How were they "enriching" themselves ? How does possession of gold or any other metal "enrich" a country ? It doesn't......it's GDP and economics that determine wealth, not natural resources, even valuable ones. Hong Kong has no natural resources. It's very wealthy. Venezuela has tons of natural resources. It's piss-poor.
I think you should get a 1/10 oz Maple Leaf. They are prettier, in my opinion, and they are much harder to counterfeit than Gold Eagles. They are also almost as popular in the US and outside the US are by far the preferred choice. Bonus, they're a few dollars cheaper, too.
Maples are harder to counterfeit because of how they are made, proven fact. Don't know about the 1/10ths though.
The 1 oz have a privy mark and radial lines, making them very hard to counterfeit. The 1/10 oz have the radial lines, making them difficult to counterfeit.
Gold in 1971 opened on 1/4/1971 at $37.44 and ended on 12/31 at $43.62. From what I can tell it never got below $37.42. So if someone offered you as much gold as you want essentially at least $2.50 *below* spot for as long as you want. What would you do?
But that's not how the Bretton Woods system worked. Yes, a Central Bank here or there could arbitrage a few ounces of gold here-or-there. But those countries also needed DOLLARS to purchase American goods or services so they were also selling gold for dollars. The problem was the U.S. not being willing to live under a Gold Standard, not unlike Greece and Italy not being able to live under the Euro.
Stop with your BS, you amateur, wannabe economists and historians. No one cares what you think unless it's what you think about 1/10th oz gold pieces. Stick to the man's topic!
I don't know about the risks of bullion counterfeiting (I think it's very rare and more likely in the 1 oz. coins; not much profit in doing 1/10th fractionals). But I have 1/10th AGE and Maple Leafs, both very nice. Surprised at the lack of markups in both % and absolute $$$ terms that some of you pay. My LCS is very reasonable on bullion -- about 5-6% markup -- but when it comes to fractionals I have paid 18-35% for the 1/4 and 1/10th and even 1/20th (Chinese) oz. coins. Even a 1/2 oz. I think I paid double-digit premiums.
"They're useless in commerce." Well, there's now and then there's when they'll be required for commerce. Specie is real, coin money. Bullion, by definition, is gold or silver bars before coining. Technically, any gold 'round' may be bullion. But an AGE is both legal tender of denomination, however silly the amount designated, and specie, not bullion.
Dream on. You will ALWAYS take a beating or waste a lot of time with one-ounce coins, because they are simply too large a denomination for everyday use. If you want some gold that you will never sell (hopefully), your final stash, they're fine, provided coin shops and coin shows still exist to provide a marketplace. "Big gold" is for numismatists... And (wait for it) few if any merchants could make change.
No one in this thread ever recommended such stupidity. And Goldfinger, if you are hungry enough, you WILL try to swap gold for food for your family. Which would you rather try, a tenth for a week's food, or an ounce for several months' worth? It's happened in various countries in your lifetime -- Bosnia, Syria, South Sudan, Lebanon, Somalia, Congo, and coming soon to a halfway-modern Western Hemisphere country, prosperous and progressive until 20 years ago -- Venezuela. Food, water, gasoline, ammo, and gold are not the issue anyway. Millions will be cut off from their medications, and they will die. That's the elephant in the room no one talks about. I'd last 10 days.
Drop it. Stop disrespecting the man's thread with your own survivalist wackiness. Also, TC, have you decided yet what tenth oz you want to get?
I will be nice and just address this. So you think the world will end and gold will be money, based off of internet values of spot because the internet and markets will exist......... PS if you think Somalia and the US economy have anything in common I cannot help you PSPS. You sell metals for a living don't you?