O/T Looking for "under the mattress" type investment

[Terry]

Well Mike, I’m far from expert on this, having just recently begun my research, but from what I’m gathering – and anyone who knows more, please do jump in:

Gold Sovereigns have been being minted for over 500 years and there are many millions of them around. There are some coins that have “numismatic” or “collector” value, but there are also a large number of common “bullion grade” coins that sell for a very small premium over the market price of gold.

Krugerrands are also tightly tied to the market price of gold, but sell at a somewhat higher premium than Sovereigns. Also, they sell for around $450 as opposed to the slightly over $100 price of the Sovereigns, making smaller purchases easier.

I’m also finding that most places require you to buy 10 or more Krugerrands at a time to get the advertised price – individual sales command a very high premium – and I’m really looking for something to buy a couple hundred or couple thousand dollars at a time, whenever there are excess poker profits ... maybe that’s going to turn out to be an unrealistic goal ... maybe silver?

I’ve found that the US pre-1965 bags of silver coins are bags of $1000 face value and are selling at about $5200 right now, so that one isn’t exactly what I’m looking for right now, either. The price of the bags does seem to outpace the price of silver bars during times of economic uncertainty, though ... sometimes by a margin of 30 to 40%. They are considered by some as “survival coins”, something that will still “spend” in the face of economic collapse. British Sovereigns are also sometimes considered survival coins.

“Survival” investments aren’t only for the paranoid end-of-civilization crowd, by the way. Warren Buffet and Bill Gates both took very large positions in silver a few years ago as a protective measure in the event of an economic collapse. My personal thinking on the matter is that stock prices (US in particular) have been pumped so high by the billions of dollars of 401k and IRA money (recently adopted American retirement investment plans) being dumped into the market every month that an eventual collapse is inevitable ... the real question is when?

Ah well. I’m rambling. It’s snowing and my connection isn’t stable enough to play poker. And I still want somebody to tell me about Tanzanite as an investment ... before this thread goes down the tubes.

[MikeyObviously]

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lol... yeah, the OP never stated the risk factors he's willing to assume.

of course body armor, a few peeps to watch your back, and a good lawyer can mitagate the risk of bad deals, competition + cops.

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Someone watches too much TV. It isn't really like that...

[Baulucky]

Tanzanite is, basically, KRAP. A hyped up hoax of a rock with no more value than common quartz.

[Terry]

I got out of that business in the early 1970's, once I got to the point where many of my “business associates” carried guns and had body guards and a couple of them were found chopped in pieces floating in garbage bags off the beach in Miami.

The real turning point was when I discovered that my sister had been dating one of those associates. She told me that he had been letting her use his car, a new white Lincoln, quite a thrill for a 19 year old small town girl.

Every Tuesday he would give her a couple hundred bucks, saying “Go to Dadeland (a local mall) and buy yourself something nice.” One day when she came out of the mall she couldn’t find her cigarettes that she swore she had left on the passenger seat, as was her habit.

A week later he again sent her to the mall to do some shopping. When she came back out, her cigarettes were on the seat. Problem was, they were in the cigarette case that she had lost the week before. The son of a ***** was using my little sister as a mule, switching out white Lincolns while she was in mall.

I took up playing / hustling Backgammon for a living, and sent my little sister packing back home to the little mountain town where she still lives. Some things I am willing to risk, some not.

<ramble mode off>

Baulucky: That's what I wanted to know. Can you point toward any info?

[NoTalent]

I don't think silver is bad at all. If you want some more information check out some of Ted Butler's writings. Very interesting:
http://www.butlerresearch.com/archive_free.html

It is bulky, but I think it has more of an upside potential than gold.

[SwordFish]

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Ah well. I’m rambling. It’s snowing and my connection isn’t stable enough to play poker. And I still want somebody to tell me about Tanzanite as an investment ... before this thread goes down the tubes.

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Here you go Terry:

This is from the Carribean Gemological Institute which is a buying guide for people interested in buying duty free gems from the Carribean. Link to Carigem

"Tanzanite is a purple/blue variety of zoisite that has become the most popular gemstone of the Caribbean. Unfortunately, there is a lot of misinformation about this stone. The truth is that the stone is truly rare, but the mines are not going to play out in two years. The stone's prices have increased in the past year, but it should never be sold as an investment."


SF

[rusty JEDI]

Im thinking a nice little absinthe business.

rJ

[Bulbarainey]

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Make sure that the Rolex doesn't go tick tick tick with the second hand. I had a girlfriend in college that bought me a Rolex that looked and felt good, unfortunately my wrist turned green.

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this isnt enough to tell anymore, make sure your smooth sweep is very smooth, as the new Hong Kong fakes sweep and are the kind where u shake em when they stop and they go... but the sweep is just barely off

[Baulucky]

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as the new Hong Kong fakes sweep and are the kind where u shake em when they stop and they go... but the sweep is just barely off

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I want to buy these wholesale. Do you have a few links or a contact there?.

[Terry]

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Im thinking a nice little absinthe business.

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I don’t want to run a business. For those who are curious about absinthe, Liqueurs de France - Absinthe Online sells the real thing, not the syrupy phony eBay crap. Their delivery to the US is incredibly fast, but a bit pricey.

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Fake Rolex ... I want to buy these wholesale.

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I bought one in Tijuana recently. “Heng Fat Watch Co. Hong Kong” was stamped on the inside. Have fun trying to track them down.

RE: Tanzanite. Thanks to those who responded. I’m still doing some research on it, mostly because the history of the stuff is pretty interesting ... discovered in 1967 by Masai tribesmen in Tanzania following a huge lightening strike on a hill ... only found in that one hill ... lots of people being killed over access to the mining sites ... a company is currently attempting to monopolize the gems, doing the same thing DeBeers did with diamonds ... phony stories of al-Qaeda connections (probably as an attempt to manipulate the market) that brought USA sales to a standstill a couple years ago ... and the price really has more than tripled in the past 2 years.

Business Report stories about tanzanite.

All in all, it’s looking like gold or silver for “under the mattress” investments. But you young guys should probably be sticking it in stocks and forgetting about it. In 30 or 40 years you will have something. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]