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Gold and Cadillacs
Mike Hewitt, Editor of DollarDaze
Greetings,
Latest article is a short piece giving an example of how the purchasing power of gold has gone up since the 1970's, while the purchasing power of the US dollar has declined.
Gold and Cadillacs
http://dollardaze.org/blog/?post_id=00736
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Gold and Cadillacs
While gold is not commonly considered as a medium of exchange like paper currency, it still acts as an excellent store of value. On August 15, 1971 the so-called "gold window" was closed. Previously, the US dollar was redeemable by non-Americans at a rate of US$35 per troy ounce. Shortly after this event, General Motors came out with a new version of the Cadillac Eldorado - the longest running American personal luxury car.
In September 1971 the 1972 fifth generation model arrived in showrooms with a sticker price of US$7,546. For that month, the average price for gold was US$42.02. Thus, a shiny brand new Eldorado would have cost just under 180 ounces.
![1972 Cadillac Eldorado 1972 Cadillac Eldorado](http://dollardaze.org/blog/posts/00736/1972.jpg)
Today, the price of the same amount of gold is US$197,820. Those 180 ounces of gold can now nearly buy TWO 2009 XLR-V Cadillac Convertibles.
![2009 XLR-V Cadillac 2009 XLR-V Cadillac](http://dollardaze.org/blog/posts/00736/2009.jpg)
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© 2009 DollarDaze
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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DollarDaze.org, a website pertaining to commentary on the instability of the global fiat monetary system and investment strategies on mining companies. His website also provides a no-cost market data feed service with up-to-date quotes on currency exchange rates, commodity prices and major indices. Mike can be emailed at mikehe | is the editor of