Seattle Bubble Forum Archive

$20k of gold can easily fit into a small safe deposit box. $20k of silver -- not so much. $20k of platinum -- very small.

You can also invest in gold related funds. These funds hold things like gold mining companies which track the price of gold pretty closely.

Having a 'small' amount of precious metals in your possession might be a good idea in the unlikely event of economic collapse. If paper money becomes worthless, a silver coin might be able to purchase a tank of gasoline or a week of food (note that silver provides a smaller unit of barting currency than gold). The gold fund you purchased in your brokerage account might be more difficult to access.

Any dealer will charge you some small amount over "spot" (market price). I've been told that [url]nwtmint.com[/url] has a low over-spot charge on precious metals. Also they are local so you can pick it up in person. Just be sure to call first and make sure they have what you want on hand.

Tell them 'Alan' sent you for a free confused look.

If you're really worried about the end of the world, invest in land, copper, and lead.

I don't get gold holding it's value during a worldwide depression. If it's just confined to the U.S., then I can see it as Europe, China, etc. might not want our currency, but would probably still want our gold.

Safest way to invest in gold: . It's FDIC insured so it won't lose it's value, but if gold goes up your investment will too. Personally I think we're nearing the end of the bull run on gold, but if you're gung-ho metals this is the way to go.