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What Your High School Chemistry Teacher Never Taught You About Gold
Submitted by Simon Black via SovereignMan.com,
One of the more unfortunate developments in human civilization over the last century is the devolution of money.
In fact, the word ‘money’ has now become synonymous with those funny pieces of paper that are conjured out of thin air by unelected central bankers.
Or even more ridiculous, ‘money’ has become the electronic representation of that paper.
Think about your bank account balance; it’s not like the bank has all that paper currency sitting in its vault.
The ‘money’ in your account doesn’t even really exist. There’s just enough of a thin layer of confidence in the system (at the moment) that this is a widely accepted practice.
It seems rather strange when you think about it. Though for thousands of years, early civilizations had some pretty wild ideas about money.
There are examples from history of our ancestors using everything from animals skins, to salt, to giant stones, as their form of ‘money’.
Though I suppose these weren’t any more ridiculous than our version of money– pieces of paper that don’t even really exist, controlled by unelected central bankers.
Of course, over the last 5,000 years, there was at least one form of money that did make sense. And it stuck. I’m talking, of course, about gold.
It’s no accident that gold has become the most consistent form of money in world history.
The metal is uniquely suited to serve as currency, not only amongst precious metals, but compared against nearly everything else on the planet.
You can see for yourself by taking a look at the periodic table of elements, the scientist’s catalog of everything the world has to offer.
Many of the entries on the periodic table are immediately disqualified. Many elements are radioactive. Others are gasses that would be impossible to transport.
Still others are colorless, and hence indistinguishable from air.
Taking these out eliminates most of the list, and you’re left with just a few dozen metals.
Most of these, however, like copper or iron, can be easily eliminated as well. They’re simply too common. And a form of money is useless if its in too much abundance… a lesson that modern central bankers have completely forgotten.
Others (like cesium) are highly reactive and explode on contact with water, or at least corrode easily.
Clearly a currency that kills its holder, or can’t even maintain its physical state without debasing itself, is rather useless.
Even silver, which nearly passes every single test falters at the last point, because it tarnishes slightly in reaction to sulfur in the air.
So out of all the elements we’re left with just one that’s just right: gold.
Gold is inert and non-reactive. It’s stable. It holds its form over the long-term. It’s malleable and easily divisible. And it’s rare. But not too rare.
Judging by its chemical properties, it’s no accident that gold became the most widely-used currency in history.
Of course, defenders of the paper money concept call gold a “barbarous relic”, suggesting that it has no place in modern civilization.
(Curiously, paper is also relic from long ago, dating back to the 2nd century AD in China. . .)
Yes it’s true that gold is a very old concept. But so is the wheel. Language. Arithmetic. And many other ideas passed down from the ages.
Just because something is ancient doesn’t mean it’s not RIGHT.
Empires rise and fall. Governments and central bankers come and go. Paper currencies lose their dominance.
But gold lasts.
And if you hold a long-term view, and believe that the path to prosperity is not paved in debt and money printing it makes sense to consider holding at least a small portion of your savings in the metal.
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>>>> MONEY
>>>> barbarous relic
Though we love gold, silver is going to be the investment of the century.
I saw a recent documentary that was really interesting, about the 'bronze bubble' around 500 BC in britain. the lords of the hill forts used bronze axe-heads as currency - smallish axeheads that were not suitable for warfare or wood.
Then folks got the tricks to iron, and bronze was no longer the beez knees. Devalued bronze overnight, to the point where modern archaez unearthed huge pits filled with thousands of bronze axeheads, buried in order to reduce the supply and reinflate the value of the remaining above ground bronze
i think ill just go and bury my laptop
In some parts of Africa where there are no trees. Elephant dung is a tradeable commodity. (for fire)
Let's buy some of those gold plated tungsten coins from ebay and buy myself some shit on the street.
I bet it'll work much better than bitcoin.
Oh, wait....
A lustrous article... full of common sense. But, what about platinum... could it also serve as a monetary unit or does it tarnish like silver?
Big Banks are lined up and salivating to get their hands on some barbarous relics:
http://www.mining.com/chavez-gold-repatriation-blows-up-in-venezuelas-face/
Scooby has full faith in US currency. The dollar will lead Americans to global domination.
