does precious (metal) = rare? gold specifically

LanceNewmanOCC

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i have read that it is estimated that hundreds of thousands if not perhaps millions of ounces of gold have been mined for many many years, year after year.

is gold as scarce as it is being purported, or is it like debeers and the diamond exchanges decades ago, up to and including today?

does the fact that millions of ounces gets spread out into electronic components, and only a small portion gets re-claimed by those that search out these components have a large effect on supply vs demand?
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DaveG

Gold isn't really that rare - after all everyone I know has at least some!

It's just in demand.

LindeDad

Very simple no matter how much there is, there will never be as much as much is wanted.

Oh and when the want gets great enough they will reclaim what was in electronics.

Edit add that this was wanted by me.

LanceNewmanOCC

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2 posts 2 great responses ty

it's just in demand - the practical applications for its' properties will most likely make it always in demand. been that way since day 1 far as i know.

they will reclaim what was in electronics - i actually watched some youtube videos from people showing how to do it and from what components it can come from. i actually learned that there are people selling in bulk vis-à-vis components from various larger products for those that want to take the time to strip everything and also shows the other metals that can be reclamated, copper, aluminum etc.

so what i gather from the 2 posts so far is that precious applied to metals doesn't necessarily mean rare. of course how to quantify rare is another matter altogether.
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LindeDad

Yes the rare part would of been if there was no "S" mint mark.

dollarsandcents

<< <i>so what i gather from the 2 posts so far is that precious applied to metals doesn't necessarily mean rare. of course how to quantify rare is another matter altogether.
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Whenever someone talks about something being rare, it needs to be given some sort of context: rare compared to what.

So, yes, there is a lot of gold in the world.
Compared to the amount of iron in the world, gold is rare.

LanceNewmanOCC

<< <i>Yes the rare part would of been if there was no "S" mint mark.
>>



if i may inquire to the possible obviousness since i think i see what you mean by posting that common date

even though it is common, it is still sought after. is that your intention?
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LanceNewmanOCC

<< <i>

<< <i>so what i gather from the 2 posts so far is that precious applied to metals doesn't necessarily mean rare. of course how to quantify rare is another matter altogether.
. >>



Whenever someone talks about something being rare, it needs to be given some sort of context: rare compared to what.

So, yes, there is a lot of gold in the world.
Compared to the amount of iron in the world, gold is rare. >>



so it seems i need to have a list of the metals that are assigned precious status and then

just presume they are given that status in comparison to the rest of the heavy metal atom quantity contained here.

i can roll with that
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LanceNewmanOCC

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i guess this encompasses all that i inquired about but it is nice to hear what others think
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LanceNewmanOCC

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and this loosely refers to "coinage" metals

just fyi for those interested perhaps how and what is determined worthy for coinage, possibly but not limited-to.
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dollarsandcents

<< <i>so it seems i need to have a list of the metals that are assigned precious status and then

just presume they are given that status in comparison to the rest of the heavy metal atom quantity contained here.

i can roll with that
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What on earth are you talking about?

The precious metals (gold, silver, platinum, palladium, etc) are "precious" because they are used extensively in jewelry, and historically as forms of currency.
Yes, there are industrial uses for these metals too, but they have traditionally been sought after because of their aesthetic properties.

Oh, and radioactive metals are not considered precious even though they are rare.

GrumpyEd

wiki gold


Wiki has some interesting info:


The consumption of gold produced in the world is about 50% in jewelry, 40% in investments, and 10% in industry.

Most of the gold used in manufactured goods, jewelry, and works of art is eventually recovered and recycled. Some gold used in spacecraft and electronic equipment cannot be profitably recovered, but it is generally used in these applications in the form of extremely thin layers or extremely fine wires so that the total quantity used (and lost) is small compared to the total amount of gold produced and stockpiled. Thus there is little true consumption of new gold in the economic sense; the stock of gold remains essentially constant (at least in the modern world) while ownership shifts from one party to another.

One estimate is that 85% of all the gold ever mined is still available in the world's easily recoverable stocks, with 15% having been lost, or used in non-recyclable industrial uses.


A total of 165,000 tonnes of gold have been mined in human history, as of 2009.[2] This is roughly equivalent to 5.3 billion troy ounces or, in terms of volume, about 8500 m3, or a cube 20.4 m on a side.




And I never heard this about meteorites before:

It has been claimed that most of the Earth's gold lies at its core, the metal's high density having made it sink there in the planet's youth. Virtually all of the gold that mankind has discovered is considered to have been deposited later by meteorites which contained the element.

