A little lesson as to why gold is valuable.

This is information that most of us are aware of. I am inclined to do this thread to educate an ever increasing amount if posters that claim gold is useless. If you do not know how important gold is to our livelyhood, then please feel free to educate yourself on the uses of gold.

I have shared some of the uses here. The article goes into way more detail.

The Most Useful Metal

Of all the minerals mined from the Earth, none is more useful than gold. Its usefulness is derived from a diversity of special properties. Gold conducts electricity, does not tarnish, is very easy to work, can be drawn into wire, can be hammered into thin sheets, alloys with many other metals, can be melted and cast into highly detailed shapes, has a wonderful color and a brilliant luster. Gold is a memorable metal that occupies a special place in the human mind.

Jewelry: The Primary Use of Gold

Gold has been used to make ornamental objects and jewelry for thousands of years. Gold nuggets found in a stream are very easy to work and were probably one of the first metals used by humans. Today, most of the gold that is newly mined or recycled is used in the manufacture of jewelry. About 78% of the gold consumed each year is used in the manufacture of jewelry.

Special properties of gold make it perfect for manufacturing jewelry. These include: very high luster; desirable yellow color; tarnish resistance; ability to be drawn into wires, hammered into sheets or cast into shapes. These are all properties of an attractive metal that is easily worked into beautiful objects. Another extremely important factor that demands the use of gold as a jewelry metal is tradition. Important objects are expected to be made from gold.

Financial Gold: Coinage, Bullion, Backing

Because gold is highly valued and in very limited supply it has long been used as a medium of exchange or money. The first known use of gold in transactions dates back over 6000 years. Early transactions were done using pieces of gold or pieces of silver. The rarity, usefulness and desirability of gold make it a substance of long term value. Gold works well for this purpose because it has a high value, is durable, portable and easily divisible.

Uses of Gold in Electronics

The most important industrial use of gold is in the manufacture of electronics. Solid state electronic devices use very low voltages and currents which are easily interrupted by corrosion or tarnish at the contact points. Gold is the highly efficient conductor that can carry these tiny currents and remain free of corrosion. Electronic components made with gold are highly reliable. Gold is used in connectors, switch and relay contacts, soldered joints, connecting wires and connection strips.

A small amount of gold is used in almost every sophisticated electronic device. This includes: cell phones, calculators, personal digital assistants, global positioning system units and other small electronic devices. Most large electronic appliances such as television sets also contain gold

Use of Gold in Computers

Gold is used in many places in the standard desktop or laptop computer. The rapid and accurate transmission of digital information through the computer and from one component to another requires an efficient and reliable conductor. Gold meets these requirements better than any other metal. The importance of high quality and reliable performance justifies the high cost.

Uses of Gold in Aerospace

If you are going to spend billions of dollars on a vehicle that when launched will travel on a voyage where the possibility of lubrication, maintenance and repair is absolutely zero, then building it with extremely dependable materials is essential. This is exactly why gold is used in hundreds of ways in every space vehicle that NASA launches.

geology.com...

Like I said we all/almost all know this. I am just stumped about the amount of people who say gold is worthless to society.

I woulld like to add that I was "iffy" about the thread title.

English is one of the general courses I need to get my two associates degrees.lol

It is the first thing that came to mind so I am sticking with it.

reply to post by liejunkie01


I think that it has worth in today's society. But I think that in a SHTF scenario, it's practically useless, as mentioned in another thread -- actually, my thread.

reply to post by liejunkie01


Many people in the west have bought into the bankers assertion that gold isn't money. The central banks have a vested interest in keeping it's price down. It's been demonstrated in numerous financial stories the the central banks are doing their utmost to suppress gold prices. People in the east haven't fallen for this lie as seen by the vast purchases of gold by China, India and the likes.

I'm sure you'll get folks popping in here telling you in a SHTF scenario gold it going to be worthless. They can keep that opinion, I'll still invest in gold anytime and as long as the central banks keep monkey hammering it's price. The time for them to do that is running short though. Once gold breaks free of the artificial restraints on it you'll see it's true value as opposed to the fiat currency now passing for "money."

reply to post by brazenalderpadrescorpio


I can agree with that.

After all in a SHTF scenario people would be more worried about the aspects of surviving.

It would still be a little useful though when things settle down. There will always be people with plenty of goods, who want their better half to stand out.

To me it seems that some just don't get the importance of gold in today's society.

reply to post by Bassago


I personally don't have the money to invest in gold.

My better half still has several of her rings I bought her when the prices were way down.

I personally think that in the short term shtf scenario it won't be sought after as much. But as timr goes by history tells us there will always be a place for gold.

