Always be prepared: Own some gold

Security blanket.

Gold.

One offers a child psychological protection.

The other offers very real financial protection.

Anyone knowing that will not be surprised to learn that sales of gold are up this week.

Fears of a military conflict with North Korea have people reaching for safety.

Texas gold coin dealer Mike Fuljenz said his sales have popped higher.

“There’s been a lot of gold buying by the public since Tuesday. Gold coin purchases by collectors, investors and dealers are up dramatically.

“We’ve seen an increase of about 40 percent in gold coin sales this week compared to typical weeks,” he said.

Fuljenz has a good vantage point.

He is president of Universal Coin & Bullion, Inc. of Beaumont, Texas.

It is helpful to learn what he is seeing.

It's no mystery why people want to reach for gold.

In the short term, war brings a rush into cash, a decline in financial asset prices and an increase in tangible commodity prices.

Long term, if there is a long term, inflation rises dramatically.

No wonder gold is a purchase of choice in a time of crisis.

It is a security blanket with very real powers of protection.

The long-term gold owners know all this.

If they have followed conservative financial advice, they have 10 percent of their investable funds in precious metal (which can also include silver).

Like storms, you never know when a crisis will strike.

Best to be prepared ahead of time.

Those who are prepared are no less worried in a crisis, but they know they have taken constructive precautions.

Fuljenz also said, “If gold prices sharply rise from tensions with North Korea, watch for the U.S. rare coin market to also jump.

"Sharply higher gold prices have been the primary reason for past rare coin bull markets where prices rise 100 percent to 1,000 percent in only a few years.”

As we collectors know, there are many reasons to buy coins. Most have nothing to do with a crisis.

I hope our thoughts will return to them soon.

Buzz blogger Dave Harper won the Numismatic Literary Guild Award for Best Blog for the third time in 2017 . He is editor of the weekly newspaper "Numismatic News."

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