Buying Gold as a Long Term Investment
Discussion
Having done some internet research in this, I am not that much the wiser. I would like to buy some Gold before the price goes sky high, is it best to buy actual physical gold, ie bars etc or "virtual" gold, ie bonds? I came across a company that you invest in, who in turn give you interest on the basis of that money being the same as gold. Any one who can shed some light on this?
Any help is appreciated!! Cheers!
Any help is appreciated!! Cheers!
I noticed that you said you wanted to buy gold for the LONG term.
Sure gold has recently past its previous all time high set back in 1980 at $850 on ounce, and is hovering at $950 give or take. And hit $1,030 last week. Given the fact that major flaws in the worlds financial system are coming to light, gold (as the ultimate store of value) has shot up 50% in past year or so. I believe that all the pointers are it will rise significantly further, albeit in a volatile market, over the next 6 to 12 months.
You can buy gold on paper, bonds, actual gold, gold coins, bet on gold, gold futures, etc etc but these are all absolutely directly linked to the actual market value on a daily basis.
But I have an alternative suggestion !
For my sins I collect 70’s digital watches, besides cars that is. I do not mean $5 Casio’s, or mass produced far east crap that do a nice job telling the time and not much else. Instead I concentrate on buying into technical firsts, or rarities, or just because I like them.
Without writing a huge book here and now, I can tell you that between 1972 and 1976 or so, the Pulsar watch company (USA) single handedly revolutionised the watch market by producing the worlds first new way of telling time in 800 years by launching the LED (Light Emitting Diode) watch. The very first single-function model in 1972 was seen back then as an absolute cutting edge ‘space age’ technology, causing major headlines in the mainstream media all over the world, and a revolution in the watch market.
Their designs and functionality rapidly evolved in the following 4 years through to about 1976, but so did the mass produced copiers in the far east, and by 1977 LCD watches had become dominant for the simple reason that the average guy in the street could see the time display all the time, and LED’s more or less died out in a year because the market perception was you had to press a button on a LED watch to see the time. One thing a lot of people don’t realise now (35 yrs later !) is that with many Pulsar LED’s you simply did a specific wrist flick action and the time came up – no pressing buttons …
The point I am getting too is that Pulsar were selling LED watches made to incredibly high standards, way way more impressive than the cheap mass produced rubbish that flooded the market in the late 70’s early 80s, AND THEY WERE MADE IN LIMITED NUMBERS IN SOLID GOLD …. They really were the Porsche 959 of watches back then. IE, the 959 was a brilliant leap in car technology that wouldn’t be bettered for 20 yrs but produced in small numbers at a huge price that are now highly cherished as well as useable investments (I know – I’ve owned a few Group B cars . . . ).
The world’s first ever digital watch, the Pulsar P1, was made out of solid 18k gold, its red lens was actually sapphire not Perspex as you might think. They cost $2,000 back in 1972 so only film stars and high profile people bought them, which was ideal for Pulsar because it created the demand for their subsequent more available models. Only 400 P1’s were made, and about 50 are known to exist today. But there’s plenty more of the subsequent 18k models. A lot were melted down in the 1980 gold price spike, because their melt value exceeded their low perceived out of date value by the late 70s. This lack of supply just forces values even higher. These watches are very simple, reliable, and can be restored and repaired if need be.
Over the past 28 years their value has steadily gone up, and up, and up and up. They do NOT vary much with the market value of gold, and there’s a strong demand from watch collectors all over the world because its historical significance as well as usability to this day, and there’s little supply. They cannot be cloned or copied either. “Loosely” speaking, based on a 20 yr moving average, their collectible value is 3 to 4 times their gold mass value. I've been collecting for over 20 yrs, and am familiar with market trends and movements for these watches, and basically they just tend to grow in value irrelevant of the wider financial market behaviour.
Generally speaking, a P1 with its original box and papers, and in good condition will be worth $15,000 give or take, sometimes seen on ebay, or sold between collectors on dozens of watch forums. Scruffy ones come up from time to time at about $7,500 but it doesn’t take much to tidy them up or fix them.
After the initial model was launched, Pulsar went onto top produce 100,000s of stainless steel LED watches which are also quite collectible (depends on model/condition, but often seen for up to £1k regularly on ebay), but they nearly always produced small batches of solid gold versions of every model they ever made. Both the original P1 model and all subsequent men’s 18k solid gold models are highly sought after and have been in the past, present, and probably future. Other models include full blown Calculators and even heart-rate monitors. All have time functions as well.
You can buy into any one of these models, use it, enjoy it, have it restored if it gets slightly damaged, and sell it and make significant money if you know what you’re doing.
Why buy an expensive modern ‘massed produced luxury’ brand watch which depreciates to bugger all quite quick, when instead you can enjoy something this unusual which is also tending to go up in value more so than almost all other more direct financial investments.
