Collectibles are worthless...

[RockMyAmadeus]

. In a post-apocalyptic world, gold is likely to be worthless.

 

That is almost certainly to be the exact opposite of reality.

 

A lot of you folks, having never had experience with precious metal as a method of exchange, really don't seem to understand the utility these things have in facilitating commerce, ESPECIALLY in a world where basic necessities are hard to come by.

 

Yes, THEORETICALLY, "gold is only worth what someone will pay for it." But you fail to understand that gold, and to a lesser extent platinum, silver, etc, has utility because it is an easy method for storing large amounts of value in a small amount of space, that is easily defended, and easily hidden.

 

On top of that, it is easily accepted, and easily exchanged.

 

Gold will have value not because people want to own the pretty, pretty gold...but because it is very useful in trade.

 

The most apocalyptic the world has ever been...central Europe during WWII...and gold was essential to the underground economy.

 

Why do you all think gold will have no value?

[RockMyAmadeus]

Nice.

 

 

Don't be a .

[MetalPSI]

. In a post-apocalyptic world, gold is likely to be worthless.

 

That is almost certainly to be the exact opposite of reality.

 

A lot of you folks, having never had experience with precious metal as a method of exchange, really don't seem to understand the utility these things have in facilitating commerce, ESPECIALLY in a world where basic necessities are hard to come by.

 

Yes, THEORETICALLY, "gold is only worth what someone will pay for it." But you fail to understand that gold, and to a lesser extent platinum, silver, etc, has utility because it is an easy method for storing large amounts of value in a small amount of space, that is easily defended, and easily hidden.

 

On top of that, it is easily accepted, and easily exchanged.

 

The most apocalyptic the world has ever been...central Europe during WWII...and gold was essential to the underground economy.

 

Why do you all think gold will have no value?

 

Its too soft and malliable. Give me steel....

[RockMyAmadeus]

 

Why do you all think gold will have no value?

 

Its too soft and malliable. Give me steel....

 

They solved that problem centuries ago.

[MetalPSI]

Gold club - Nice and heavy, starts to mushroom and blunt with repeated use

 

Steel club - Hey check this out, I can crush rocks!

[RockMyAmadeus]

Gold club - Nice and heavy, starts to mushroom and blunt with repeated use

 

Steel club - Hey check this out, I can crush rocks!

 

You don't use it for weapons, dingus!

 

[Mr 9.8]

Gold club - Nice and heavy, starts to mushroom and blunt with repeated use

 

Steel club - Hey check this out, I can crush rocks!

 

You don't use it for weapons, dingus!

 

Great, Now every time I read a RMA post it will be in Dr. Steve Brule's voice.

[MetalPSI]

Gold club - Nice and heavy, starts to mushroom and blunt with repeated use

 

Steel club - Hey check this out, I can crush rocks!

 

You don't use it for weapons, dingus!

 

 

I've played too much Skyrim I think

[thirdgreenham]

[Red84]

I see the same thing happening with Legos now, and it seems to have become a fad right after the Lego movie, people hoarding sets hoping they'll sell them for huge profits. But at the end of the day, as much as you might love the blocks, no one in their right mind is going to pay $5,000 for a toy. Collectibles just present an illusion of gold, but they are not worth anything.

 

People buy things because they like them. The value of something (Anything) is just where demand and supply intersect. Most things have no inherent value; but have esoteric value. Van Gogh's Starry Night is paint on canvas. No inherent value there. But because of its beauty as a piece of art, it has significant value. If Starry Night went up for auction it would probably bring $500 million or more. That's because the demand far outweighs the supply.

[dupont2005]

. In a post-apocalyptic world, gold is likely to be worthless.

 

That is almost certainly to be the exact opposite of reality.

 

A lot of you folks, having never had experience with precious metal as a method of exchange, really don't seem to understand the utility these things have in facilitating commerce, ESPECIALLY in a world where basic necessities are hard to come by.

 

Yes, THEORETICALLY, "gold is only worth what someone will pay for it." But you fail to understand that gold, and to a lesser extent platinum, silver, etc, has utility because it is an easy method for storing large amounts of value in a small amount of space, that is easily defended, and easily hidden.

