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Gold As Money And The Walking Dead

Blog Feb 7, 2016

Do you watch The Walking Dead television show? For season after season this show has been picking up new viewers and captivating them. Some viewers binge-watch for hours at a time on DVD or through Netflix. If you are a Walking Dead fan, then I already have you, you will read the rest of my article, if you are not a Walking Dead fan, please read on, the information is worth it, and you will find out how gold as money plays a part in the story.

 

Is Gold As Money Even A Thing In The Walking Dead?

“Walker Watchers” as I have heard faithful viewers of the show described as will remember in the very beginning of the series, things were normal. The economy was normal, people were mostly normal, and nobody really knew that things would quickly swerve past TEOTWAWKI. If you are unfamiliar with TEOTWAWKI, it is an acronym for The End Of The World As We Know It, and that is pretty much how the setting of the Walking Dead is for the majority of the series. But, gold as money was just as real at the beginning of the series as it is today.

gold as money? Gold canbuy yachts.

A Yacht Like This May Be A Great Place To Wait Out The Zombie Apocalypse.

If a character, any character, had come across a stash of gold bullion coins or gold bars early enough in the story line, and had been able to procure those bars and then trade them for say, guns and food and a sizable yacht, then that character might have a pretty good advantage. Gold as money was a thing in the beginning of the Walking Dead story line, but what about later on?

Gold As Money? What Is Money?

Later on in the Walking Dead series, society completely falls apart. Banks are closed, phones don’t work. Stores are closed anyways, and no one is thinking about paying bills before their due date. The fact is, currencies change as situations change. The most common currency in the Walking Dead show is violence an physical aggression. If you want something, take it. No currency needed except maybe bullets.

gold as money? Bullets as money against zombies

Ammunition Might Be The Predominant Currency Of The Walking Dead Characters.

The other common currency in the show is acceptance and friendship, followed by the protection and shelter that those friendships eventually provide. For instance, one of the most lovable and missed characters is Herschel. Herschel was an old fashioned farmer with old fashioned values and pretty farmer’s daughter. Herschel was also the kind of guy that would see gold as money, but that is besides the point.

At first Herschel wanted nothing to do with Rick and Glenn and the group. Eventually, however, after trial by fire and zombie, Herschel and Glenn became friends. As the relationship between Glenn and Maggie, Herschel’ s daughter, grows, Herschel eventually see’s Glenn as a son.

gold as a currency: gold as a pocket watch

Herschel Gave Glenn His Gold Pocket watch.

Herschel gives Glenn his gold watch. The gold watch goes on to play it’s own significant part in the story, saving lives and then actually representing Glenn’s life in later gripping episodes. If friendship is a currency in the TEOTWAWKI times, then Herschel’s gold watch played the part of gold as money.

Gold As Money? Gold As Bullets.

Perhaps the purest form of currency in The Walking Dead Series is the bullet. Unless you are deadly with a bo staff or a samurai sword, bullets are your lifeline. Self defense is mandatory. A gun is rather useless without bullets. Somehow, the characters in the story always seem to be running low on ammo, but they apparently always seem to come across more. But what if you had to make your own bullets? Can you make a bullet out of gold?

The answer is yes. In fact, if you were trying to replicate a solid lead bullet as closely as possible, gold would be your choice of metals. Here is why. If you were trying to pour your own bullets to load ammunition, you would want the metal that most closely mimics lead in it’s physical qualities.

Ballistically, you would want a metal that was heavy like lead, and soft like lead. Metals substantially heavier or lighter would not take the same ballistic trajectory, and the gun would become inaccurate with these rounds. Metals harder than lead will wear on the barrel and other parts of the gun much quicker, causing problems and inaccuracies. When you are firing on zombies, problems and inaccuracies are not what you need.

gold as money? gold as bullets

Science And The Walking Dead? Yep. Gold Is A Good Substitute For Lead. Go Science!

The Periodic Table of Elements shows us that lead and gold are quite similar, in fact they are quite near each other on the chart. Gold, which is the symbol “Au” is number 79 on the chart. “Pb” which is the atomic symbol for lead, is just two spaces over at 82. The other metals surrounding lead are mercury, thallium, and bismuth.

Mercury is a liquid at room temperature, so mercury makes a lousy bullet. Good luck finding bars of thallium and bismuth. Gold, on the other hand, you can pretty much find on a lot of hands…Not to be morbid, but this is The Walking Dead we are talking about. And don’t forget because a lot of people see gold as money, finding gold alongside guns in a safe is somewhat common.

As a side note, there are many in the world of gun safety that strongly recommend against keeping ammunition stored with firearms, so for this reason often in a TEOTWAWKI situation you might find guns and no ammo or ammo and no guns. Almost always, however, you will find a personal investment in gold as money locked away tightly in a personal safe or vault. Perhaps with a loaded gun…

If you believe in gold as money, and you believe in zombies, then may I suggest you stock up on gold and bullets.

Thumbnail Photo We believe that everyone deserves a properly developed strategy for financial safety.

Lynette Zang

Chief Market Analyst, ITM Trading

Sources & References In This Article

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