If you want to be on the bottom of that totem pole continue worshiping your false prophet: gold.
Or bet BIG on The Dollar like Scooby has done!
that is one dumb article.
"What [this article] Never Taught You About Gold"
It's atomic properties as a conducting element exceed most "essential minerals" for the human body....hmmm...whaaaaaa?
There is little empirical data or studies on whether or not the human body actually contains, or needs trace amounts, or what the reason could be for this.
Yet, hundreds of studies on colloidal silver (used in MSMedicine) demonstrate proven antibiotic, antiviral, antioxidant, and restorative benefits due to its ability to provide the necessary "conductive" metals for the nervous (including brain, heart, endocrine, circulatory and muscular systems).
Nahhhh.....nevermind.
Good question about Pt corrosion or lack thereof. An internet search suggests that it does not, but I don't own any platinum to speak from experience.
Au is very easy to assay. Pt is one of several white metals, if it could be assayed as easily as gold it would be more valuable than the most liquid commodity. And yes, Pt does tarnish, though excedingly minutely.
yes, a friend swears by monatomic gold as a supplement ...
i've been meaning to buy some ... maybe a Xmas present :)
Any one of the noble metals will do, although aside from gold most of the others are more rare.
s ruthenium, rhodium, palladium, silver, osmium, iridium, platinum, and gold
Note: copper is also considered a noble metal, but as metioned above is too common.
Any one of the noble metals will do, although aside from gold most of the others are more rare.
ruthenium, rhodium, palladium, silver, osmium, iridium, platinum, and gold
Note: copper is also considered a noble metal, but as metioned above is too common.
At least you aren't trying to pimp crypto currency.
Some Aussie 15horses1donkey handle idiot has been pimping the living rat fuck out of the idea of a Zero Hedge crypto currency.
Makes you want to kick him in the nuts so hard he gargles his balls when he tries to speak.
Fucking crypto currency associated with Zero Hedge - I hope the Tylers gang rape his computer.
This is Physical Fight Club - long live Physical Fight Club.
Put your pedal to the metal.
Bitchez.
If I see this 15horses1donkey character I will invite him to Scooby's Bite Club.
~"Devalued bronze overnight, to the point where modern archaez unearthed huge pits filled with thousands of bronze axeheads, buried in order to reduce the supply and reinflate the value of the remaining above ground bronze"~
Actually, this is not exactly true. The axeheads were buried by their owners is a bid for immortality. I know this sounds strange but it is true. It was the very first instance of man coining the phrase...
"You'll never take me alive, you dirty copper!"
Bada-BOOM! TISHHHH!!!!
Thankyou,thankyou!You'retookind,thankyou!
I used to roll my eyes at the "barbarous relic" remarks too, but the irony is that thanks to bitcoin, gold REALLY IS finally a barbarous relic, just not for the reasons that Keynes believed. When are the rest of you dolts finally going to get it?
A barbaric cryptorelic from 2009. There are over 700 to choose from now.
... so, what's your favorite?
Physical gold... same as it ever was.
You can stuff the crypto currencies where the sun don't shine.
Ever hear of BetaMax?
Cool when new.
The whole point of the idea of gold as money is that it actually exists and can't be produced 'notionally'
Sure, you CAN print gold - just plug in your handy supernova and stand well back.
Gold is nothing but a commodity, and a useless one at that, but it's still something physical.
Bitcoin? Hahahahaha
Au is the most liquid commodity. There I've fixed it for you.
Your mother is also a useless commodity
or maybe a commode, since nobody wants to fuck her anymore but there is always some bum that is trying to piss on her leg when she walks the street.
gold is useful for spiritual practices. the crackling that used to happen in my hands while holding a piece in the center of my palm, was quite amazing....just too bad it all sunk on that boating adventure, ya know?
So barbarous a relic that even Neanderthal grave sites show they collected nuggets and honored their dead with the metal. Gold isn't just an old commodity, a box of it would be smarter than you are!
Spot On(no pun intended)....