 

On top of that, it is easily accepted, and easily exchanged.

 

Gold will have value not because people want to own the pretty, pretty gold...but because it is very useful in trade.

 

The most apocalyptic the world has ever been...central Europe during WWII...and gold was essential to the underground economy.

 

Why do you all think gold will have no value?

So the trade value of gold will be what? If you have a piece of gold US currency in a pretty slab, and you're starving and out of clean water, what do you think that gold coin is going to get you?

 

Oh, sure, it will probably get you something. An ounce of gold aught to be worth a jug of dirty river water and a pack of Pop Tarts looted from the grocery store when the stuff hit the fan. Wise investment I say. Fill that safe with gold to prepare for the apocalypse. The guy with the solar panels and the water purification tablets is a fool.

 

People think when civilization is brought to it's knees they will head on down to the general store and pay for supplies with a pinch of gold dust like it was 1849, that's ridiculous. People think the grocery store is going to have a scale, and that the guy bagging your groceries is going to be trained like a pawn broker on how to weigh gold, test for it's purity, and reference a live price index to give you a fair price for your milk and eggs. That is absolutely not going to happen. Gold will be every bit as useful as currency in any imaginable scenario. From as useful as it is now to completely useless, but we aren't going back to the gold standard, and if commerce is destroyed and we're on a barter system with no standard measure of value, I'd rather have chickens laying eggs than a safe full of ingots.

[wombat]

I'm hoping we don't get to the answer of what value will gold have during the apocalypse.

[RockMyAmadeus]

. In a post-apocalyptic world, gold is likely to be worthless.

 

That is almost certainly to be the exact opposite of reality.

 

A lot of you folks, having never had experience with precious metal as a method of exchange, really don't seem to understand the utility these things have in facilitating commerce, ESPECIALLY in a world where basic necessities are hard to come by.

 

Yes, THEORETICALLY, "gold is only worth what someone will pay for it." But you fail to understand that gold, and to a lesser extent platinum, silver, etc, has utility because it is an easy method for storing large amounts of value in a small amount of space, that is easily defended, and easily hidden.

 

On top of that, it is easily accepted, and easily exchanged.

 

Gold will have value not because people want to own the pretty, pretty gold...but because it is very useful in trade.

 

The most apocalyptic the world has ever been...central Europe during WWII...and gold was essential to the underground economy.

 

Why do you all think gold will have no value?

So the trade value of gold will be what? If you have a piece of gold US currency in a pretty slab, and you're starving and out of clean water, what do you think that gold coin is going to get you?

 

You aren't aware that you can buy food and water with gold...? The slab will have become meaningless; the real value of a US gold coin is that it is standardized. Everyone will know precisely how much gold it contains, and at what fineness.

 

Oh, sure, it will probably get you something. An ounce of gold aught to be worth a jug of dirty river water and a pack of Pop Tarts looted from the grocery store when the stuff hit the fan. Wise investment I say. Fill that safe with gold to prepare for the apocalypse. The guy with the solar panels and the water purification tablets is a fool.

 

Do you imagine that "the apocalypse" is nothing but unending chaos...? That there would be no recovery? Is it just one long Mad Max movie...?

 

Hopefully, you will have USED THE GOLD to TRADE for the supplies you need long before you are starving and out of clean water.

 

I mean, that seems rather obvious, does it not....?

[RockMyAmadeus]

I'm hoping we don't get to the answer of what value will gold have during the apocalypse.

 

Indeed.

 

But it won't be "nothing." It won't ever be "nothing", like an Action #1, or a Van Gogh painting, or a Gucci handbag.

[MetalPSI]

. In a post-apocalyptic world, gold is likely to be worthless.

 

That is almost certainly to be the exact opposite of reality.

 

A lot of you folks, having never had experience with precious metal as a method of exchange, really don't seem to understand the utility these things have in facilitating commerce, ESPECIALLY in a world where basic necessities are hard to come by.

 

Yes, THEORETICALLY, "gold is only worth what someone will pay for it." But you fail to understand that gold, and to a lesser extent platinum, silver, etc, has utility because it is an easy method for storing large amounts of value in a small amount of space, that is easily defended, and easily hidden.

