It seems that since the elections are now over, there are a lot of ads out there offering gold and silver bullion for sale.  A "gold bug" stopped by my table at a FUN show a few years ago.  He said that only gold was money and he wouldn't invest in anything else, and he certainly didn't believe in the value of paper money.  I said, if you believe in gold, then continue to buy it.  He said, yes, I will be buying more and I already have a lot of gold now, in fact, "I have the certificates to prove it!"

I'll let that sink in a little bit before I continue my story.  So I said, you said you were investing in gold, but it sounds like you are investing in certificates instead.  And, if you don't believe in the value of anything printed on paper, then what were the certificates printed on?  My point is, if you decide to invest in gold, or silver, the only safe way to invest in gold or silver is to take physical delivery of the gold or silver.  If you only get paper, how do you know that when you want to cash in, that your certificates will have any value?

Back when I lived in Pennsylvania, about 20 years ago, there was a big lawsuit filed by a doctor who had invested in gold, but let the seller hold onto the gold.  When he went to get his gold, it wasn't there.  A big lawsuit ensued, with a lot of time and money spent.  I calculated that with the amount of gold mentioned in the case, he could have taken delivery and with two safety deposit boxes costing $20 per year, he could have held onto his gold.