LindeDad

1898-S mintage was 2,575,175.
1898 Mintage was 170,395.
With only 75 of them being proof now we are talking rare.
So when we talk coins and talk rare we must not just think metal at all.

OnlyGoldIsMoney

Gold is certainly rarer than paper.

To me gold represents an era of honest money. Here is a bit from that time to keep this thread numismatic.

LanceNewmanOCC

<< <i>What on earth are you talking about?
>>



i cannot answer this w/o going extremely off-topic. had several answers written out and none lead anywhere positive for this public forum.

nor would i desire to write it all out in a PM(s). (my views about what is perceived as "precious" and/or "valuable")

but everything is ok. my goal was just to have a few responses to what others thought about precious relating to rarity and it has been answered in spades
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ctf_error_coins

Heard this the other day and got it off the internet as to how rare gold is ...

"Gold is so rare that the world pours more steel in an hour than it has poured gold since the beginning of recorded history"

LanceNewmanOCC

<< <i>To me gold represents an era of honest money. Here is a bit from that time to keep this thread numismatic.] >>



honest being strip-mining the earth and all the significant pollutants left behind and murders surrounding the gathering and distribution of the land containing the metal and the metal itself?

no antagonistic angles intended. this just touches on why i didn't go further into this thread than i did

but like you say, to stay on-topic. i do like that little lady you posted
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LanceNewmanOCC

<< <i>Heard this the other day and got it off the internet as to how rare gold is ...

"Gold is so rare that the world pours more steel in an hour than it has poured gold since the beginning of recorded history" >>



holy cow. now that is a statement and probably not far from the truth!
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LanceNewmanOCC

<< <i>And I never heard this about meteorites before:

It has been claimed that most of the Earth's gold lies at its core, the metal's high density having made it sink there in the planet's youth. Virtually all of the gold that mankind has discovered is considered to have been deposited later by meteorites which contained the element. >>



a friend told me that same thing that he watched in a tv episode
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COALPORTER

I've read that all the gold mined in history could be stacked on a football field.
Growing up in California, and having "gold fever" for like ever, i can attest to how
hard and expensive it is to find.

LindeDad

<< <i>I've read that all the gold mined in history could be stacked on a football field.
Growing up in California, and having "gold fever" for like ever, i can attest to how
hard and expensive it is to find. >>



Yep remember a couple of weekends in northern part of the state with a friend working his claim.
All I brought back was a very sore back.

LanceNewmanOCC

<< <i>I've read that all the gold mined in history could be stacked on a football field.
Growing up in California, and having "gold fever" for like ever, i can attest to how
hard and expensive it is to find. >>



ya. i don't pretend to full understand the effort required but after watching several of the gold mining tv series out it does help one to understand the expense and effort a bit.

it seems averaged out over time fuel is the largest expense to run all the equip necessary. diseal or however you spell it.

they have some nice stats on how much earth has to be "turned" or "chewed" for juts one ounce of gold and with the gold increase per ounce, it has exploded the amount of prospectors

and land being sold for prospecting. i am darn near an adviser of how to go through the motions and process to get an operation up and running just from those shows LOL
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OnlyGoldIsMoney

<< <i>

<< <i>To me gold represents an era of honest money. Here is a bit from that time to keep this thread numismatic.] >>



honest being strip-mining the earth and all the significant pollutants left behind and murders surrounding the gathering and distribution of the land containing the metal and the metal itself?

no antagonistic angles intended. this just touches on why i didn't go further into this thread than i did

but like you say, to stay on-topic. i do like that little lady you posted
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I completely neglected to consider the Social Justice angle.

Fortunately North Carolina gold in the 1840's could be found with by applying a pan to a likely stream. With such a tiny greenhouse footprint even Al Gore could not resist sorting through some paydirt.

LanceNewmanOCC

<< <i>I completely neglected to consider the Social Justice angle.

Fortunately North Carolina gold in the 1840's could be found with by applying a pan to a likely stream. With such a tiny greenhouse footprint even Al Gore could not resist sorting through some paydirt. >>



i don't deny having a more than average desire to sit along a stream and hand-pan some dirt in search of those shiny little rocks

the sounds of nature, the stream the sun shining away, a vacation it does sound like
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LanceNewmanOCC

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i did some searching based on the new gold prospecting tv show "jungle gold" filmed in ghana, africa and here are the numbers of ounces "reported"

3.1 million ounces in 2009, 3.4 million ounces in 2010 and 3.6 million ounces in 2011

did the volumes of gold being prospected around 2008-2009 in several countries have a lot to do with the price going up or did the price going up have a lot to do
with the amount of gold mined?

in any event, sure sounds like we're ripping it out in record numbers.
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