 

On top of that, it is easily accepted, and easily exchanged.

 

Gold will have value not because people want to own the pretty, pretty gold...but because it is very useful in trade.

 

The most apocalyptic the world has ever been...central Europe during WWII...and gold was essential to the underground economy.

 

Why do you all think gold will have no value?

So the trade value of gold will be what? If you have a piece of gold US currency in a pretty slab, and you're starving and out of clean water, what do you think that gold coin is going to get you?

 

You aren't aware that you can buy food and water with gold...? The slab will have become meaningless; the real value of a US gold coin is that it is standardized. Everyone will know precisely how much gold it contains, and at what fineness.

 

Oh, sure, it will probably get you something. An ounce of gold aught to be worth a jug of dirty river water and a pack of Pop Tarts looted from the grocery store when the stuff hit the fan. Wise investment I say. Fill that safe with gold to prepare for the apocalypse. The guy with the solar panels and the water purification tablets is a fool.

 

Do you imagine that "the apocalypse" is nothing but unending chaos...? That there would be no recovery? Is it just one long Mad Max movie...?

 

Hopefully, you will have USED THE GOLD to TRADE for the supplies you need long before you are starving and out of clean water. Beat everyone in your area for the supplies you needed and moved on

 

I mean, that seems rather obvious, does it not....?

 

FTFY

[dupont2005]

You can buy food and water with gold now, when we have a steady supply of food and water along with a complicated international commerce where that gold can be liquidated to anyone, anywhere, at any time. I imagine the term "Apocalypse" will mean there is no more internet, the gas stations will be dry, and you'll be confined to whatever city you're in. Truck won't be bringing groceries to the Piggly Wiggly. We won't have lights. Well, the people with solar panels will, but not the people with gold bars. At all points in history the value of something is measured against it's demand. When everyone is starving and dying of malaria from filthy water then the value of things like food and water will measure differently against gold than they do now. And it's not in favor of gold, it's in favor of food and water. So if I were buying something as an investment to cash in on in the case of an apocalypse, I'd invest in some sort of means of supplying myself and others with food and clean water. And know what I'll want in barter? Not gold coins. Medicine, batteries, battery chargers, wind up radios, fuel, firewood, matches, sharpening stones, pretty much anything but gold. By the way, do any fake gold coins exist? I know fake silver ones do. So in this apocalyptic wasteland where every prepper who bought ingots finally gets to show everyone they aren't crazy, how does the retailer know the gold isn't fake?

 

 

 

Do you imagine that "the apocalypse" is nothing but unending chaos...? That there would be no recovery? Is it just one long Mad Max movie...?

What do you imagine the "apocalypse" to be? Slight inflation? The power going out for a couple days?

[RockMyAmadeus]

 

People think when civilization is brought to it's knees they will head on down to the general store and pay for supplies with a pinch of gold dust like it was 1849, that's ridiculous. People think the grocery store is going to have a scale, and that the guy bagging your groceries is going to be trained like a pawn broker on how to weigh gold, test for it's purity, and reference a live price index to give you a fair price for your milk and eggs. That is absolutely not going to happen.

 

Ooo, an addendum!

 

How do you possibly know these things?

 

First, if the economy is based on gold DUST, people will adapt, just like they did in California in the 1850's.

 

Second, there are literally millions of coins and bars already in existence to facilitate trade, coins and bars that have already been standardized, so no one has to guess how much gold you're dealing with.

 

Do you think in an Apocalypse, those coins and bars will all just evaporate into thin air?

 

Gold will be every bit as useful as currency in any imaginable scenario.

 

"Currency" is money in actual use, anything that is tangible that is used in exchange. Do you mean "paper notes"?

 

And no, gold will be far, far more useful than paper money, which will have no value.

 

From as useful as it is now to completely useless, but we aren't going back to the gold standard, and if commerce is destroyed and we're on a barter system with no standard measure of value, I'd rather have chickens laying eggs than a safe full of ingots.

 

And how do you obtain those chickens laying eggs, if you have nothing that the other party wants in exchange?

 

And what do you mean by "no standard measure of value"...?

[Gotham Kid]

 

at least you could see the board...

