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A couple days ago I was admiring the heavy aluminum pan I was throwing out because of nonstick coating issues. Over a hundred years ago, that pan would have be

A couple days ago I was admiring the heavy aluminum pan I was throwing out because of nonstick coating issues. Over a hundred years ago, that pan would have been something only for the most wealthy in the world. Only a matter of time before the same happens to gold

prpl 3y ago
People will be irrational about gold longer than civilization can remain solvent
- codersfocus 3y ago
  Not if we can figure out how to bring tons of it down from the heavens
dvh 3y ago
Aluminum is 3rd most abundant element in earth crust. Gold is 75th most abundant. I don't think so. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abundance_of_elements_in_Earth%27s_crust https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abundance_of_elements_in_Ear...
- sambazi 3y ago
  pure gold does exist in nature, pure aluminum not so much
  - Dylan16807 3y ago
    Right, that's exactly why aluminum had such a wild swing in value. Gold is not hard to extract, so that won't happen with it. Instead it's hard to get in any form, so people can dig out more but the cost of extraction keeps increasing.
    - sambazi 3y ago
      > the cost of extraction keeps increasing seems logical given the diminishing supply, suggesting some "peak gold". is it rooted in fact thou? you know, could be that humanity just hasn't found as much and is underestimating the remaining quantity.
      - Dylan16807 3y ago
        It's possible we could find some very easy deposits, but it's very unlikely they'd be enough to crash the price, and even less likely to permanently crater the price.
      - defrost 3y ago
        It's a fact, from the first large scale Rio Tinto mines in Roman times that used hydralic washing (redirected rivers) to todays mega super pits, the total resource requirements per unit gold have climbed. Today you can see this (subject to access | subscription) in industry Production All-in Sustaining Cost (AISC) Data People write essays such as: https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2014/06/28/under-the-microscope-the-true-costs-of-gold-production/ https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2014/06/28/under-the-micros... and articles such as: https://www.xetra-gold.com/en/gold-news/news/gold-production-costs-at-all-time-high/ https://www.xetra-gold.com/en/gold-news/news/gold-production... You can see decade long snapshots such as: https://www.gold.org/goldhub/gold-focus/2023/04/gold-miners-costs-reached-record-high-2022-dropped-final-quarter-year https://www.gold.org/goldhub/gold-focus/2023/04/gold-miners-... which might convince you that gold is somehow cyclically hard to recover and the cost per unit ebbs and flows .. but the long term (50 year, 100 year) truth is that gold becomes increasingly more resource intensive to extract. Which makes sense when you consider that it no longer just lies about on the surface in the same frequency as it once did (yes, you can still find surface nuggets .. but they are fewer and fewer).
- rewmie 3y ago
  > Aluminum is 3rd most abundant element in earth crust. Gold is 75th most abundant. I don't think so. If you want to cite wikipedia, you might want to cite the article on the history of aluminium, where it says in no uncertain terms that aluminium was more expensive than gold prior to the development of industrial refinement methods in the 19th century. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_aluminium https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_aluminium
- codersfocus 3y ago
  Who says anything about Earth's crust? I am talking about space mining. I can see gold crashing in 100 years just like aluminium.
  - maerF0x0 3y ago
    just for fun: https://theprint.in/opinion/giant-asteroid-has-gold-worth-700-quintillion-but-it-wont-make-us-richer/260482/ https://theprint.in/opinion/giant-asteroid-has-gold-worth-70... also in the article: > Diamonds used to be exceedingly rare, until large deposits were discovered in the 1800s in South Africa. The British businessman and colonial government official Cecil Rhodes consolidated all South African diamond mining under the De Beers company, an effective monopoly which later was controlled by the Oppenheimer family. Over the years, De Beers managed to defend this monopoly against challenges from various upstarts, by hoarding diamonds when prices were low and flooding the market to destroy competitors
bilekas 3y ago
I'm no so sure. Gold has always been used as a mechanism for intrinsic value. While the dollar is not backed by the dollar anymore there is still sentiment around the world that gold is the relaible asset. Gold has an important economic role as a means of exchange should currency collapse. So I wouldn't see it going anywhere anytime soon. Until maybe i have a gold skillet that I'm throwing out someday!
- BirAdam 3y ago
  Just a bit pick, there’s no such thing as intrinsic value. All value is subjective. Gold has strong and common utility aiding in its valuation, but there is no intrinsic value.

