Appalling...

[stickhauler]

Originally Posted by sappyg
I was in an LGS the other day and saw an Inland M1 carbine in crap condition for 8 bills. THAT is appalling.
Exactamundo. I really wished I hadn't had passed on those carbines back in the day. Now they go for gonzo prices.

Yet, on a few MilSurp forums I belong to, relatively good looking, more sought after carbines are posted in "Is it worth it" posts, with the asking price of maybe $700.00, and the resident "experts" tell them to off 4 bills, and they ain't worth more than $500.00.

I've asked these experts to steer me towards all those carbines for sale at those prices. I've yet to get a reply.

 

[ShadowsEye]

Everyones talking about "inflation", BUT they just told us it's "under control"!!
My best deals were in the early 70's, traded two used CBs (Ross) one for S&W model 10-5 with hoster and the other for a pristine Winchester 30-30 (dated 1971).

It is under control, without a small amount of inflation we would be in an absolute economic tail spin. Remember when "cash was king"? Yeah, those were the very bad old days.

 

[Ragnar Danneskjold]

It is under control,

Wow.

 

[JohnBT]

"Remember when "cash was king"?"

It's not? This could get ugly, I have a lot.

 

[Ragnar Danneskjold]

Well technically intrinsic value is king. Cash is just an extremely sophisticated IOU, as are credit cards and wire transfers. The thing we refer to as "the dollar" is simply an agreement that I can trade you something of value for something else of value without us both having to have the stuff on our person. But as with any agreement, it's only worth the people who made it. In the case of the US dollar, its value is only that which we think it is, based on how confident we are in our government(the one issuing the fancy green IOU).
Inflation is just issuing more IOUs (paper or electronic) to represent the already static real value in the country. Printing more money does not create value. Your Colt Python is worth exactly 1 Colt Python. Or whatever else someone wants to trade for it. If the US government prints $100 to represent the value of that Python, each dollar is 1/100th the value of the Python. If they then print $900 more to represent that Python...you don't now have 10 Colt Pythons The only thing that changed was that each dollar represents a fraction of what it used to. That's the trick of inflation. Ecnomies grow and sustain when actual value increases. Not when the paper IOU's increase.

 

[wlewisiii]

Except, of course, that there is no such thing as intrinsic value. Everything has only agreed upon value - dollars, gold, guns, etc - that allow for an easier trade of labor for goods. As David Ricardo, building on Adam Smith, put it "The value of a commodity, or the quantity of any other commodity for which it will exchange, depends on the relative quantity of labour which is necessary for its production, and not as the greater or less compensation which is paid for that labour" (Ricardo 1817). Likewise, for example, the only valuation gold has is that of it's scarcity and the amount of labor needed to mine it from the ground. In many imaginable circumstances it would, in fact, be value-less because it would not be edible or lead to the production of food. A Python without ammunition is a nice decoration but otherwise can be considered to be without value.

Economies grow when labor is given an appropriate valuation by the marketplace in exchange for goods, not when it is held artificially low by limitations on the medium of exchange.

And none of takes into consideration the difference between exchange value and use value - especially the latter which is what the distinctions in this thread are predominately about.

 

[ShadowsEye]

Wow.

umm 2.2% is pretty ideal. Anything lower than that and it means people are saving money in an extreme way, which means the economy is completely stagnant. Look up the inflation rate when the economy collapsed in 2008.

 

[Ragnar Danneskjold]

Yes, there is intrinsic value. That's the difference between commodities and money. Oil can be burned. Food can be eaten. Colt Pythons can be shot. Metals can be used to make things. That's intrinsic value. The object in your hand by its very nature hold some sort of value because it performs some task you want done. Its trading value come from other people wanting that task done. If I have oil, I can burn it myself. Or if I meet someone who also needs fuel, I can trade some to them. But the value was not just the agreement. The value is in the burning of the oil. Likewise with the Colt Python. I can shoot it myself, for food or entertainment. Even with no trading, the Python has its own value because it actually does something for me. I can also trade it to someone for something else that does something I need.

The only value money has is as fuel for a fire. It's just paper and ink. That's why its fiat value comes from an agreement. And in the case of national currencies, an agreement pushed on us by law. But that law and that agreement give no value to the paper. The paper's only value is how much heat it gives off when burned. Any more value than that is just an idea.

Why do a $1 bills and a $100 bills represent different values? It's not because they're physically different, because they aren't.
Why do Colt Pythons and Lorcin .25ACPs have different value? It is because they're physically different. That's intrinsic value.

 

[budman46]

a guy complained about the cost of a new colt saa. in the late 19th century you could buy one for a $20 gold piece...you still can!

i'm constantly looking for recent c&r imports; they only go up in value like the $69 sks.

 

[Armybrat]

I bought this 99% