Gold As A Medium Of Exchange After Fiat Money Destruction

[flying]

The US government has a mere 5,000+ tons of gold.

Some have put the claim at 8133 tons

That is the claim....Yet no independent audit has been allowed in over 50 years.

Not even visitors have been allowed to view the gold.

Ron Paul tried to force the issue once by saying we should use the gold to pay down the debt.

Paul's recommendation back then ( Aug 2010 )was that Congress audit the gold reserves. It was rejected by 15 of the Gold Commission's 17 members.

His belief is none or very little of the original claimed gold reserves still exists.

Edited May 14, 2012 by flying

[farang000999]

Then where did it go and what evidence is there that it did? The US government wants to talk as little about gold as possible right now. There is huge advantage to having the world's reserve currency. But at some point all good things come to an end.

[flying]

Then where did it go and what evidence is there that it did? The US government wants to talk as little about gold as possible right now. There is huge advantage to having the world's reserve currency. But at some point all good things come to an end.

No idea....As to them talking as little as possible "right now" again remember it has been over 50 years since anyone has been allowed in or to independently audit it.

Where did it go if gone? Well if you did not like gold because it competed with your lego currency & yet you had tons of it.

One way to get the result you wanted would be to sell into a world market anytime the price threatened to go too high.

Another would be to lease it out to central banks....many ways

Not to mention the billions in unfunded actions over the years.

Those funds had to come from somewhere...somewhere that the general accounting would not notice if it went missing

Since they are never allowed a factual count.....you cannot manage what you cannot measure

Edited May 14, 2012 by flying

[farang000999]

Yes but the question is if it is physically there. Who cares who owns it on paper, whom it is lent out to, whom they lent it out to, when it is guarded by 30,000 soliders at Fort Knox. They can sue the US government to get it back (good luck).

[flying]

Yes but the question is if it is physically there. Who cares who owns it on paper, whom it is lent out to, whom they lent it out to, when it is guarded by 30,000 soliders at Fort Knox. They can sue the US government to get it back (good luck).

If it were physically there they would be happy to have shown it

at least a few times in the last 50 years to squash any claims that it is not.....

Yet they have refused over & over to do so.

Who does the gold belong to if not We The People?

Who does this government work for if not the same?

Then why can we not demand our elected president to open the door &

report to We The People...his supposed employers...what he has seen?

For those that hold their own physical it is all a none event.

For those who have loaned money via the buying of debt from the US & possibly based their

loans on the knowledge that the gold exists.....well maybe not so happy about it.

I do not entertain thoughts of the USD being backed by gold again for obvious reasons.

Nor do I actually wish to see it. I prefer gold to remain un-pegged & free to seek its own price.

Of course at some point I would like to see a disconnect of the paper/physical link as it only devalues what truly

exists with more IOU;s of that which does not exist.

[mccw]

no small gold coins available in Thailand. ½ Baht weight 965 gold with difficulties and premium available. in Europe 1 gram gold bars (~1/32nd ounce) are available but you pay a fancy premium above spot.

no small gold coins available in Thailand. ½ Baht weight 965 gold with difficulties and premium available. in Europe 1 gram gold bars (~1/32nd ounce) are available but you pay a fancy premium above spot.

nonsense 1/4 baht coins are available and every time i buy 10 or 20 baht bars i also get 4 or so of 1/4 baht and 1/2 baht coins theirs also 1/8th onz chinese hats and premium is only 100 baht a piece so not worth worrying about.

what kind of "coins" are these? please more details. i have enquired, but no goldshop in Pattaya and Chonbury knows about any small available coins which should be more sturdy than the half-baht "bars".

I was at a banking / insurance type trade show in chiang mai next to airport plaza eilier this year. They had royal Thai government minted gold coins of , quarter , half and 1 oz. but the premium was a bit more than bars- I don't remember exactly but about 4% or 5% . Never seen before or since at any gold shop though. Maybe you can half a friend search google in Thai?

[hyperdimension]

I was at a banking / insurance type trade show in chiang mai next to airport plaza eilier this year. They had royal Thai government minted gold coins of , quarter , half and 1 oz. but the premium was a bit more than bars- I don't remember exactly but about 4% or 5% . Never seen before or since at any gold shop though. Maybe you can half a friend search google in Thai?

Here is the web site: Royal Thai Mint

Has anyone been there to have a look at what they sell?

[PattayaParent]

Gold is used in Viet Nam mainly for land / house purchases but not for everyday shopping needs.

[seminomadic]

To answer the OP's questions and not get bogged down in prognostication, I'd recommend www.kitco.com where you can buy bullion coins. The lowest denomination I see right now in gold is 1/20th an oz- the coins are currently around $106 for Canadian Gold Maple 1/20th ounce coins. Still not the most practical unless you're buying groceries in bulk but I'll attest to Kitco's professionalism in delivering its product.

Hope this helps.

and Kitco delivers the coins without any problems to Thailand? assuming that the OP lives in Thailand.

They ship internationally with a higher base shipping fee than that required in US/CAN. They use FedEx for int'l shipments. You'll want the insurance on top of that

Edited May 16, 2012 by seminomadic

[Naam]

To answer the OP's questions and not get bogged down in prognostication, I'd recommend www.kitco.com where you can buy bullion coins. The lowest denomination I see right now in gold is 1/20th an oz- the coins are currently around $106 for Canadian Gold Maple 1/20th ounce coins. Still not the most practical unless you're buying groceries in bulk but I'll attest to Kitco's professionalism in delivering its product.

Hope this helps.

and Kitco delivers the coins without any problems to Thailand? assuming that the OP lives in Thailand.

They ship internationally with a higher base shipping fee than that required in US/CAN. They use FedEx for int'l shipments. You'll want the insurance on top of that

and you'll want somebody who negotiates with Thai customs

[Rancid]

I haven't looked back here for a while, a polarizing topic for and against for some reason. At the end of the day if you don't like gold then leave it alone, if you like it then stock up, how people deal with their assets is really their problem only, no one is right until the end of the day which is still a ways off yet. Not the time yet to do a George Bush "Mission Accomplished". I am not looking for approval or justification, I simply mentioned how I set things up for others general interest. I additionally did however buy a fair chunk of Swiss gold in Thailand about a year ago (through Asiris or some similar name) and made about a 50% return 6 months later after cashing in, sold about a week too soon from the peak but that happens. That is opposed to my physical buy and holds with my brother back home. Yeah, so how is it gold can't make money? Talking about spending gold coins at the supermarket kind of misses the whole point, it isn't supposed to be an alternate to fiat.

Gold has had a rebound end last week but still looks to me by the charts to be going lower (the MACD monthly is vertical down and looks to me like the GDX should be at about 35), so should be some final good buying opportunities coming up soon after it finally bottoms. Thai gold does though seem to run in a parallel universe and can be tricky to deal in due to the government manipulating the Baht (edit: that is why I bought Swiss gold - good anywhere). Finally if buying gold, only buy physical, there is about (if memory serves) about 3 times as much paper gold as actual physical...that isn't going to end well.

Edited May 20, 2012 by Rancid

[gregb]

I was at a banking / insurance type trade show in chiang mai next to airport plaza eilier this year. They had royal Thai government minted gold coins of , quarter , half and 1 oz. but the premium was a bit more than bars- I don't remember exactly but about 4% or 5% . Never seen before or since at any gold shop though. Maybe you can half a friend search google in Thai?

The Thai mint makes these proof coins every once in a while for special occasions. If this was last year, the one you probably saw was their recent issue for the King's 84th birthday. It was a 1 baht 96.5% gold coin with a face value of 16,000 baht. They were selling it at the mint for 25,000 baht early in 2011, which was well over the gold value at the time. It needed to be preordered 6 months before the production date.

I have seen them on the secondary market just recently for around 30,000 baht, but you need to look around. They are not easy to find. Most people who bought them intend to hold them.

Picture is here:

http://numis-asia.blogspot.com/2011/07/thailand-king-bhumibols-7th-cycle.html

This is the only thing I could find on a web search.

http://sale28.eurseree.com/cgi-bin/info/agora-p.cgi?maxp=4000&ppinc=Printout&query_price_low_range=1478&query_price_high_range=1478

This was an auction which is now over. I don't know what the final bid was.

[hermespan]

Emotionally, precious metals (and indeed strategic metals, what are now called 'rare earths') fascinate me. But I admit it is largely ideological, bordering on religious, rather than financial. Including my own interest.

Practically, I know that the single ounce of gold I bought in 1981 (?), if I had kept it would have gone from $200 to over $1500. But I also know that it has lost value lately and that it has no social value (unlike stocks or farmland). And that the Paladium Maple Leaf I bought a few months ago has lost 30% in value.

So, it's all a gamble. I think the Buddhist perspective is useful.

If I knew that Obama would be elected I would buy gold. If I knew that Romney would be I would wait. I do not have a crystal ball. And the above comments have nothing to do with partisan politics. I just mean, how can I profit from world conditions?

I do not know how to do so with any certainty. Perhaps no one does.

[JSixpack]

the Paladium Maple Leaf I bought a few months ago has lost 30% in value.

Maybe somebody is trying to tell you something.

