If you talk to a gold or silver bug long enough you will find that there is a core belief that someday that not only will today’s money system collapse, it will lead to the re-adoption of gold and silver as the true money. There is a great series about the subject called “The Hidden Secrets of Money” by Mike Maloney that served as much of the inspiration for the Goldback project.
What is discouraging is that it is estimated that fewer than two or three percent of Americans actually own any gold or silver. What is perhaps more discouraging is that many Americans don’t know much about precious metals and wouldn’t be likely to run to gold or silver as a safe haven if such an emergency were to arise.
A year ago someone asked me what I did for work and I told them that I was in precious metals. They said “Oh, that is a shame, your market is dying”. They then went on to explain that the average age of coin collectors went up every year and that there were more people that were passing away than getting into collecting or stacking precious metal. I don’t remember what I told the guy but his comments haunted me. Sure enough if you look around at a coin show you will see a lot more older men than younger ones. This is a huge challenge for Coin Stores in particular. As they have fewer and fewer customers premiums on some coins will collapse and perhaps even fewer people will see interest in a space that is defined by collapsing prices and premiums.
A single Goldback can turn anyone into a gold owner and encourage them to learn more about the value of precious metals.
The Goldback changes the game for the precious metals industry. A single Goldback is often less than $3. The people buying them are young and they often buy about fifty or so Goldbacks. Instead of sitting in a safe these Goldbacks are given as gifts, as tips, or otherwise spent. Nearly every single person receiving a Goldback just became a precious metals owner for under $3. The transaction usually occurs with a small lesson about money. Now there is something for sound money activists to do apart from just stacking for the big crisis, they can actively use, spend, and teach people about sound money before it.
Once the Goldbacks are spent it is time to get more and spend some more. Goldbacks replace some of the cash in your wallet, not your stack of savings. As Goldbacks are spent more people learn about precious metals and begin their own journey and the market expands and gets younger. Coin Stores should pay attention if they want repeat customers buying larger and larger quantities of Goldback as they wean themselves off of some of their cash. We are already seeing this trend. In a few short years we suspect that precious metals ownership in America could double as people continue to use Goldbacks and use them as an educational tool.
We are very excited for the new year! APMEX is now selling Goldbacks and we think that they have been pleased with just how many interested people there are. Goldbacks should be sold all over the country because it will give coin stores a larger customer base over time. We have several new States that will have their own Goldbacks in 2020. We will be announcing them in the coming months. Stay tuned and Happy New Year!