It really ticks me off when I hear the ads that some companies put out trying to sell gold. They claim that gold is a means to store value that will never go bad, unlike stocks and currencies, etc. The real truth is that gold has value for precisely the same reason that currencies do, namely that people are willing to accept gold in exchange for other assets. Gold has no more actual intrinsic value than any financial asset. Now, as this article points out, there are other assets that are stores of value. If your concern really is storing value in the event of a true economic collapse, only one of these alternatives really makes any sense. In a true societal collapse, only guns and ammo would have true intrinsic value, namely that they give you the ability to defend yourself and your property. It the SHTF scenario, none of the other possibilities, including gold, would really be worth anything.
Wine, firearms seem to be the only practical items among the 11 listed.
During the obola apocalypse I can think of other items, but firearms (guns and ammo) will be high on that list.
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This is largely because every single ounce held in the LMBA system has been sold to (on average) a hundred different people.
That's a fake supply of 100 to 1. A hundred promissory notes for every physical ounce.
Gold is insanely undervalued. Not indeed by a 100 to 1, but by some large factor.
I store most of mine in real estate and Apple stock. So far so good.
I keep mine in my wallet - it fits.
Are cartridges considered “odd”?
Gold is never worth nothing. Neither is junk silver. You should have some of both. In addition food, ammo and booze are always worth something.
“It has no utility.” Warren is a smart fellow, but in trying to make a point he made this ridiculous statement.
“Gold is insanely undervalued.”
This is quite incorrect by realistic measures. If you are only considering golds value from a paper or psychological value then golds price is exactly what it is. If you are considering the price from an actual usable commodity value, it is insanely overpriced.
Lets compare it to something highly needed in manufacturing, but much more rare, lithium. Lithium, however, is not characteristically price manipulated or with the same ownership stigma.
world gold reserves 114 billion tonnes estimated
world lithium reserves 13.4 million tons estimated (USGS)
pure refined lithium cost $123/lb, or if it were measured in troy ounces that would be about $10 per ounce.
So if lithium which is considerably more rare, and in high demand for batteries for electric vehicles and other things is $10 per ounce, then shouldn’t gold which is considerably more available be worth less than half that?
So in reality the price of gold over the cost of mining is just a big mental case.
I am heavily invested in metals, copper,nickel,silver,zinc etc.
It`s all in that big glass jug by the fireplace.
Collectibles are worthless in a SHTF scenario. During deflationary times (should we ever see such a thing again), collectibles lose tremendous value. I doubt collectibles would be that valuable during a currency collapse either.
From a more practical standpoint, vintage cars are most valuable when they are sought after by those who have finally achieved financial success and wish to relive their youth, buying the models they used to have or wished they had had when they were young. After that generation passes away, then those models lose value, often lots of value, because now their market is to a much smaller group of die-hard collectors.
Diamonds of course are actually almost worthless due to a worldwide glut that is soaked up by De Beers in a massive effort to keep the supply limited and prices artificially high.
Guns and ammo are interesting, especially guns, because even in a worse case scenario, modern high quality firearms never lose their value and are quite liquid. I have a friend who treats a large part of his gun collection as basically a bank account to convert to cash whenever needed. He’s always on the lookout for good deals too. And of course, you always have the practical value of guns in various self-defense scenarios as well.
Rare stamps, small pieces of art, documents, memorabilia are good investments as long as there is no major collapse. As long as the US & global economy continues to produce an increasing number of wealthy people, these items will probably hold up over time because they become more difficult to obtain with time.
One of the key benefits to holding small items with large stores of value is that they can be relatively easy to take from place to place and across borders w/o attracting attention. This is definitely something to consider with civil forfeiture and closer screening of US citizens at the borders.
A customs or TSA agent will never know the wide differences in value between all the variations in condition and subtypes of early US stamps.
You’d be amazed at how well Lego holds up over time.
Heck no! 600 guns would fit in a moving van very nicely. Don't ask me how I know that.
I've been thinking about it. Two very good things to have would be a private water supply and a greenhouse obscured from public view.