Actually silver has been used as money more than anything else, even gold....i still love gold
Dual metal standards on a 1:1 ratio are the best, not just a gold standard, you need both and yes they ultimately get abused
Oh and there's that other "no counter party risk" "money....bitcoin, i just needs electricity and a highly sophisticated and interconnected technology grid, but it's honestly more real than the current digital FRNs...../sarc
The original definition of the US dollar was based on silver, if I'm not mistaken.
Based on the Spanish 'piece of eight' I think.
Silver coins called Joachimsthaler - thaler - Dollar is where the name comes from - after the town of Joachimsthal where silver was mined.
Edit - after a bit of research....
On April 2, 1792, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton reported to Congress the precise amount of silver found in Spanish milled dollar coins in common use in the states. As a result, the United States dollar was defined as a unit of pure silver weighing 371 4/16th grains (24.057 grams), or 416 grains of standard silver (standard silver being defined as 1,485 parts fine silver to 179 parts alloy)
People STILL laugh at me about owning gold! Amazing. However recently a couple of colleagues that USED to make fun quietly asked me where I buy it....
1st they laugh at u for accumulating real money....
then later they ask u for spare change...
u'll see....
You know, they laugh even harder about bitcoin.
Lol. They'll ask.. just takes a while.
If any reader here has a woman in his life--not that there's anything wrong if you are a woman reader with a woman in your life--I suggest you talk up a storm about Bitcoin. About how virtual it is. How no one knows where it resides. How it can't be tracked. How you can store your record of it in your head. Women love that shit....riiiiiiight.
Then, you talk about gold and silver as your fallback position when she has a series of ministrokes at your Bitcoin monologue. You will now sound like a paragon of rationality and fiscal probity. No longer a wild-eyed innocent ripe for plucking, you will be elevated in her eyes as someone substantial, someone to be reckoned with in the world.
It's all about contrast.
+10
Day-am - THAT was good (lights cigarette, inhales deeply, and exhales languorously).......
There are males or females who wouldn't want to collect physical gold or silver? Maybe not as common for males, but don't females generally have jewelry boxes? This can't be a hard sell.
Silver oxidizes in air, albeit very slowly. It's called tarnish.
https://www.saltlakemetals.com/Silver_Oxide.htm
Iron and copper oxidize more quickly, iron oxide is also known as rust.
Gold is almost totally inert, and along with silver and copper, are part of only a few metals that are found in their pure forms in nature.
Gold is the best conductor on the planet, and shiny. Get some.
(ClAuNH2)2NH and (OHAuNH2)2NH . My two favorite forms of gold.
Disclaimer: I am not responsible if you lose a few fingers playing with these.
Hey little feller. How would you like to trade that dull looking silver dollar for this nice shiny copper penny?
Went to school when chemistry class actually allowed hands on.
Made Fulminate of Silver one time (in class with teacher present)
Made Nitrogen Tri-iodide unofficially quite a few times. Cool stuff, but go carefully!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KlAf936E90
FYI, silver is the best conductor, then comes copper, THEN comes gold.
Gold is the best material for contacts because it won't corrode.
I did some work for a factory one time. They used Phosgene to kill insects. It corroded all the contacts in the plant. Turned brass keys black. Overheating Teflon skillets will cause them to give off phosgene. It will kill your canary. Smells like new-mown hay.
COCl2
Used as a poison gas in WW 1
It's the best reason not to smoke near a swimming pool or anywhere recently cleaned with chlorine bleach.
Chlorine goes through cigarette, reacts with carbon monoxide in the smoke forming phosgene.
Was just going to say this silver then copper then gold.
Props to you!
Guess I can add the better the conductor, the less needed for current applications. Such as you could use silver wire in smaller gauges than copper.
But more commonly its why Mains feed into a typical home by aluminum cable is twice the size than copper could do, but more economical.
Aluminum wiring was used in USA mobile homes in the post WW2 era. It was found to decompose at the point of contact and many trailer fires started in the switchboxes by shorting and so overheating the entire wiring system, causing the trailer to flash into flames. Trailer parks wouldn't let aluminum wired units on their grounds, after the defect became widely known. If you are running aluminum wire as the main feed into a home, you are in one Third World of hurt.
