So many people in these times are considering a variety of ways to increase their means. If you are one of those people or a seasoned investor the question of whether or not to purchase gold can certainly come up. It’s a highly popular commodity and if this mineral has stoked your curiosity – are you a Gold Bug?
The term was popularized in the 1896 Presidential election when William McKinley supporters took to wearing gold lapel pins, gold neckties and gold headbands in a demonstration in support against the “silver menace”. At the time the gold standard was an important issue. His opponent William Jennings Bryon advocated a departure from it and of issuing more money, especially in silver coinage
The terms original use may have been more poetically inspired from Edgar Allan Poe’s 1843 story, “The Gold- Bug,” about a cryptographic treasure map. The plot follows a man, William Legrand who was recently bitten by a gold colored bug. His servant Jupiter worries he is going insane as a result of the bite. Jupiter goes to Legrand’s friend for help who agrees to pay him a visit. Legrand pulls the other two into an adventure after decrypting a secret message leading to a buried treasure.
Whether by political or poetic means it seems we all, at some level, have at least the slightest desire to find our own buried treasure. If the gold mineral peaks your curiosity as a channel to do so here are;
3 Ways To Tell If You Are A Gold Bug:
1. Are you an investor who is very “bullish” on buying gold? You are confident and optimistic in the stock market when it comes to gold producing good results and rising prices. You are savvy in knowing the best way to buy gold. You often also believe that the price of gold will continue to rise in the future.
If you as an investor are looking to buy precious metals, as a Gold Bug you may perceive a gold investment as financial security in the event of currency devaluation according to the financial website, Investopedia.
2. Are you a person who opposes or is critical of the use of flat currency? This essentially means that our currency is not backed by anything. Conversely, do you support a return to the use of a gold standard or other currency system based on the value of gold and other hard assets? According to Niman Kenkre of Niman’s Blog; this is when the dollar represents the exact amount of gold that the owner is in possession of. In our past when the United States was on the gold standard the actual gold was kept in depositories and paper currency used for bartering could only represent the amount of gold that was in possession and ownership.
3. Are you someone who considers one commodity, usually gold “the appropriate” measure of wealth, regardless of the quantity of other goods and services it can buy?
If you answer yes to any of these 3 descriptions it looks like you may well be a Gold Bug and might have just needed the endorsement to go out and discover your own buried treasure.