Pondering The State Of Bullion

I really think we need to view bullion the same way we view stocks. Don't try to beat the market. Don't watch the market every day. If it's your desire to invest in/collect precious metals, then do. But if you're just an ordinary guy, you probably aren't going to get rich doing it.

Decide what you want to collect (or invest in) and try to get it as cheaply as possible. Besides that, there's probably not much else one can do to beat the system. We just don't know what tomorrow will mean for value.

 

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Technically the Executive Order 6102 did not make "ownership of gold illegal".

It made "hoarding of gold" (coin, bullion & certificates) which was defined as over 5oz/$100 dollars at the time, to be forbidden until 1974.

This of course excluded professions, art and industry such as jewelry, jewelers, dentists, special value gold coins/collections, etc to still buy, sell and use gold based items.

 

You are correct: Executive Order 6102 (constitutional?) did not make the ownership of all gold illegal. Thankfully, federal agents did not stop people on the streets and extract the gold teeth from their mouths but this post is about collecting bullion.

Any American who wanted to invest in bullion could not own physical gold in amounts to constitute an investment vehicle, unless he moved and secreted the gold overseas in European banks.

 

Collecting bullion is more viable today than in the past as an investment.

In the past the US actually controlled the price of gold; making gold as an investment vehicle not a good option IMHO. Although in the ages of depressions, recessions, inflation, stagflation and wars gold was a good storage of wealth for any currency/economic condition.

But today, with no price controls on Gold, then the investment is more viable. Assuming you can buy it when it's "low" and ride the train, hopefully, upwards.

some past numbers
1931 gold was $17.06 (for comparison, the DOW was at 77.90)
1934 gold price was raised to $35 (DOW at 104)
1971 at $43.48 (DOW at 890) - official decoupled. Foreign gov't etc couldn't trade in their Dollars and raid the US Gold Supply.
1973 at $106 (DOW at 850)

So by decoupling the US Dollar to gold, actually made it an investment vehicle it is today. Though, of course, like any investment your time line can greatly skew any past or future results.

 

Not the kind of bread I eat.
Looks like a nice correlation to me.