Silver is the best electrical conductor, then copper, then gold. Silver is the best thermal conductor and the most reflective metal as well.
Silver is the best conductor for electricity...
Get your facts sorted. Silver tarnishes but that is because of the presence of sulphur in the air. Silver hardly oxydizes at all under normal conditions! Also gold is not the most conductive metal, that is silver.
As noted by others, silver is the best conductor of heat and electricty, not gold.
That's becasue gold is TOO stable for efficent conduction. Conduction requres some free electrons, and silver has that, and that's why silver also oxidizes.
I think you are a bit off on your electrons there.
Silver conducts best due to quantum-mechanical effects at the level of electron orbits - it would take too long to type.
I was significantly over simplifying. Yes, in the end it is electrons moving from one orbit to another...
Gold doesn't get all tarnishy and black like silver.
Never eat a boiled egg with a silver spoon.
Eggs have lot of sulphur in them and the silver will go black in no time - AgS
Yes, but isn't tarnished silverware relatively easy to clean without damaging the pieces?
Gold is the best conductor on the planet, and shiny.
I thought that was supposed to be Riccardo Chailly.
Silver has the highest conductivity.
Otherwise.......agree.
Gold and silver are only produced in a supernova - the explosion of a large star at the end if it's life.
TRY PRINTING THAT.
Must of been a couple of ounces created when Orson Welles died.
Prior to the Protestant Reformation, back when interest was a designated Jewish sin, the way Christian merchant/bankers in such financial backwaters as Florence circumvented anti-science and anti-math troglodyte Papacy was by printing paper gold (i.e a futures contract for goods denominated in gold).
This was bankster progress! from bad old days of the Dark Ages when the Knights Templar were running the biggest multinational paper gold market in the world (at negative interest rates no less).
But there's a reason it was called the "Dark Ages", because it was a step backward on the evolutionary scale from the free-exchange of paper gold and other property titles that occurred in the markets of the Roman Empire.
The last time the Tyler's let an author post an iteration of Financial History for Dummies and Shills! I asked for a photograph of this mysterious 5,000 year old gold "money"
Of course so could post such a picture, because 5,000 years ago was 3,000 BC. At which time, coinage simply didn't exist, unlike those WMD derivatives and oligarch charitable tax shelters. And money was measured in grain or cattle as the preferred unit of account (deepening on whether one was closer to the Nile or Euphrates), for which receipts and derivatives traded because neither grain nor cattle is particularly portable- division of the latter can be messy, and neither is entirely fungible in its physical form due to shelf-life issues, which are mitigated with a paper obligation.
Even with the unlikely return a gold standard that allows for full redemption in specie by the plebes, the majority of gold in circulation would be paper gold (or digital gold), not physical gold.
Rinse, Repeat. (Unless any gold shill or misguided gold bug cares to argue that this time it's different...)
So your contention is that theft by a criminal syndicate known as "bankers" is responsible for the Enlightenment? You are a special kind of Paper Bug aren't you?
Stockaroach
That's not my contention troll.
I don't think trolls read history.
Just extend the middle finger and move on!
Interesting, if you had a bunch of typos I'd think you were M.A. Armstrong.
It's unusual for me type something that long without a bunch of typos, but we have radical differences of opinion on issues as varied as the velocity of money, mechanisms and motivations of gold price manipulation, the limitations of finite and incomplete data-sets to accurately predict the future (financial) world, to how best to fuck Goldman Sachs, and in the process limit the ability bankers to do their natural thing.
Marty says there is no manipulation of PM's. That in and of itself makes his reasoning dubious to me. Especially considering his
acknowledgment and discussion of Libor rigging, FX rigging, HFT scamming etc... So essentially he is saying every damn thing
is rigged except the PM markets. OOOOOO k? if you say so Mr. Armstrong.
But I don't think Marty is telling the whole truth and nothing but the truth in regards to what he thinks or knows about gold manipulation. I do not think this behavior is the result of some Deal with the Devil in exchange for getting out, but rather an obstinate overreaction to being trolled... or otherwise personally "insulted" by those who used to kiss his ass.
On a slightly longer timeline (than just a single blog post on website), his position on gold manipulation has more loopholes and caveats than a Dennis Gartman recommendation on CNBS.
