It is unlikely that any failure of currency will be in one fell swoop. It is likely to be in stages, with some new introduction of a "new" currency. It could be the "New Dollar" like Mexico had the New Peso. It could be a universal world currency issued by a world bank like a "Bancor". Like von says, gold is something that can potentially (I said potentially cfdr, I did not say absolutely. It might get confiscated) help transition ones wealth from one system to whatever new system takes its place.

People do not want to be in chaos. Failure of a currency is chaos. People want stability in their life. Even if it means a loss of freedom. In Germany it meant following a charismatic leader that promised a future and an ideal they could grab on to. People will do almost anything to get out of chaos. This is what the powers that be know and use to their advantage. It is what allows "no good crisis go to waste" to be used to bring about changes that otherwise would never be stood for by the people. Like giving banks trillions because of the fear of system failure. The fear of instability. The fear of chaos.

Gold is one asset that potentially can be use to "bridge over" to any new system put in place. Farm land is another good asset for that purpose. Could the government nationalize and confiscate gold? Yes, either with remuneration (like with FDR in the 30's) or without (like in France and hundreds of other examples of history where the government took over everything). Could they also do it with farm land? You bet. As well as with retirement accounts or any thing else. We just hope it never comes to that. And attempt with our elected representatives to make sure it doesn't.

cfdr makes the claim that if things get bad the government will just confiscate gold, like they have before. But they did not really confiscate it. First of all it was a monetary "money", officially recognized as such. So from the governments perspective at the time they were not confiscating anything. They were just forcing people to exchange their monetary gold for an equivalent amount of monetary paper money or bank deposit. There was no confiscation except in the minds of those that believed that gold and the paper money they had to exchange it for were not equivalent in value. Gold was "exchanged" for the then current market value, although the market was definitely "fixed" by central bank open market operations.

So cfdr's fears are of only marginal concern for me. If the government some day does decide to "confiscate" any gold I might have, it likely be for whatever market price is at the time. That could be a lot or a little. The market could be the free market or "fixed" mandatory by the government. But either way, taking private owned gold without remuneration would be no different than taking your car, your farm land, or anything else you own without paying you for it. If that happens it will likely mean that the government owns everything and we have went completely socialistic. I hope that does not happen, because history shows that socialism has a limited shelf life also.

Ok, I'm rambling. I'll quit.

John

Edit: gold was a monetary metal when it was "confiscated" as cfdr says. It is now private property (a collectable, like a rare painting). It was de-monetized and is no longer considered "money". So any government "confiscation" would be confiscating private property. Not a monetary "exchange" as it was before. A different ball game, legally.