As far as the banker thing, greed runs it all.

reply to post by liejunkie01


I completely agree with you that it would be useful in a scenario where things settle down. How about that! A scenario within a scenario. After all, it took society thousands of years (depending on which timeline is right) to be comfortable with using gold as a bartering instrument after being nomads and such.

brazenalderpadrescorpio
reply to post by liejunkie01

 

I think that it has worth in today's society. But I think that in a SHTF scenario, it's practically useless, as mentioned in another thread -- actually, my thread.

I know, I was there.

Eventually, of course, I lost interest. I had to ask myself, "Why do I keep getting sucked into these threads?" By which I mean those "gold is just a shiny metal" threads. I guess it's like when you see a thread where someone says something like, "Politicians are generally honest." You just feel like you have to get in there and say something.

I just feel that the odds on any given scenario where gold is considered worthless is pretty remote. So, if anyone out there has gold that they think will become worthless, I will be willing to trade you a can of peas or corn or whatever vegetable you prefer for every gram of gold that you send me.

The less people that realize the value of gold, the less demand, which means I can get more for my Federal Reserve Notes. So, yeah folks, gold is worthless. You should get rid of it. Let me help you with that.

Copper is more versatile and practical than gold that is a fact without copper the modern world would grind to a halt so in real terms copper is more valuable than gold thankfully it is far more plentiful most of golds value is down to its rarity not its applications.

How would gold not be ideal in a SHTF situation?
Gold is a pretty good barging chip, this thread does a good job of illustrating that but all you really need to look at is how almost every culture that knew about it, extensively used it.

I know I am going to want things that others want if SHTF, IMO gold is going to be pretty high on that list, after food water and shelter, currency will be needed to survive and gold falls under that category

Gold is too high value and thus impractical for bartering in SFTF scenarios unless you have lots of it and don’t mind swapping a Krugerand for tinned potatoes.

reply to post by Sremmos80


Gold may eventually have value again... But in a true life altering situation most people will want to barter useful items. Especially these days with how useless most people are, a SHTF scenario would be more catastrophic than probably any other time in history. Most people have no idea how to function without electricity and running water, let alone survive in a world where they have to do every single thing for themselves. They have no useful skills. Therefore, it will be quite awhile before things stabilize enough to warrant a monetary system.

Although why anyone would be in such a hurry to shackle the world back into such an economic system is beyond me and would seem to be a waste of a good apocalypse. Then again I'm sure there are plenty who enjoy this psychopathic cluster-f*** and be eager to return every last survivor back into bondage and slavery... After all... History is doomed to repeat itself.

reply to post by VictorVonDoom


I was trying to enlighten people as to something that they may have not considered. I had no idea that there were other threads on it. I guess that I should have used the search feature, as they say.

brianporter
Copper is more versatile and practical than gold that is a fact without copper the modern world would grind to a halt so in real terms copper is more valuable than gold thankfully it is far more plentiful most of golds value is down to its rarity not its applications.

I can agree with the importance of copper.

But these elements have their specific properties that promote a specific use for each of these metals.

Gold being more malleable and corrosion resistant than copper.

So other than rarity gold does have some advatages over copper.

reply to post by brianporter

Gold is too high value and thus impractical for bartering in SFTF scenarios unless you have lots of it and don’t mind swapping a Krugerand for tinned potatoes.

Nope, gold comes in multiple sizes of coinage and bullion. Sure you don't want to trade one ounce pieces for a loaf of bread. Purchase quarter ounce coins or if that's still too much do what they do in India, buy it in chain lengths. It can be purchased by the gram weight that way.

Silver has always paralleled gold price to some extent also and may be worth looking into for those who are concerned about gold prices. Ten one ounce silver coins will set you back around $300. In a SHTF I'd expect gold and silver to rise in price (leverage for goods) up to five to ten times. All that really means is the value of the fiat currency has dropped five to ten times it's value.

Scraps of gold chain wouldn’t buy you anything from me in SHTF unless I tested it first however a silver sixpence would because all I need to hear is the characteristic ring silver is just more practical

reply to post by brianporter



Your right gold would be worthless by factor of it being worth too much.

When the SHTF do every one a favor and just get rid of any gold you have since it will be dead weight.
Somebody with a couple days sales experience would be glad to find something that almost every one knows what it is at first glance, that wouldn't be good for trading at all

DP

reply to post by Sremmos80


If the SHTF then I must remember to deal in scraps of flimsy chain of questionable purity instead of easily identifiable sterling coins thanks for the great advice.

brianporter
reply to post by Sremmos80

 

If the SHTF then I must remember to deal in scraps of flimsy chain of questionable purity instead of easily identifiable sterling coins thanks for the great advice.

Woah Woah... Where did I say you need to deal in flimsy chain instead of sterling coins???

This was about golds value when SHTF,lets put the goal post back now.

Now why would the same gold coins not be worth just as much, if not more, then the sterling coins?

Or would the flimsy sterling chain be worth more then the flimsy gold chain that you brought up then shoved in my mouth?