prpl 3y ago

People will be irrational about gold longer than civilization can remain solvent

codersfocus 3y ago
Not if we can figure out how to bring tons of it down from the heavens

dvh 3y ago

Aluminum is 3rd most abundant element in earth crust. Gold is 75th most abundant. I don't think so. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abundance_of_elements_in_Earth%27s_crust https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abundance_of_elements_in_Ear...

sambazi 3y ago
pure gold does exist in nature, pure aluminum not so much
- Dylan16807 3y ago
  Right, that's exactly why aluminum had such a wild swing in value. Gold is not hard to extract, so that won't happen with it. Instead it's hard to get in any form, so people can dig out more but the cost of extraction keeps increasing.
  - sambazi 3y ago
    > the cost of extraction keeps increasing seems logical given the diminishing supply, suggesting some "peak gold". is it rooted in fact thou? you know, could be that humanity just hasn't found as much and is underestimating the remaining quantity.
    - Dylan16807 3y ago
      It's possible we could find some very easy deposits, but it's very unlikely they'd be enough to crash the price, and even less likely to permanently crater the price.
    - defrost 3y ago
      It's a fact, from the first large scale Rio Tinto mines in Roman times that used hydralic washing (redirected rivers) to todays mega super pits, the total resource requirements per unit gold have climbed. Today you can see this (subject to access | subscription) in industry Production All-in Sustaining Cost (AISC) Data People write essays such as: https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2014/06/28/under-the-microscope-the-true-costs-of-gold-production/ https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2014/06/28/under-the-micros... and articles such as: https://www.xetra-gold.com/en/gold-news/news/gold-production-costs-at-all-time-high/ https://www.xetra-gold.com/en/gold-news/news/gold-production... You can see decade long snapshots such as: https://www.gold.org/goldhub/gold-focus/2023/04/gold-miners-costs-reached-record-high-2022-dropped-final-quarter-year https://www.gold.org/goldhub/gold-focus/2023/04/gold-miners-... which might convince you that gold is somehow cyclically hard to recover and the cost per unit ebbs and flows .. but the long term (50 year, 100 year) truth is that gold becomes increasingly more resource intensive to extract. Which makes sense when you consider that it no longer just lies about on the surface in the same frequency as it once did (yes, you can still find surface nuggets .. but they are fewer and fewer).
rewmie 3y ago
> Aluminum is 3rd most abundant element in earth crust. Gold is 75th most abundant. I don't think so. If you want to cite wikipedia, you might want to cite the article on the history of aluminium, where it says in no uncertain terms that aluminium was more expensive than gold prior to the development of industrial refinement methods in the 19th century. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_aluminium https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_aluminium
codersfocus 3y ago
Who says anything about Earth's crust? I am talking about space mining. I can see gold crashing in 100 years just like aluminium.
- maerF0x0 3y ago
  just for fun: https://theprint.in/opinion/giant-asteroid-has-gold-worth-700-quintillion-but-it-wont-make-us-richer/260482/ https://theprint.in/opinion/giant-asteroid-has-gold-worth-70... also in the article: > Diamonds used to be exceedingly rare, until large deposits were discovered in the 1800s in South Africa. The British businessman and colonial government official Cecil Rhodes consolidated all South African diamond mining under the De Beers company, an effective monopoly which later was controlled by the Oppenheimer family. Over the years, De Beers managed to defend this monopoly against challenges from various upstarts, by hoarding diamonds when prices were low and flooding the market to destroy competitors

bilekas 3y ago

I'm no so sure. Gold has always been used as a mechanism for intrinsic value. While the dollar is not backed by the dollar anymore there is still sentiment around the world that gold is the relaible asset. Gold has an important economic role as a means of exchange should currency collapse. So I wouldn't see it going anywhere anytime soon. Until maybe i have a gold skillet that I'm throwing out someday!

BirAdam 3y ago
Just a bit pick, there’s no such thing as intrinsic value. All value is subjective. Gold has strong and common utility aiding in its valuation, but there is no intrinsic value.