Durable gold alloys

[KalleMP]

Just kicking around some ideas that may be useful if the event of a totalitarian world government.

What is the easiest durable high karat gold alloy to prepare in the basement?
I picture a time when gramme weight (1,2,5,10g) plain bands with mass and fineness engraved INSIDE will be needed for honest commerce.

Would a 50% gold-copper alloy be the most practical for value calculations?

An ounce of gold is always going to be too big to regular transactions but gramme of 50% gold is now worth about £$€30 so could cover payment of bills pretty well.

What is the premium for jewellery hallmarks, i.e. how much more than spot does a plain gold ring cost?

With a band made from a strong alloy it could be kept on a key ring.

I am thinking of ways to 'mint' value tokens that would not upset the authorities and can be transported without much suspicion.

 

[Martijn]

Dooms day scenario's.. got to love them. I think any route to this "event' will be so long and socially disrupting to the level where noone is bothered with costs, but only with 'how much bigger is my fire power compared to yours'?
When everything gets quiter and people start buying their things again, and having respect for others belongings;

How will you prove the gold content in your self made token or ring to the person accepting it as payment for something?
people will want soft gold they can bite into to check the purity.

Jewelry has no premium on top of spot price as far as I know, just manufacturing costs, time, material, equipment, craftsmanship, wages and at the end a (tiny little bit of) profit on the work.
I you want to sell it, it looses most value to far below spot. Then it's looked at as raw impure scrap that needs work to make it pure. not a beautifully crafted piece of jewelry.

Durable, i think you mean resistant to wear? I would go for 14K, but then again, how to prove said quality? So much scammers out there.

 

[nickvc]

You are basically describing coins that were circulating around the world as currency for over two thousand years until the worlds governments decided worthless paper and base metal coins would be preferable.
If the fiat currencies fail then we are all in for some very unpleasant times.

 

[Darkthirty]

Just kicking around some ideas that may be useful if the event of a totalitarian world government.

What is the easiest durable high karat gold alloy to prepare in the basement?
I picture a time when gramme weight (1,2,5,10g) plain bands with mass and fineness engraved INSIDE will be needed for honest commerce.

Would a 50% gold-copper alloy be the most practical for value calculations?

An ounce of gold is always going to be too big to regular transactions but gramme of 50% gold is now worth about £$€30 so could cover payment of bills pretty well.

What is the premium for jewellery hallmarks, i.e. how much more than spot does a plain gold ring cost?

With a band made from a strong alloy it could be kept on a key ring.

I am thinking of ways to 'mint' value tokens that would not upset the authorities and can be transported without much suspicion.

Buy bag junk silver. You don't need to carry it all with you. Its purity and weight are recognized. Converting gold into commodities plus change will get dangerous.

 

[goldshark]

If, and when that happens, the item of choice for trade would be fresh food. That would carry more clout then 4 9's Gold. Probably the next tradeable item, would be bullets. Lots of necessary everyday items would have a higher value then Au. Au would be for trading bigger ticket items, but still have a value, when fiat currency may only hold a value for toilet paper.
I like the bullion that comes in a 1 ounce pre divided 1gram square, 6 rows of 5 for easy separation. Silver would be for the smaller ticket items. Basically, we would go back to the system of barter we have used for thousands of years, prior to the concept of fiat currency. lets hope that never happens.

 

[FrugalRefiner]

Drop the doomsday conspiracy crap NOW. It is not our purpose here.

Dave

 

[slsmp40]

T

You are basically describing coins that were circulating around the world as currency for over two thousand years until the worlds governments decided worthless paper and base metal coins would be preferable.
If the fiat currencies fail then we are all in for some very unpleasant times

The romans proved that when times get rough. And I mean really rough, like empires are disintegrating and the world is not going any direction toward civilization and stability the only thing that matters is your next meal. All that gold for a full stomach. You know how hoards of gold are dug up all over the old Roman Empire? Ever wonder why they buried it and still no one dug it up? Its not just an isolated incident or three. It was put in the ground because its to heavy to carry, makes a terrible snack, and specie is just as worthless as paper if you don’t have anything to spend it on. The entire division of labor store of value facilitates trade thing is only meaningful in times of stability to some degree.
To recap : if you have a fear of catastrophe you have not thought it through if you are stocking up on metals. Trade will cease in such situations except for the most remedial barter, and that will involve useful things anyway. If say a WW3 event was to happen the people who are at the beginning dont have to worry about being the people at the end and thats where gold might be useful again.
I apologize for the rant, but my education in regards to history has made me more aware that there is no trade in times when power flows from the barrel of a gun.

 

[slsmp40]

Drop the doomsday conspiracy crap NOW. It is not our purpose here.

Dave

You are truly my hero. Thank you.

 

[galenrog]

Agreed

 

[cejohnsonsr1]

Silver is a much better choice for preserving wealth and making normal transactions.

 

[andu]

You are basically describing coins that were circulating around the world as currency for over two thousand years until the worlds governments decided worthless paper and base metal coins would be preferable.
If the fiat currencies fail then we are all in for some very unpleasant times.

May they fall, fiat is but garbage, gold and bitcoin is the answer. Can't wait for them to fail .

Back on topic, I did think about making gold more durable, same as for silver, i'd alloy it with platinum. As little as 5-10% platinum can do wonders.

 

[FrugalRefiner]

Why do you want to make it "durable"?

As a store of wealth for transactions, pure gold is better. A specific gravity test is quick, easy, and non destructive. Once you start mixing metals, it becomes more complicated.

Dave

 

[dannlee]

Depletion gilding will make Electrum have a surface layer of nearly pure gold - if someone is trying to increase expectation of value of 'their' PM rounds it is a method thats been around for a bunch of thousand years (who would've thought early government coins were only 12 karat!) ... which brings us to modern coinage of .900 or .999 so either a known alloy or pure metal ONLY vouches for expectations of value... Fast Freddies Mint with 70/30 or 55/45 would trade at a value far below melt value - ancient peoples lacked the chemistry theory & methodry to refine gold, we do, don't reinvent the wheel : )

Depletion Gilding

 

[KalleMP]

Thank you all for your thoughts. I am sorry that my back story touched a nerve with the administration. It was specifically worded NOT to be a

doomsday conspiracy crap

scenario. I was pondering options should we not have a doomsday but have a situation where the central bank digital currencies that are beeing put into place, with Russia in the lead, are shifted to become onerous instead of beneficial. In a number of countries over the years there have been state wide recalls of gold coin and this is why I was considering a ring that could have dual use.

Consensus though seems that only pure metal will be easy to check with rudimentary means. Pure gold and silver seem to be the answer.

 

[Yggdrasil]

Thank you all for your thoughts. I am sorry that my back story touched a nerve with the administration. It was specifically worded NOT to be a

scenario. I was pondering options should we not have a doomsday but have a situation where the central bank digital currencies that are beeing put into place, with Russia in the lead, are shifted to become onerous instead of beneficial. In a number of countries over the years there have been state wide recalls of gold coin and this is why I was considering a ring that could have dual use.

Consensus though seems that only pure metal will be easy to check with rudimentary means. Pure gold and silver seem to be the answer.

Interestingly it have been so, for milennia