Let me hazard a guess on this.

First off, money is #1 to many/most Americans. It is more important than anything. ANYTHING. Everything they have is valued by it's cost, including people. Money has become the Great God.

Secondly, I suspect that older people whose parents grew up in the 30s and 40s (and talked about how hard it was) aren't selling much gold or silver. I'll even bet that they have small stashes of things like unfashionable jewelry and some silver coins. Maybe not a lot, but the gold and the silver are more real to them than cash. But they'd best be careful about where they keep it, because as the price of gold has increased, so have thefts of jewelry

Thirdly, younger Americans are very big on NEW, and old stuff has no real value to them. Many of them still have their jobs, and think (unrealistically) they will continue to do so, no matter how bad things get. Most of them haven't really known any hard times. "Hard times" to them is when Mom only gives them enough cash to half-fill the tank of their parent-provided sports car. I know young people who are working, sometimes married with kids, and Mommy is still paying for a lot of their stuff. Shut off the power or cut off the money, and these people are going to have a very hard time dealing with it.



Our folding money is made from cotton and ink, our coins are made from zinc, copper and nickel, and our savings, IRAs and stock market investments are made of faith.

Sue