by Dave Kranzler, Investment Research Dynamics:
“Bad money drives out good money.” When Gresham put forth this proposition, sovereigns were diluting gold and silver coins with metals of lesser value yet the diluted coins were given the same value for legal tender purposes as the more pure coins. Gresham observed that the more pure coins would be hoarded and the lesser value coins would be used for trade.
Sound familiar? Go find pre-1964 dimes, quarters and half-dollars and try to buy them for their legal tender value. Pre-1964 silver coinage contains 90% silver. Post-1964 silver coins are made from nickel and copper. No one who holds pre-1964 coins would use them for their face value. They have disappeared from circulation. The melt-value of the silver in a 1963 quarter currently is $2.60.
GOLD ROCKETS NORTHBOUND BY $32.00 TO $1650/SILVER ALSO RISES BY 50 CENTS TO $14.85/COMEX COMPLETELY BROKEN(BLEW UP)/CORONAVIRUS UPDATES FROM AROUND THE GLOBE//BORIS JOHNSON IS SERIOUS CONDITION IN UK/TAKEN TO ICU//JAPAN ISSUES A STATE OF EMERGENCY SET FOR TOMORROW//TRUMP FURIOUS WITH CHINA..JUST THE START..//OIL MEETING PUT OFF//PROBABLY THE MEETING THIS FRIDAY//SAUDI ARABIA SET ON KNOCKING OUT THE SHALE BOYS//THIS WILL BE A WORK IN PROGRESS
The purpose of this article is purely educational. Increasingly, the wider public is turning to gold in a spontaneous reaction to financial and economic problems that have become suddenly apparent, hastened by the spread of the coronavirus. For everyone now thinking of buying gold it is a leap into the unknown, so they should know why.