[letitbe]

you can buy 1/4 baht gold coins here or 1/8th baht ornaments or you simply do as in ZImbabwie shave a few grams with a file from your 5 baht gold bar if it comes to that or in local community you simply exchange say 1 baht of gold for so many vouchers for meals at your favourite place to eat.

If it gets that bad the last thing youll need to worry about is how to use your 1 baht 5 baht or 50 baht gold bars. Their will be plenty of people trying to survive and to pledge their car, land or whatever as security with you holding title papers until they somehow pay you. For those with nothing you can exchange your gold coin for so many bags of rice or whatever and then use that.

It wont be a problem if it gets that bad. IMO once real financial crash happens it will only be weeks before governments are forced to start a new money backed by some real asset after of course totally debasing old money.

[letitbe]

no small gold coins available in Thailand. ½ Baht weight 965 gold with difficulties and premium available. in Europe 1 gram gold bars (~1/32nd ounce) are available but you pay a fancy premium above spot.

no small gold coins available in Thailand. ½ Baht weight 965 gold with difficulties and premium available. in Europe 1 gram gold bars (~1/32nd ounce) are available but you pay a fancy premium above spot.

sorry Nam your talking crap again 1/4 baht coins are readily available if you look at premium of 100 baht each coin here so at todays price of around 24,000 baht a baht a 1/4 baht coin costs you 6100 baht instead of 6000 baht and 1/8 th baht chinese hats are available most places at still 100 baht premium per piece or 800 baht a baht. ??? do you actually live here ??? You can also buy easily 99.99% silver pellets at buy/sell of 1 thousand baht a kg as all silver trade people do here. Please give accurate information and now for normal Nam sarcastic put down, Bring it on.

[letitbe]

To Nam re what type of coins for 1/4 baht

just check website ive given here and visit them in BKK. They do not sell jewelry but are bullion dealers and ive dealt with them for years buying and selling. Ive even sold their gold bars to other gold shops no problem.

[letitbe]

To answer the OP's questions and not get bogged down in prognostication, I'd recommend www.kitco.com where you can buy bullion coins. The lowest denomination I see right now in gold is 1/20th an oz- the coins are currently around $106 for Canadian Gold Maple 1/20th ounce coins. Still not the most practical unless you're buying groceries in bulk but I'll attest to Kitco's professionalism in delivering its product.

Hope this helps.

To answer the OP's questions and not get bogged down in prognostication, I'd recommend www.kitco.com where you can buy bullion coins. The lowest denomination I see right now in gold is 1/20th an oz- the coins are currently around $106 for Canadian Gold Maple 1/20th ounce coins. Still not the most practical unless you're buying groceries in bulk but I'll attest to Kitco's professionalism in delivering its product.

Hope this helps.

kitco prices are around 6% or so above spot here 1/2% or less buy sell spread. We also buy outside Thailand and accept 6% + premium but still hold most here.

[Naam]

sorry Nam your talking crap again 1/4 baht coins are readily available if you look at premium of 100 baht each coin here so at todays price of around 24,000 baht a baht a 1/4 baht coin costs you 6100 baht instead of 6000 baht and 1/8 th baht chinese hats are available most places at still 100 baht premium per piece or 800 baht a baht. ??? do you actually live here ??? You can also buy easily 99.99% silver pellets at buy/sell of 1 thousand baht a kg as all silver trade people do here. Please give accurate information and now for normal Nam sarcastic put down, Bring it on.

today, dear children, we learn from a sophisticated investor not only where to buy small gold coins but mainly silver pellets by the kilogram. these experts travel from the middle of nowhere a few hundred kilometers when they want to invest the "measly" amount of one million Baht to dealers and buy 80 pounds of 9999 fine silver pellets.

after they transported the load to their home they sort the godzillion certificates, which certify the grade 9999 for the godzillion of pellets, before they store the silver in a hiding place. should the need for cash arise because the current income is not sufficient to cover the average monthly expenses of 240,000 Baht, they take a few thousand pellets, sort out the relevant few thousand certificates (one for each pellet) and then sell the pellets for cash in a 7/11.

we should therefore be grateful to receive that kind of advice in a public forum free of any charge. let's therefore thank him with "FOR HE'S A JOLLY GOOD FELLOW..."

p.s. should he be in prison for cheating on VAT we will send a petition to PM Yingluck and demand clemency.

Edited July 10, 2012 by Naam

[flying]

kitco prices are around 6% or so above spot here 1/2% or less buy sell spread. We also buy outside Thailand and accept 6% + premium but still hold most here.

APMEX runs about 3% over spot for 1 oz coins such as Maples..

Edited July 10, 2012 by flying