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Maybe its a generational thing, but i have no clue how i would go about buying/trading gold and i dont think anyone in my friend group does either. Bitcoin is f
by deevolution 8y ago
Maybe its a generational thing, but i have no clue how i would go about buying/trading gold and i dont think anyone in my friend group does either. Bitcoin is far more accessible.
- rrdharan 8y agoIt’s pretty easy to just buy $GLD with any brokerage account if you just want gold exposure. If you don’t trust the ETFs to honor your claims when the apocalypse arrives things are harder of course.
- bobthepanda 8y agoYou can literally go to a gold dealer shop; it's like forex for gold. Even in my moderately sized American city there are twenty that show up in Google Maps within a twenty minute drive. And you buy gold and it's physically in your possession; verifying it is easy, and the best part is you can verify it at some other gold dealer if you're super paranoid. With BTC, you have to find a trusted exchange and a trusted wallet. The average consumer doesn't really know anything beyond a google search and the first two results.
- lisper 8y ago> verifying it is easy Actually, it's not. It's nearly impossible to non-destructively distinguish gold from tungsten wrapped in gold.
- raziel2701 8y agoAny SEM with an EDS system will tell you non-destructively if you have tungsten wrapped in gold. X-Ray diffractometry would also do the same. Rutherford Backscattering spectrometry too. All three of these techniques are non-destructive and the first two are quite common to find at universities.
- detaro 8y agoThat's quite a leap from "you can verify at some other gold dealer" though.
- evgen 8y agoIt is also a very large leap from “let’s just drill it at random locations” that an actual gold dealer will try first if they suspect something like this. The drill bit not going through the bar like butter at the location will probably be the first tip-off.
- lisper 8y agoI guess you and I have different intuitions about the meaning of the word "easy".
- cc439 8y agoThat's why it makes senss to only buy gold cast in a thin shape (like a coin). It's much harder to cast in any meaningfully large tungsten core and it significantly raises the likelihood of that fake core being discovered as one can verify the authenticity of the gold piece by scraping away a millimeter or two of gold using basic hand tools. Considering how expensive gold is per ounce, it's not like any of us will be buying it by the bar.
- willio58 8y agoMaybe not those massive bars, but if we’re talking about being in a country where you can’t trust the government at all with the currency, wouldn’t you want to store most of your savings in gold or something similar? So just thousands of coins I guess? Arr me matey
- cc439 8y agoDo you have any first hand experience with buying gold from local dealers? I've never really looked into it but the vast majority of gold dealers in my city are also pawn shops geared toward purchasing gold rather than selling it. While I'm unsure as to their exact pricing model for selling gold, the way in which pawn shops are known to buy precious metals leads me to believe I'd be paying significantly more than whatever the current spot price is if I was to buy through them.
- adventured 8y agoThe safest way to buy physical gold is directly from a mint like the US or Canadian mint (obviously assuming you trust the government/mint in question). The next best is to use a trusted dealer and buy the mint products that have verifiable serial numbers. For example: https://www.apmex.com/product/98353/1-oz-gold-bar-royal-canadian-mint-new-design-in-assay https://www.apmex.com/product/98353/1-oz-gold-bar-royal-cana... Canadian Mint 1oz bar, at a small mark-up over the price of gold. Comes sealed and has a serial number.
- cc439 8y agoNow that is an actually reasonable markup. I guess my only concern there would be shipping, which can be insured but gets a bit pricey when you're insuring $1,200. Thanks for the link!
- dragontamer 8y agoAmerican Eagle Gold coins are US-Government issued, serial-number stamped official Gold coins of the US Government. Created by the US Mint, you have strong assurances that you are recieving in fact, 91.67% gold / 22 karat (an alloy, because pure gold is too soft for the typical consumer). If you do want 99.99% Gold / 24 karat, the US Mint also makes the Buffalo coin. But that's usually harder to store. American Eagle coins are super easy to obtain and trade. Just go to any gold shop and ask for an American Eagle gold coin.
- coryfklein 8y ago
- alienplutonic 8y agoThere are currency exchangers in every major city who trade BTC for paper cash, same as gold dealers.
- kenneth 8y agoYou can buy bullion at close to spot prices on eBay from trusted sellers (APMEX or Kitco or JM Bullion)
- yread 8y agoFriend of mine had like 3 kgs of silver. He bought it at UBS - first wandering in asking about buying silver got him some strange looks (he looks like a programmer) but when he said how much silver he needs clerks became more friendly. He stored it in an old plastic supermarket bag in his clothes closet.
- another-cuppa 8y agoYou just Google for "buy gold" just like you would for anything else.
- smsm42 8y agoYou are but one google search away from discovering the local coin shop - if you live in US at least. Other countries may be different, in some it would indeed be a challenge. Bitcoin is accessible as far as you trust middlemen, having local bitcoin setup with a secure wallet is not something average consumer would feel comfortable with, last time I checked.
- collyw 8y agoI would say the same about bitcoin.