What is up with all the buying of gold and other precious metals?

I like these better:

Originally posted by OnWhiteMars
I have noticed that there is a wide increasing trend of buying gold and other precious metals from citizens. My observation is of course limited to the country I live in (Finland). Have you noticed the same?

Yes, this is occurring in most western countries.

Businesses concentrated on this keeps on multiplying, they have adds where they are even willing to come to your home to do their evaluations. Is this common in other countries?

This is common in places where people sell their gold at 30%-70% of it's market value because the sellers are unaware of the value of gold.

Should this be considered as a major sign of the arriving collapse?

Yes, but collapse can mean many things from full on need for basic survival to a quick currency devaluation lasting a few weeks and some supplies running out during that time.

Is papermoney soon done?

Paper money will continue as a medium of exchange but it's function as a store of value is done.

Unambiguous Wealth is key to understanding this big change that's coming soon.

If there is a financial collapse who would want silver or gold? Where would you sell it or trade it for Tangible goods?

precious metal is pretty but worthless in a real meltdown. Barter supplies would make a much more sensible investment. Ammo, guns, liquor, pain pills, drugs etc are what people will be needing if money is worthless.

Metal will be valuable only in a time of hyperinflation.

Yeah, but who's crazy enough to buy gold at 1600 bucks an ounce. I'd rather buy something like copper, at four bucks a pound if it drops to fifty cents you still have a lot of product to barter with. Silver is a safer buy than gold because it's easier to trade if needed for food and supplies.

what you are seeing in the metals markets is the central banks are buying --- you can hold on a while - the way the chart took off says it is going to come back down to slightly above where it took off from... just wait... no rush.

What kind of collapse are we talking about? A total collapse back to basic survival mode for the rest of your life means guns and tins would be worthwhile and they can be handed on to your kids so they can live in basic survival mode for their life time and so on.

If there is any chance that after paper money collapse there will be people making and selling things, regions trading with each other and someone operating oil wells, then a store of value will be inevitable. I recommend something that has been successfully tested in that role over thousands of years, universally recognized, can be used to carry the value of a house in, hint: not silver and certainly not copper!

In recent years new dollars, yen and pounds are being created every day at a much faster rate than copper or gold come into existence. When this effect reaches us it will be sudden. Thinking copper can go down in relation to unlimited currency printing is foolish. Central Banks buy gold because is rises the most of any object in a currency collapse, that is gold's unique and specific role in human affairs.

“Water is best. But gold shines like fire blazing in the night, supreme of lordly wealth.”
Pindar quotes (Greek lyric poet of ancient Greece, the master of epinicia, 518-446)

Storing for months of basic survival needs is great for the unexpected event and natural disasters but for your excess reserve wealth as a currency independent and portable store of value is really only physical gold.