The market for them behaves the same way as, say, old paintings and similar. This includes the same combination of experts, resellers, collectors, admirers, agents, repairers, and story tellers, books, forums etc.
I’ve shown a picture of one of the P1’s below. There’s plenty more models / functions to choose from, even ones with green LEDs instead of red. And with the whole retro stuff scene gaining momentum, the ones I wear get a lot of attention.
Sure gold has recently past its previous all time high set back in 1980 at $850 on ounce, and is hovering at $950 give or take. And hit $1,030 last week. Given the fact that major flaws in the worlds financial system are coming to light, gold (as the ultimate store of value) has shot up 50% in past year or so. I believe that all the pointers are it will rise significantly further, albeit in a volatile market, over the next 6 to 12 months.
You can buy gold on paper, bonds, actual gold, gold coins, bet on gold, gold futures, etc etc but these are all absolutely directly linked to the actual market value on a daily basis.
But I have an alternative suggestion !
For my sins I collect 70’s digital watches, besides cars that is. I do not mean $5 Casio’s, or mass produced far east crap that do a nice job telling the time and not much else. Instead I concentrate on buying into technical firsts, or rarities, or just because I like them.
Without writing a huge book here and now, I can tell you that between 1972 and 1976 or so, the Pulsar watch company (USA) single handedly revolutionised the watch market by producing the worlds first new way of telling time in 800 years by launching the LED (Light Emitting Diode) watch. The very first single-function model in 1972 was seen back then as an absolute cutting edge ‘space age’ technology, causing major headlines in the mainstream media all over the world, and a revolution in the watch market.
Their designs and functionality rapidly evolved in the following 4 years through to about 1976, but so did the mass produced copiers in the far east, and by 1977 LCD watches had become dominant for the simple reason that the average guy in the street could see the time display all the time, and LED’s more or less died out in a year because the market perception was you had to press a button on a LED watch to see the time. One thing a lot of people don’t realise now (35 yrs later !) is that with many Pulsar LED’s you simply did a specific wrist flick action and the time came up – no pressing buttons …
The point I am getting too is that Pulsar were selling LED watches made to incredibly high standards, way way more impressive than the cheap mass produced rubbish that flooded the market in the late 70’s early 80s, AND THEY WERE MADE IN LIMITED NUMBERS IN SOLID GOLD …. They really were the Porsche 959 of watches back then. IE, the 959 was a brilliant leap in car technology that wouldn’t be bettered for 20 yrs but produced in small numbers at a huge price that are now highly cherished as well as useable investments (I know – I’ve owned a few Group B cars . . . ).
The world’s first ever digital watch, the Pulsar P1, was made out of solid 18k gold, its red lens was actually sapphire not Perspex as you might think. They cost $2,000 back in 1972 so only film stars and high profile people bought them, which was ideal for Pulsar because it created the demand for their subsequent more available models. Only 400 P1’s were made, and about 50 are known to exist today. But there’s plenty more of the subsequent 18k models. A lot were melted down in the 1980 gold price spike, because their melt value exceeded their low perceived out of date value by the late 70s. This lack of supply just forces values even higher. These watches are very simple, reliable, and can be restored and repaired if need be.
Over the past 28 years their value has steadily gone up, and up, and up and up. They do NOT vary much with the market value of gold, and there’s a strong demand from watch collectors all over the world because its historical significance as well as usability to this day, and there’s little supply. They cannot be cloned or copied either. “Loosely” speaking, based on a 20 yr moving average, their collectible value is 3 to 4 times their gold mass value. I've been collecting for over 20 yrs, and am familiar with market trends and movements for these watches, and basically they just tend to grow in value irrelevant of the wider financial market behaviour.
Generally speaking, a P1 with its original box and papers, and in good condition will be worth $15,000 give or take, sometimes seen on ebay, or sold between collectors on dozens of watch forums. Scruffy ones come up from time to time at about $7,500 but it doesn’t take much to tidy them up or fix them.
After the initial model was launched, Pulsar went onto top produce 100,000s of stainless steel LED watches which are also quite collectible (depends on model/condition, but often seen for up to £1k regularly on ebay), but they nearly always produced small batches of solid gold versions of every model they ever made. Both the original P1 model and all subsequent men’s 18k solid gold models are highly sought after and have been in the past, present, and probably future. Other models include full blown Calculators and even heart-rate monitors. All have time functions as well.
You can buy into any one of these models, use it, enjoy it, have it restored if it gets slightly damaged, and sell it and make significant money if you know what you’re doing.
Why buy an expensive modern ‘massed produced luxury’ brand watch which depreciates to bugger all quite quick, when instead you can enjoy something this unusual which is also tending to go up in value more so than almost all other more direct financial investments.
The market for them behaves the same way as, say, old paintings and similar. This includes the same combination of experts, resellers, collectors, admirers, agents, repairers, and story tellers, books, forums etc.
