Reply to: Why is gold so valuable?

[EternalOptimist]

Only if a bald war criminal in a wig shoots you with them...

[Doggy Styles]

You can make diamonds... you can't make gold...

But I've heard that diamonds can be very dangerous.

[EternalOptimist]

my brother used to work in a jewellers, every year or so they would take the overalls and throw them into the smelter. The tiny amount of gold that came out of a set of old overalls was enough to buy a new set.

One of his most important jobs was to sweep the floor. The sweepings were sifted for tiny fragments of diamond, which were sold on as industrial stock.

[bobhope]

Gold is valuable because of the (un) trustworthiness of governments.

If you could trust a government not to de-base the currency and not print loads of money, then there would be no need for gold.

Unfortunately, in the history of fiat money that has never, ever happened.

[AtW]

If I offer you 30p for a £1 does that make a £1 worth 30p?

Is it one 30p coin baggy?

[AtW]

however it is reliable so people invest in it as an alternative to cash or shares.

It is thought to be reliable alternative - or assumed even, just like with the houses.

Unless there is serious inflation nothing beats cash in terms of reliability (so long as banks don't go bust with your money).

[Doggy Styles]

If I offer you 30p for a £1 does that make a £1 worth 30p?

Ah, but here's the trick. I offer 31p.

[Bagpuss]

: "an asset is only worth what someone is prepared to pay for it".

If I offer you 30p for a £1 does that make a £1 worth 30p?

[TykeMerc]

No, it makes it very bad currency because people will hog gold coins. There is simply not enough gold int he world to satisfy cash requirements of modern economy.

I didn't suggest that it should be used as currency, however it is reliable so people invest in it as an alternative to cash or shares.

[AtW]

which make it a reliable currency.

No, it makes it very bad currency because people will hog gold coins. There is simply not enough gold int he world to satisfy cash requirements of modern economy.

[TykeMerc]

I think the question was WHY does it hold its value? (Except when Gordon Brown wants to sell it.)

It has a distinctive appearance, it doesn't tarnish, it's heavy, it's rare, and so since the beginning of trading it has been accepted as a standard currency.

It also can't be forged as there are simple tests to prove its authenticity which make it a reliable currency.

[Doggy Styles]

Gold holds its value. 200 years ago you could buy a good suit for an ounce of gold. Today you can still just about afford to get a suit for an ounce of gold ($820). 200 hundred years ago a suit was available for a few quid or whatever they priced items like that in those days. If you carried forward that money in pounds now, it would be equivalent to a few quid.

I think the question was WHY does it hold its value? (Except when Gordon Brown wants to sell it.)

It has a distinctive appearance, it doesn't tarnish, it's heavy, it's rare, and so since the beginning of trading it has been accepted as a standard currency.

[larry]

Gold holds its value. 200 years ago you could buy a good suit for an ounce of gold. Today you can still just about afford to get a suit for an ounce of gold ($820). 200 hundred years ago a suit was available for a few quid or whatever they priced items like that in those days. If you carried forward that money in pounds now, it would be equivalent to a few quid.

[TykeMerc]

Plan B anyone?

Reclamation of gold and platinum from scrap electronics is already done commercially and has been for several decades.

I did some business with one in West London about 20 years ago, their security was far better than anywhere else I've ever been including military sites.

[BrilloPad]

That sums up the man/woman relationship pretty well. A bloke just wants a bit of 'company' and a bird will gladly give it if there's enough in it for her.

Whether that be a bacardi breezer, meal ticket, gold to dig, or simply a pussy-whipped slave, women have been exploiting men and their inability to think outside the dick for centuries.

Hats off to women then. Nature has this way of eradicating those who are too stupid to survive.