In the scenario of a financial catastrophe like a bank collapse, how easy or hard would it be to actually sell the gold you have bought? I never really sat down to think about it before, so I'd like thoughts.
Depends on the demand of course, but personally I'd think that in the case of a bank crash, there won't be many who will be interested in buying your gold. The chances that a bank crash will occur is probabably very slim however, so I don't think it's something you should worry about.
Hey Lasonax... thank you for the response. I'm not worried about it in the least... but I'm always interested in learning new things. This question came up in my mind a few days ago when I heard a couple of old-timers talking about hoarding gold back with the Y2K hype going on. So I got to thinking that if all those horrid things would have happened that some people were *worried* about back then, how would they have sold that gold to avoid the things they feared would happen because I figured everyone else would be trying to sell as well. I didn't know how to answer my own question so I brought it here for thoughts.
Not as liquid as paper gold. But if the shit ever REALLY hits the fan, that scenario might reverse itself.
If the banks crashed you may end up having to bartar with your gold as people would lose there money and could not buy it from you. It would be like the old days.
If the financial catastrophe was the debasement of the US dollar to the point where it was not worth the paper it was written on, gold will be a universally recognized medium exchange that dates back to ancient times. You will have a good that anyone with eyes in the world. You stand a better chance with gold, seeds, ammo, or anything of value compared to money that is deemed worthless. In 1923 the currency in Germany suffered from the same type of hyper-inflationary bubble that we are seeing with USD, and at that time people were burning money in fireplaces, because it was cheaper than buying fire wood. Gold will never be perceived in that light no matter what the financial climate. If the banks collapse I guess they won't have anything worth exchanging for gold. But economies recover, and when things shift, those with commodities like precious metals will have the real barganing chips in the new economy. Talk about power shift. It is the Golden Rule: He who owns the gold makes the rules!
If things ever actually get that bad, we'll be in a world of shit in so many ways I don't even want to think about. At that point, forget about just "shorting the dollar" and getting in your Beemer and going home to your nice house in the 'burbs and thinking about tomorrow's trades and which Armani suit you'll wear to the office with which loafers. We'll pretty much be living in a war zone and a 3rd world shithole.
If the ecnomy collapses, the banks would have nothing of value to exchange for your gold. You will have to ultimate medium of exchange. People will realize the true value of precious metals if fiat currency is no more.