I’ve shown a picture of one of the P1’s below. There’s plenty more models / functions to choose from, even ones with green LEDs instead of red. And with the whole retro stuff scene gaining momentum, the ones I wear get a lot of attention.
Edited by Stealth-wagon on Saturday 29th March 14:59
Edited by Stealth-wagon on Saturday 29th March 15:03
Edited by Stealth-wagon on Saturday 29th March 15:05
Bloody hell, that was a reply and a half! Cheers StealthWagon!
Funny you should mention that particular watch as I was also considering that particular version for the same reason! My only problem would be that i don't ever think I would have the heart to sell it on! That era of LED watches is really something, I have been also looking to buy/find one of those driving watches where the time is shown at an angle so that it can be read whilst driving, ie direct view from steering wheel! Just awesome watches|!
Funny you should mention that particular watch as I was also considering that particular version for the same reason! My only problem would be that i don't ever think I would have the heart to sell it on! That era of LED watches is really something, I have been also looking to buy/find one of those driving watches where the time is shown at an angle so that it can be read whilst driving, ie direct view from steering wheel! Just awesome watches|!
I remember these watches being for sale in Harrods - I rather coveted one at the time - I'm glad to see my judgement has been borne out! They were as you have shown eclipsed soon afterwards by the mass market alternatives, and LCD, but at the time were the total last word.
Noone can guarantee that gold will have a stable value, and speculation and market manipulation is inevitable, but it is at least a known quantity, it's pretty clear from the above chart that some people have known since 2002 that we were entering lala land.
Noone can guarantee that gold will have a stable value, and speculation and market manipulation is inevitable, but it is at least a known quantity, it's pretty clear from the above chart that some people have known since 2002 that we were entering lala land.
Personally I'd be looking at some of the minerals that have uncertain future supplies.
Phosphorous http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/ind...
and Lithium http://www.thedailygreen.com/living-green/blogs/ca...
spring to mind.
Phosphorous http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/ind...
and Lithium http://www.thedailygreen.com/living-green/blogs/ca...
spring to mind.
Gold hasn't really passed it's previous high of $850 in the 80s thought has it? In absolute dollar terms it has, but inflation adjusted it is nowhere near - so if you bought anywhere near the peak last time it's actually destroyed your wealth not preserved it, buying at the peak is never an intelligent investment, same as selling at the bottom - but it's what most people do.
I have always wondered why such a thing as gold which otherwise has no mechanical or technical or scientific use has so much attention as being the material to trade, other than of course basic security or for asthetic reasons.
and for the record, today gold is trading at about $1,120 per ounce and peak thus far was $1,226 around 3rd December 2009.
and for the record, today gold is trading at about $1,120 per ounce and peak thus far was $1,226 around 3rd December 2009.
Edited by Gulzar on Wednesday 17th February 13:58
Gulzar said:
I have always wondered why such a thing as gold which otherwise has no mechanical or technical or scientific use has so much attention as being the material to trade, other than of course basic security or for asthetic reasons.
and for the record, today gold is trading at about $1,120 per ounce and peak thus far was $1,226 around 3rd December 2009.
so people can gold leaf their RR?and for the record, today gold is trading at about $1,120 per ounce and peak thus far was $1,226 around 3rd December 2009.
Edited by Gulzar on Wednesday 17th February 13:58
Gulzar said:
I have always wondered why such a thing as gold which otherwise has no mechanical or technical or scientific use has so much attention as being the material to trade, other than of course basic security or for asthetic reasons.
Ehh ?
Besides being the ultimate store of value and used in jewellery and bullion, it has hundreds of uses in industry.
Gold doesn’t tarnish, conducts electricity extremely well, is extremely malleably, can be used as a film not much more than a molecule thick, is an excellent reflector of heat, and so on.
Its used extensively in electronics, computers, watches, mobile phones, satellites, all sorts of aero space applications, making glass, and even in vinyl wrapped rollers …
Stealth-wagon said:
Gulzar said:
I have always wondered why such a thing as gold which otherwise has no mechanical or technical or scientific use has so much attention as being the material to trade, other than of course basic security or for asthetic reasons.
Ehh ?
Besides being the ultimate store of value
[edit]I should add that I'm no gold/silver/<insert other pm here>, I just don't believe for a second it's a store of wealth any more. Sure, people say, 1oz gold always buys you a good suit - that's more to do with price competition in the market than gold being an ultimate store of wealth - when you look at using it to purchase assets and not liabilities, the purchasing power has decreased.
Edited by LivinLaVidaLotus on Wednesday 17th February 14:46
Yes, and land is one of the other relatively stable assets which is worth looking at. You are of course valuing it in currency which is increasingly unstable. The trouble is also that loads of other speculators are already on the bandwagon with a view to driving up the price and selling on to punters later. Nevertheless, either is an asset provided you exercise some care when buying, which is more than you can say for the toilet paper which the Government prints.
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