Gold is valuable because people decided, many moons ago, that it was valuable. It retains its worth now because it makes people happy and secure.
When the really big E36 M3 hits the fan, you'll be able to get all the gold you want if you stock up on canned food now.
The irony is that water is likely the most precious thing we have and you can buy that for almost nothing. 
People are weird.
EastCoastMojo wrote: The irony is that water is likely the most precious thing we have and you can buy that for almost nothing.
water is cheap because fish berkeley in it.
AngryCorvair wrote:EastCoastMojo wrote: The irony is that water is likely the most precious thing we have and you can buy that for almost nothing.water is cheap because fish berkeley in it.
LOLzers
For a helluva long time, pepper was worth its weight in gold all across Europe. You want something that will be valuable in the coming apocalypse? Spices and survival gear. What the hell good is a gold bar if you aren't around to enjoy it? You can't eat gold but you can swap it for something that makes that bland survival food taste better.
What's really valuable currently (and has been for centuries)? Real estate. Like my dad used to say, 'they ain't making any more land'. Everything else can be worked around.
Paper and electronic money have always worried me. They are worth exactly what people think they are; that's why the deutschmark and ruble were both worth nearly nothing in the reasonably recent past and the US dollar has taken an ass whipping overseas in the last few years. All it will take is a mass brain fart and we are all flat busted.
Take it from Mr. Rogers this is the only gold that will always hold its value!
Hey, I forgot about that: open a micro brewery or distillery after the bomb drops/zombies cut loose and you'll be rich! 
Beer making is a skill everyone should have. It only takes about $30-40 worth of equipment.
Screw the gold. If and when the bottom falls out, you can't eat it. Get guns and bullets. Then you can get all the gold, food, blankets, or whatever else you want.
ZAI (Zombie Apocolys Investment)= Booze, Condoms, and Smokes. The listed order is intensional. 
You know condoms have a shelf life of like 1 year, right? An emergency vasectomy might be a better idea.
If gold is such a great investment, why are businesses paying for ads to get rid of the stuff. Golds the metal is in some industrial uses and some decorative uses. Gold as a financial item is in its rarity, difficulty to counterfeit and the neener factor.
At the Zombie apocalypse if I have a pound of potatoes and you have a pound of gold..you go hungry buddy!
Apocalypse, zombies, or otherwise gold has value because people say gold has value, and therefore it does.
I've never bought gold. I watched gold prices for a while back in 1999 or so. At that time, gold hovered pretty steadily around $280- $290 per ounce. I didn't buy any for all the same reasons you are discussing. Plus, it looked like it was priced pretty high.
It is currently more like $1230 per ounce.
Before you knock it, can anybody tell me another investment that has increased over 400% in the last 11 years?
SVreX wrote: Before you knock it, can anybody tell me another investment that has increased over 400% in the last 11 years?
AAPL -Apple Inc.
January 4, 1999 opened at $42.13. Aug 20, 2010 closed at $249.64 for a 592% increase.
Yep. Nobody believed in Apple then either.
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