Every time I got interested in buying gold, I would look at those 30-40 year graphs and decide differently, but maybe history will not be a barometer in this free money economy? I now look at my CD rate and it's .10 %. I look at the stock market and wouldn't risk putting in money now. I hear the economy is getting better, but just on my block there's so many unemployed men digging into that savings account.(The account that was meant for retirement?) Yes, tech is hot. VC's have money to burn--now. The average guy is locked out of the current party though. While I'm on the box, why do I feel the big boy investors are just waiting until the retail stock investors get over any 2008 residual fear, and start putting serious money into the market; then the big boys(who have had access to this free money) will pull out of the market--leaving The Retail investor holding an empty bag? I am not asking lister. I'm just babbling out loud. I guess what's really scaring me is these low interest rates, and maybe gold might be a good call?

Even though you are cherry picking a peak value, I don't follow your logic.

$100 worth of gold bought at $850/ounce buys 0.117 ounces of gold. Today that gold (at $1181/ounce) is worth $138.90.

Your cash is worth $100.

I was using inflation-adjusted prices. I took the phrase "$100 of their currency now" to mean one hundred 1980 dollars now, which would be worth about $250. Otherwise the argument is a straw man. Any non-perishable commodity is going to outperform an inflating currency in the long run. There's nothing particularly special about gold in that regard.

Not quite.

The gold bull run of the 70s peaked at $850. So, even if you bought an ounce of gold at its peak, you'd be getting about $1300 for it today.

Cash, on the other hand, would have inflated away quite a lot, so your 100 bucks would buy you about 40 1980-dollars' worth of goods and services today.

January 1980 isn't exactly an era.