are worried about some kind of collapse, you'd want "all of the above."