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A comment on Why Deutsche Bundesbank had to promise to leave 1200 tons of gold in New York. Parent comment

Re:Why Deutsche Bundesbank had to promise to leave 1200 tons... by ComradeTaco on Sunday April 30, 2017 @02:18PM (#14233015)
If we're in the kind of crisis where all fiat money is useless, gold will be useless too. The only kind of thing that will have value are things that help you survive. A crate full of gauze pads and bandaids would be better than a whole stack of gold bullion in that situation.
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Re:Why Deutsche Bundesbank had to promise to leave 1200 tons... by umanwizard on Sunday April 30, 2017 @03:52PM (#14233488)
There is quite a continuum between fiat currency collapsing and the sort of zombie apocalypse you describe.

Fiat currency has become worthless many times in many countries without a total breakdown of civilization to the extent that gold no longer has any value (e.g., Argentina, Yugoslavia, Brazil, Weimar Germany, post-revolution France, ...)

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Re:Why Deutsche Bundesbank had to promise to leave 1200 tons... by ComradeTaco on Sunday April 30, 2017 @04:15PM (#14233589)
I always imagined that if you were stockpiling large amounts of gold in your home it was more of a survivalist thing than a risk management thing.
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Re:Why Deutsche Bundesbank had to promise to leave 1200 tons... by trhway on Sunday April 30, 2017 @03:23PM (#14233348)
You've never been through a country scale crisis.
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Re:Why Deutsche Bundesbank had to promise to leave 1200 tons... by ComradeTaco on Sunday April 30, 2017 @03:40PM (#14233431)
In a country scale crisis people would be selling all their valuables for fire sale prices to pay for essentials, including gold. A fiat reserve currency, like the Swiss Franc or the Pound would be easier to use, less likely to be stolen and more valuable then gold shavings.
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Re:Why Deutsche Bundesbank had to promise to leave 1200 tons... by wintersFright on Sunday April 30, 2017 @04:15PM (#14233587)
Gold isn't going to save you from a zombie apocalypse, nor can you eat it. It will however transport your wealth from one side of a currency crisis to the other while retaining value - as opposed to plastic notes with arbitrary numbers of zeros printed on them.
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