On a philosophical level- If Armstrong argues that the closing price point of a market at day/week/month-end above or below a specific number will determine the short term trend, how could he seriously believe that the market is not subject to manipulation.
On a mechanical level, he rightly points out that the people who manipulate markets do so for a profit, and the "infinite bottomless short" position is actually impossible. However, for a guy a routinely recommends some rather complex trades, and actually has extensive experience with institutional trading desks and their misdirection, double-dealing, correlated trades, hedges, and conflicts of interest - to then not explain how market participants can easily profit and minimize "costs" through hedges, correlated markets, and incremental position closure, regardless of market direction - strikes mas as somewhere between feigned ignorance and outright disingenuousness.
Just my .02, but then I think troll wars are generally counter productive, and distract from more important issues and discussions (but sometimes they're fun and unfortunately, sometimes it's the only form of dialogue that actually functions as a dialogue).
Oh but our "star following" gods give us digital debt called dollars.
The problem is switching to a gold or silver based system will not make politicans honest.
Is there ANYTHING that might do that?
Yes, high velocity lead.
That won't make 'em honest, but at least their lies would cease!
in case u havent heard....London and New York r finished.
"Oct 22 (Reuters) - China Construction Bank (CCB) will join the twice-daily electronic auction process to set the benchmark price of gold, its operator Intercontinental Exchange said in a statement on Thursday. CCB on Wednesday confirmed it would be the second Chinese company to gain access to the 138-year old London Metal Exchange's trading floor with the acquisition of a majority stake in UK metals trading firm Metdist Trading Limited.
The gold auction, which takes place each day at 1030 and 1500 London time, sets the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) Gold Price, a benchmark used by producers, traders and end-users globally in contracts and transactions. CCB will join the process from October 30, ICE said.
"The LBMA Gold Price has seen increased underlying liquidity this year which is helping attract further new participation and interest from precious metal industry participants across the globe," ICE Benchmark Administration president Finbarr Hutcheson said in the statement. CCB was also confirmed last week by CME Group as a participant in the LBMA Silver Price auction, operated by CME and Thomson Reuters."
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/22/china-gold-ccb-idUSL8N12M44H20...
If you use it to back a currency you're a dead man?
I like Goldschlager. Does that count?
Seems like a silly waste to me, but then I've always avoided ostentation.
Given gold is chemically unreactive, there's little chance it changes the flavour.
My high school teacher taught me gold & silver are the most stable metal. That's all.
You need gold to make a fission based nuke.
It keeps the "pit" from oxidizing ensuring a successful "blast".
One of golds "dirty little secrets".
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/nuclear-weapon-gold-used-...
The US government hired a sign painter (used to be one myself - a bit rusty with gold leaf these days and it's a bit expensive to do just for practice) to gold leaf the insides of the Pu hemispheres that went into some early nukes.
I'm guessing he died of cancer.
Pure gold cannot be radioactive.
The plot for "Goldfinger" was a falsehood.
It would have worked if the area around Ft. Knox would have been made so "hot", like Fukashima/Chernobyl, it was unapproachable.
Gold has one stable isotope.
It has 18 that are radioactive.
Just so you know.
I was talking PURE, not isotopes.
Pure gold is one of the isotopes.
A science major you are not.
That was the plot. The area would be unapproachable to recover any gold and the remaining gold elsewhere would skyrocket in value.
One thing that gold proponents seem to neglect is that money, real money has a history. Wealth is anything above and beyond what it takes to survive in a medim that can be stored. Money is wealth. Therefore money has a history.
Currency created from credit is not money because it has no history, it's value all lies in the future.
Please,,,
Who sets the price of gold? Man sets the price of gold based on what? Man sets the price of gold on wait for it... wait ... A BELIEF SYSTEM.
Gold is no different than fiat currency. It is a value of store or some would say money but its value is set by man and his belief system.
There is NOTHING under gold but religion.
That is not necessarily so. Consider, Au has a _will_ to be in larger nuggets and lighter elements are simply tools of the noble metal. Makes as much sense.
