Gold rush at Turkish bazaar a test of trust for lowly lira

willrocks

willrocks

Well-Known Member
Silver Stacker
ISTANBUL: Hasan Ayhan followed his wife’s instructions last week and took their savings to buy gold at Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar as Turks scooped up bullion worth $7 billion in a just a fortnight.

With memories of a currency crisis which rocked Turkey’s economy only two years ago fresh in his mind, the retired police officer was among those playing it safe as he queued in the city’s sprawling market, where a screen showed the gold price rise by one Turkish lira ($0.1366) in just 10 minutes.

“I think it is the best investment right now so I converted my dollars to buy gold,” the 57-year-old said. “I might withdraw my lira and buy gold with it too, but I am scared to go to the bank right now because of coronavirus.”

The day after Ayhan bought his gold on Aug. 6, the lira hit a historic low and remains skittish, laying bare concerns that Turkey’s reserves have been badly depleted by market interventions, which are showing signs of fizzling out.

Turks traditionally use gold for savings and there may be 5,000 tons of it “under mattresses,” with more added after the recent buying spree, Mehmet Ali Yildirimturk, deputy head of an Istanbul gold shops association, said.

Although bullion has never been more expensive, vendors at the Grand Bazaar said almost no one was selling their gold jewelry. There are only buyers.

“I’ve been chatting with hundreds of people who are thinking about selling their cars or houses to invest in gold,” vendor Gunay Gunes said.
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https://www.arabnews.com/node/1719651/business-economy

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...-a-test-of-trust-for-lowly-lira-idUSKCN25A0GW
 
Coming soon to a country near you, don't you worry about that!

Load up now if you haven't done so already, and beat the mad rush which will soon engulf the world.
 
Pffft. I've been stacking gold and silver probily 3 times your lifetime at a guess. Silver will outclass gold young fella... Lol some people are amateurs :rolleyes:
 
Don't get the gold vs silver hate,
You should bloody well have both if you've got any sense.

The East has a longer history with metals than the west, arguably as they have seen the suffering that comes when fiat gets erroded by forces out of their control.

They say "as good as gold" for a reason
 
LOL @ "the screen showed gold price rising $0.13 in just 10 minutes" - Likely the most insignificant price movement I've ever seen, at a whopping 0.0067%. That's the kind of price movement you'd expect from Gold in a flat, sideways moving market - even in a 10 minute interval. The following 10 minutes it went down $0.26 and even more people rushed in to buy the dip. 30 minutes later it dropped $1, FONGO hit the streets and everyone started panic selling!

Good articles though. I can see how the Turks and other citizens of countries like Venezuela, Argentina, Zimbabwe etc would be very aware of the threats of inflation.
Such awareness could be interpreted as a "privilege" in these times. I know I certainly feel privileged to be holding.
 
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As crazy as it sounds, I bought silver as a hedge against gold. When I bought my first gold coin, there was a GST on it so I still remembered the time there's GST on bullion, it put me off, so I know how tax on gold can destroy the value of gold.

Even a 5-10% tax will kill it, no need 20% European style VAT. Silver is already taxed in many jurisdiction so it doesn't have this problem.

Erodogan probably encouraged gold ownership to counter the dollar. But there will come a time, gold will cause the Lira to hyperinflate. When that happens, Turkey will either tax heavily or confiscate the gold.
 
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sgbuyer said:
Erodogan probably encouraged gold ownership to counter the dollar. But there will come a time, gold will cause the Lira to hyperinflate. When that happens, Turkey will either tax heavily or confiscate the gold.
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they would have to find it first
 
sgbuyer said:
As crazy as it sounds, I bought silver as a hedge against gold. When I bought my first gold coin, there was a GST on it so I still remembered the time there's GST on bullion, it put me off, so I know how tax on gold can destroy the value of gold.

Even a 5-10% tax will kill it, no need 20% European style VAT. Silver is already taxed in many jurisdiction so it doesn't have this problem.

Erodogan probably encouraged gold ownership to counter the dollar. But there will come a time, gold will cause the Lira to hyperinflate. When that happens, Turkey will either tax heavily or confiscate the gold.
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not to mention there is a wealth tax in Italy/ Spain?
when people hold gold, every year, there is a wealth tax, just like we own land, paying the fee etc
 
Ag bullet said:
they would have to find it first
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I agree but restrictions on gold will reduce overall demand, even if the restriction is imposed by other countries. By restriction, I also mean taxes and anything that makes buying and selling gold inconvenient. For example, they can make all pawn shop collect a 10% withholding tax for gold sold to pawn shops.

Add: Remembered seeing a comment someone claiming to be living in Istanbul that there's already a 1% tax on gold investment.
 
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sgbuyer said:
I agree but restrictions on gold will reduce overall demand, even if the restriction is imposed by other countries. By restriction, I also mean taxes and anything that makes buying and selling gold inconvenient. For example, they can make all pawn shop collect a 10% withholding tax for gold sold to pawn shops.

Add: Remembered seeing a comment someone claiming to be living in Istanbul that there's already a 1% tax on gold investment.
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It's probably time to move all gold holdings to Singapore
 
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