Thursday, June 3, 2010

The Purchasing Power Preservation Of Precious Metals

My business partner, Dean, came up with this example of how silver has maintained its purchasing power over time.  This is a picture of pre-1965 silver quarter, which was made from 90% silver and 10% copper:



In 1964, this coin was worth 25 cents.  Back then you could use this coin to buy a gallon of gasoline.  Today, if you take this same coin to a gas station, you can buy about 1/10th of a gallon of gas. HOWEVER, if you stop by your local coin dealer, he will pay you roughly the silver-melt value of this coin, which is $3.24 with spot silver a $17.95.  You can then take the proceeds to the gas station and buy a little more than a gallon of gasoline.

As you can see, the face value of a quarter has declined since 1964 by 90%.  But the silver-melt value of that same quarter has maintained its purchasing power over those 46 years. 

With an ounce of gold, this example is even more dramatic.  Back in 1964, the price of an ounce of gold was fixed at $35.  Today, that same ounce of gold is worth $1210.  If you do the math, you will find that the value of the U.S. dollar in relation to gold has declined by nearly 98% since 1964.  Got gold?  Got silver?

8 comments:

  1. I am a confessed DOLLAR Lover and prefer my purchasing power be eroded daily by aliens and child molesters!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Another fine post Dave, $3 for one of these Silver quarters huh? Nice, as I have 20 rolls of them that I have held on too for the longest time.


    No not for sale..../snark/

    ReplyDelete
  3. Interesting link as well.

    http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2010/06/03/census_worker_claims_job_numbers_are_being_inflated.html

    ReplyDelete
  4. Just another day watching the fiat bankster 'notes' die a little bit at a time.
    It's a good thing that my garden is doing well. Otherwise, I might have to go to the grocery store, notice the rising prices, and then I might not believe our gubbermint numbers any more.
    Redneckistanian

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hopium thanks for the census video. may incorporate it into today's post if i get motivated to do a post LOL

    ReplyDelete
  6. Dollar Dave,

    Where's my USD comment gone?

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5j2F4VcBmeo

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hey man, I post everything except the cash 4 gold spam and the occassional jerk-off who tries to post my personal information. I dunno what happened to it but I published it.

    Love that movie. Like I said earlier, my wrong call on the dollar - so far - is analogous to being a foot or two off the mark in horseshoes and handgrenades.

    But I could care less. You see gold today? That's the effect of the euro collapsing and every European who can fog a mirror trying to buy some gold. If the dollar spikes up because the euro is being used to fuel furnaces in northern Germany, that's not good even for dollar holders.

    This is me shooting down paper gold frauds:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S06nIz4scvI&feature=PlayList&p=A1E64F5465F7BF53&playnext_from=PL&playnext=1&index=4

    Ain't war hell?

    ReplyDelete
  8. It's fun to price things in metals.

    E.g. in pre '64 silver, a Pizza Hut Super Supreme pizza costs a whopping $0.80!

    ReplyDelete