Posted on 09/13/2015 8:46:23 AM PDT by Rockitz
You could take 500,000.00 of more out of the country without raising and eyebrow. Any number of slabbed colonial coins have such value as determined at auction.
I'm not saying BitCoin is the answer, but some form of digital currency that government had no control over would shift the balance-of-power back to individuals and away from the global totalitarian government they want so badly.
Ping.
I’ve heard that governments would like to phase out cash over the next 10 to 20 years. Which would mean that all of our money would be whatever is showing on the accounting ledgers of our bank.
Phasing out actual cash would give governments much greater control than they have now over all of our financial lives.
It may be pushed as an idea to take the profit out of drug dealing and other crime, if we reach a point where cash currency is no longer legal tender, and has to be deposited into a bank.
I certainly oppose criminal activity and how drug lords and others use cash, but, am concerned about losing other freedoms if we give government greater control over our finances.
I remember reading years ago about an employer who paid his staff all in pre-1965 silver US coins and declared the face value for tax purposes. My recollection is that the IRS challenged him but he got away with it since the coins were legal US tender. I just did a search and couldn’t find the story, perhaps it would no longer be permitted.
Elsewhere in the article the author laments the fact that banks are reducing the numbers of safe-deposit boxes. Anyone who would store precious metals or even paper cash in a bank safe-deposit box is out of their $%)*ing minds!
Gee, you think reducing all wealth to 0s and 1s on a government server might lead to abuse?
Man, you are quick!
The other thing to consider is rolls of old US 90% silver coins.
I've tried to do some research on if one should have metals in a safe place. It's not easy, sorting through all the sales pitches and hype. My take-a-way is having some easily identifiable gold and/or silver could be good for barter in an emergency. But it's only a good idea if one knows how to sell it and what it's worth.
It's a jungle out there, though, with dealers trying to sell "rare coins of great potential future value, guaranteed to soar even further in value". I'm not sure I could ever know enough to get involved with rare coins.
My definition of out of their minds is a gold IRA or other gold assets with a company “for safe storage”. What is the point of buying metals and having just a piece of paper that proves you spent money for metals?
Had a 10 oz. silver bar and a 1 oz. gold bar in my brief case on one trip. The TSA agent held them over his head and yelled what are these? (dumb ass) I had to explain what they were to his boss. I use them to calibrate mining equipment. So he asked where is my equipment? I very nicely told him it was none of his G.D. business. I had to finally explain we ship it by secure transport not airlines so the TSA will not damage it.
I have invested all of my money in china, crystal, and silver. I’m rich, according to replacements.com.
*********************************************************************
I’m a self made hundredaire myself and watch my money closely.
For me, I don't have two nickels to rub together that would amount to anything. All my assets are tied up in brass, copper, lead and steel.
I guess you could convert your assets into rare baseball cards or postage stamps and get them through customs. (You can always keep the certificates somewhere else/send via mail). Converting them back into liquid assets would take time and you would lose money.
Maybe you could put some diamonds in a tacky arrangement to look like a cheap costume jewelry piece.
Melting down PMs into auto parts might be a good way to transport out money. Hiding in plain sight, you could make a platinum bumper, or an engine part.
I do remember a story where a guy tried to smuggle out some miniature gold Eiffel Tower souvenirs but he was actually caught by customs. It is true that the little gold coins (Swiss miss, French roosters) which have some copper content, can look like pennies especially if they are a little dirty.
I wonder what laws Canada or Mexico have with regards to taking money out. I don’t think it would be too hard to get something into Canada.
“Because everyone travels across international borders on a weekly basis with a briefcase full of silver. Nothing suspicious about that.”
Now that would be really stupid. Silver is only 15-20 an ounce (spot v premium + spot). Better off to have a platinum briefcase with papers inside. Palladium would also work. They look like steel or Aluminum.
There’s probably someone out there making ordinary items out of PMs for concealment. As long as you can check the metal’s conductivity (so it’s not tungsten which has a similar atomic weight to Au) you can prove what it is. Each alloy has a specific conductivity.
It would be even better to make gold buckles, buttons etc out of gold with a little more copper mixed in as an alloy so it would look like brass. Just look at a SA kruegerrand and you’ll notice that it’s darker than a U.S. Eagle for example. That’s because it has more copper in it.
Pt buckles would work as well.
Bump
>>”I see you have a lot of money. Based on that, I suspect that you are a drug dealer.”
Possibly. But more likely: “I see you have a lot of money. Based on that, I want some of it.”
A European acquaintance worked as a contractor in a country where Gold was relatively cheap. He bought a large about of Gold Jewelry, placed it on himself, his wife and his children and through customs. He later sold it for a huge profit. This was a long time ago so I’m sure they’ve closed a lot of loopholes.
They busted a bunch of Colombians doing that a few years ago; they fashioned everything conceivable out of gold to get their proceeds from drug sales in the US back to Colombia. IIRC, they even used gold to make eyelets on shoes; they definitely did belt buckles...
No need to "paint". You can buy plating kits off the Internet. That's what I did. You can plate metals to be practically any other metal you want (although you may have to use intermediate metal solutions to get there). The kits are cheap (except for gold solution), and do a great job. But take time and labor. For example, I plated a house full of brass door and lamp hardware to be copper plated for a vintage look. Belt buckles would be easy. The process uses electricity, and is reversible.
There you go.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.