http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/gold-prices-soar?et_cid=20141540
JAM
That's in historical, nominal (unadjusted) U.S. Dollars, of course.
I was there and I do remember the frenzy. Even Dan ("What's the
frequency, Kenneth?") Rather was forced to take note of it on the CBS
Evening News.
My gut feeling is that the average American had more precious metals
lying around back in those heady days than they do today. Both in
silver and gold. Yes, some Americans still hold a lot of PMs but the
stuff is more concentrated in the upper income households today.
oly
Looking only at the title line, I thought you had read today's chart upside
down.
A girl at work bought a Saint-Gaudens for about $800 'back in the
day', and then PM crashed, as you said. She was 'boo-hooing' to me
about it. I asked her if she bought it for numismatic value, bullion,
or as jewelry. She had it put into a bezel and wore it around her
neck, as jewelry. I then explained to her that the mark up on jewelry
is around 500% (or more), which made her feel a little better...kinda.
I bought a blazing, top-notch, BUT common 1904 $20 Liberty in 1978 for
$245 and sold it two years later while I was in college. It was a
memorable sale.
I got a 32' Sony Color Television, a wool Persian-style rug (dorm room
floors are cold) and at least ten or twelve weekends worth of beer and
pizza (Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights) with the proceeds. I
probably bought several nice history books too.
But there have been times when I wish I had the coin back!!!
oly
"full of Old Style and old regrets"