I look at gold, platnium, silver and any precious metal like this....
It's really not worth anymore than it was 10 or 15 years ago. It's just that the dollar (and other world currencies are devaluing) so the price of precious commodities is merely keeping pace with the ever increasing worthlessness of the paper currency. The value of gold (and other precious metals) is relative to the rate of inflation/devaluing currency.
I said years back that at some point in the future, it will take a wheelbarrow full of worthless FRN's to buy a roll of toilet paper.
Wow! you guys have been busy here with this thread, good points made on both sides.
I wish I could articulate my ideas and feelings more efficiently, but it takes me half an hour to come up with 2 coherent paragraphs

I'm definitely in the pro gold camp, wish I had much more, but not confident enough to buy more at this price even though I do believe it will go much higher.
As was mentioned, when everyone (average Joe) starts talking about it, that's when a major correction could come. But as was mentioned also, that is not happening, the majority of gold is probably being snatched up by the big investors, fund managers, at these prices the average joe can't justify it, partly due to the lack of understanding what is happening in these uncharted waters.
The mention of the wheelbarrow full of currency reminds me of a teachers lesson about the weak value of the German franc at the end of WW2. A guy brought a wheelbarrow full of francs to town to buy what ever he could with it. Someone accosted him and dumped the money out and stole the wheelbarrow. That storey always stuck with me.
Come on now schoolsout....get real...what can you do with a 1 oz. gold coin right now except show it off, take it down to a coin shop and sell it or have it mounted in a frame for a necklace...give me a break..You cannot take it down to the store and expect them to accept it and give you $1,800 worth of groceries.
I strongly disagree,
If it was a wise store owner, he would take your gold in a heartbeat.
Why wouldn't he? I'm a contractor, you want to pay me in gold? Absolutely,
and you're gonna get better service than anyone else.
Sure a big box store isn't gonna know what to do with it, but any small businessman will, or should anyway.
The trick there is the small denominations, like the 1/10 OZ. coins, easier to barter with/ buy smaller quantities of what ever you need.
JB