Gold has a will. Gold uses humans to gather up all its little bits that were blasted out through space and time in super nova events and just happened to arrive on Earth; then bring them together again. At the rate we are going we should have most all the gold on or near the surface of the earth pretty well concentrated in Asia in the blink of an eye - relatively speaking.
Yes Talleyrand you understand! People are so self-centered they cannot grasp this simple concept. The gold you "hold" has a purpose for you: collect more or pass it to someone who will. This is what drives history. Presently the biggest story on earth is which giant pile of gold will attract the other --India's or China's.
True enough.
But, the value of anything, whether gold or silicon, is set by demand and availability in a market.
While the availability of gold is rather limited it is in high demand, as opposed to silicon which is extremely plentiful and in very limited demand.
Perhaps man's irrationality is what makes gold valuable, but for the life of me I can't figure out what makes a slippery hole so valuable either even though there seems to be plenty of supply around.
In other words, why would someone like Lamar Odom pay over $75,000 to have sex with prostitutes at a brothel in Nevada?
But, obviously the demand is there with enough supply to meet the demand.
Alphahammer your concept of "the price of gold" is a government construct.
Without legal tender laws anything could be money. But legal tender laws are a requirement for Statism. If you truly understood what money is when free of a statist definition, you would never use a meaningless phrase like the POG. Gold will be valuable long after the USA is gone.
Bluntly Put,
Very nice. Credit as money has a time vector attached due to debt instrument. This means that the credit as a unit starts a clock at moment of hypothecation. This clock puts velocity on credit as money and also demands more back than what was created. This means that there is a tax on the future to pay today.
Real money is floating and has no debt instrument on its other side. Therefore it relates to the past, and is excess stored wealth. It maintains its wealth position due to its matching of volume relative to goods and servcies production, as well as savings needs.
Gold cannot serve as real money because it tends to be hoarded and saved, thus cannot fulfill the role as transaction medium. Gold always retreates and then asks for usury during economic crises.
Gold and Silver can serve as a savings medium, and it can then be exchanged for money.
A real money system should have some sovereign credit, because the disappearing nature of this money can serve as a drain knob to keep inflation at bay, should indicators indicate an economy is overheating.
There are no automatic circuit breakers and natural balancing to a money system, implied by goldbugs. Economies are dynamic.
All money is law, even metal by weight.
Gold cannot serve as real money because it tends to be hoarded and saved, thus cannot fulfill the role as transaction medium. Gold always retreates and then asks for usury during economic crises.
The more Gold is hoarded, the scarcer it get's. That means that the hoarded gold is more valuable. WTF is wrong with that? It also means that gold that is spent now is more valuable then when it was obtained. It also means that Gold is an investable commodity when it is going up in value. When the value exceeds the market trend, it cools down innovation because it's gotten ahead of the market.
Here is why gold prices are so low:
http://michaelekelley.com/2015/07/20/dear-fed-plz-raise-gold-price/
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-07-09/are-big-banks-using-derivatives-suppress-bullion-prices/
why are all the short and ultra short ETFs being closed?
Gold lasts, silver lasts; what people need to stop doing is accounting for their property using a single reification of value, e.g. the elastic 'dollar'. But that's too radical for the accountant, too inconvenient for the taxman, too abominable for the banker.
Nobody in my rural area of South Central Wisconsin gives a damn about gold. You couldn't "spend" it in a pinch. You'd have to drive forty miles to the nearest coin store and convert it to the coin of the realm (dollars).
Dollars come first as a medium of exchange, then labor. Silver coins are valued and exchangeable. Also cord wood, corn, pigs, pickup trucks, booze & beer, smokes, firearms & ammo, welding rods & wire, steaks, fishing gear, knives, pornographic magazines, apples, and antique hog oilers. Gold, no. Nobody's even heard of "bitcoin". Trying to exchange bitcoin for a ham sandwich would be impossible.
I suppose porno mags are to internet porn what real money is to BitCoin!
Still works when the power goes out!
Bingo!
The gold buyer market is configured like this.
1) 50% of the supposed gold "buyer" market is actually gold sellers. They constantly preach this doomday shit 24/7 and everybody should "BUY BUY BUY" -- as they are the sellers. It's commonly refered to as sleazy marketing.
