As we move forwards towards a gold standard, we will need many new innovations (as well as a rediscovery of old things that have long been forgotten). At the Gold Symposium in Sydney Australia, I saw an exhibitor who has a new, innovative product. They have thin sheets (almost like wafers, especially the gold ones). They are engineered and precisely scored that one can break off a small rectangle. With one’s bare hands. They guarantee that every rectangle will have exactly 1g of metal. There is a gold product and a silver product. The individual 1g rectangles are the same width X length, with the silver being about twice as thick.
I don’t believe that all, or even most, transactions will be conducted in gold coins passing over the counter. But gold coins will certainly play a role. The innovation here is that one can carry a sheet or a smaller-sized quantity, say the size of a credit card. One only breaks it apart if one needs to conduct a small transaction. 1g of silver is worth about $1 and 1g of gold is worth about $54 at today’s price.
The product is manufactured by Valcambi, a Swiss company that is certified by the London Bullion Market Association as a refiner. The distributor in Australia is Bullion List (www.bullionlist.com.au).
I am very excited to see such innovations. I think they are a sign that the cultural tide is turning and the illusion that is irredeemable paper money has been dispelled for more and more people.