Simon Black, the man behind the Sovereign Man blog, posted a sobering piece on the problems of owning gold on Wednesday which he starts with a quote from JP Morgan.
During testimony before the US Congress in 1912 regarding the Federal Reserve Act, the famous financier said “[Credit] is not the money itself. Money is gold, and nothing else.”
Black expands on this theme saying that “owning gold is the same as voting against this system”:
And if unbacked paper currency isn’t bad enough, we award dictatorial control of the money supply to a tiny handful of people, and then simply trust them to be good guys.
Between the four of them, Masaakai Shirakawa (Bank of Japan), Mario Draghi (European Central Bank), Mervyn King (Bank of England), and Benjamin Shalom Bernanke (US Federal Reserve) control an astounding $8.85 trillion.
He goes on to say that while it is critical to own gold “confiscation and/or criminalization of gold is not exactly a zero-risk prospect” and “it’s equally important to store it abroad in a safe, stable jurisdiction outside of your home country”:
In general, it is perfectly legitimate to travel with precious metals. If you’re entering, leaving, or transiting through the US, be sure to file FinCEN form 105 if the FACE VALUE of your gold exceeds $10,000.
For example, as a US 1-ounce gold Eagle has a face value of $50, you would need to file the form if you’re carrying more than 200 Eagles (not including any additional cash/currency you happen to be carrying).
Canada, the UK, and continental Europe have similar rules in their own currencies.
If you don’t want to carry gold, both Singapore and Austria are full of options to purchase bullion, tax-free.
Continue reading at Sovereign Man on ways to safeguard your gold.
RELATED: Infographic: A history of gold confiscation