2) The other 50% of the gold buyer/holder market believe what the sellers cough cough I mean buyers tell them. See item #1 above.
But you are spot on. If the shit were ever to really fly. You want bullets, food and booze. All the rest of it is bullshit...
"sweat, piss, jizz and blood..."
at the heart of the matter is
gold. in some way, that is the
world we can "touch", demonstrate
and conceive, verified or denounced
by the mind, tilting toward the center
of what is called the periodic table and,
oh, what a table it is.
.
Little Walter / Boom, Boom Out Goes the Lights
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XagQ3owbBEM
.
https://www.google.com/search?q=matter+chart&rlz=1C1RNPN_enUS422&espv=2&...
.
Jimmy Reed - Take Out Some Insurance
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkqGgCCWjus
.
Who is "Simon Black"?
Jack Black's serious brother
Yes, gold is the best money. Not that silver isn't good too. The most important aspect of the pure physical gold standard is... having a standard against which everything else is priced.
Think about it this way. The honest way to interact with other humans is trade. In other words, barter (exchange some of what you produce for some of what others produce).
To be honest and productive only requires those who exchange goods know what they are getting, and exchange goods voluntarily.
This system has one flaw. What if you have a good (say "eggs"), and you need another good (say "lumber"). Unfortunately, the guy you know who has "lumber" is allergic to eggs, or doesn't like eggs, or just doesn't need [so many] eggs.
Or... even if you find someone who does need lots of your "eggs", how do you figure out what the appropriate exchange rate for "eggs" versus "feet of 2-by-4 lumber"?
The answer is two-fold.
First, you need to price every good in terms of one standard good. That standard good is gold, which is why the scheme is called the "gold standard".
Once you know the exchange rate between "grams of egg" versus "grams of gold", and the exchange rate between "feet of 2-by-4 lumber" versus "grams of gold", you can find the exchange rate of "grams of egg" versus "feet of 2-by-4 lumber".
In the same way, you can find the standard exchange rate between ANY two goods. The exchange rate of each good is called its "price".
Therefore, the "gold standard" provides a universal solution to the "exchange rate" problem.
But that's not the only major problem the pure, physical gold standard solves.
You might not be able to [easily or conveniently] find anyone with the kind of good you need... who also needs the good you have.
However, given the first solution provides a "price" for every good, you don't need to solve this "goods matching problem". You simply find someone who wants the goods you have and exchange them for "grams of gold" (the number of grams being the "price" of the goods). Then you take your "grams of gold" to someone who has the goods you want, and repeat the process again... hand over the appropriate number of "grams of gold" for the goods you want (the "price" of those goods being set by the "price" == "quantity of good per gram of gold").
-----
That's all there is to it.
Except, one might notice that in every honest trade/barter/transaction both sides are giving something of real value (goods or gold), and both sides are receiving something of real value (gold or goods). NO fictions. NO counterparties.
Value for value. PERIOD.
When the transaction is made, the transaction is FINISHED.
-----
What exists today is pure fiat, fake, fraud, fiction, fantasy, fractional-reserve hot-debt-potato scammery. No wonder human predators created such a system... they want to live the high-life, while others work and produce goods.
Well said. However, under a gold standard, how would we bail out Puerto Rico? How would we make more Puerto Rico's?
Oh, /s.
No comment.
With amount of "money" now in existence, gold would have to be valued somewhere above $25,000/oz. The only way they would ever go back to any system that uses a gold-backed currency is if they confiscated all of the gold first, because these crooks would never let anything we own ourselves appreciate to this degree. They want every doddamn dollar in their possession, 100% of the time. Gold is not something that can be created or destroyed, therefore their ability to control the world is reduced. And they will start a world war before they let this happen.
Yeah, but I have a plan...
No hope "the money" ever will come in to existence the like we render it.
The belief that there is value in an object is of barbarian roots.
Pay attention what attention finds worth to price as value. And where there is no attention, worth and value lacks also.
Of the ridicule there is more on the subject.
This article exposes lies told about gold:
https://www.moneymetals.com/news/2015/10/22/lies-about-gold-000778