 

[RockMyAmadeus]

You can buy food and water with gold now,

 

We're not talking about now.

 

when we have a steady supply of food and water along with a complicated international commerce where that gold can be liquidated to anyone, anywhere, at any time. I imagine the term "Apocalypse" will mean there is no more internet, the gas stations will be dry, and you'll be confined to whatever city you're in. Truck won't be bringing groceries to the Piggly Wiggly. We won't have lights. Well, the people with solar panels will, but not the people with gold bars.

 

And who is going to service those solar panels?

 

 

At all points in history the value of something is measured against it's demand. When everyone is starving and dying of malaria from filthy water then the value of things like food and water will measure differently against gold than they do now. And it's not in favor of gold, it's in favor of food and water.

 

What does that even mean, "in favor of food and water, not in favor of gold"?

 

Do you mean that no one will value gold AT ALL, that the only thing of value will be food and water? What happens if you have no food and water, and the people WITH food and water have no interest in giving it to you, and you have nothing to offer them?

 

You are working on a theoretical impossibility, that everyone will be starved for clean food and water on an ongoing basis, with no relief, ever. That's not how humanity has ever worked.

 

Malaria is not transmitted by dirty water...it is transmitted by mosquitos.

 

So if I were buying something as an investment to cash in on in the case of an apocalypse, I'd invest in some sort of means of supplying myself and others with food and clean water. And know what I'll want in barter? Not gold coins. Medicine, batteries, battery chargers, wind up radios, fuel, firewood, matches, sharpening stones, pretty much anything but gold.

 

Yes, and where are you going to store the medicine, batteries, battery chargers, wind up radios, fuel, firewood, matches, sharpening stones...?

 

And how are you going to defend these theoretical supplies you have stockpiled...?

 

And what happens when you run out of these theoretical supplies...? Food and water are consumed.

 

You do not understand the utility and universality of gold.

 

By the way, do any fake gold coins exist? I know fake silver ones do. So in this apocalyptic wasteland where every prepper who bought ingots finally gets to show everyone they aren't crazy, how does the retailer know the gold isn't fake?

 

That's an easy question to answer, that jewelers and pawn shops deal with every day.

 

 

Do you imagine that "the apocalypse" is nothing but unending chaos...? That there would be no recovery? Is it just one long Mad Max movie...?

What do you imagine the "apocalypse" to be? Slight inflation? The power going out for a couple days?

 

Again...do you imagine "the apocalypse" is unending chaos, with no relief in sight...?

[kaholo1256]

I don't know if collectibles are a U.S. thing, but I'm starting to think that the crazy amounts of money spent, were spent on something that is so illiquid unless you're living in the U.S. so anyway, I live in the UAE (Dubai) and a few months back I wanted to sell some of my valuable comics on a popular classified site, but there was no interest what so ever. People were even messaging me and telling me I was crazy to expect to get that much for a comic book. We are talking comics like Spiderman #50, 122, Hulk 181 etc.

 

I see the same thing happening with Legos now, and it seems to have become a fad right after the Lego movie, people hoarding sets hoping they'll sell them for huge profits. But at the end of the day, as much as you might love the blocks, no one in their right mind is going to pay $5,000 for a toy. Collectibles just present an illusion of gold, but they are not worth anything.

 

Unlike most, having worked in the UAE a number of times I kind of understand what you are talking about. Most people from that culture do not look highly and simply think of comics and toys as simply American. This isn't to say its bad, but in there eyes its just not high class enough for many of the upper tier social hierarchy that have the ability to purchase these things. Additionally those who live in UAE if you are not at one end of the spectrum... RICH.... you are at the other end Working class, and to them they have a hard enough time working from check to check.

 

Its an entirely different world over there and not a culture that meshes well with over here with our hobbies. Having attended movies over there I have always seen US movies when I attended to be mediocre at best for turn out but some random Balli-wood movie to usher in huge amounts of fandom.

 

I guess different strokes for different folks but its not so much as collectibles being a U.S. thing its more a question of which ones. Cars seem to be pretty collectible over there from my point of view. And I stayed off of Salahuddin Road next to the Asiana hotel and that little mall that was like a block down from it so probably had a different view than many other places in the UAE.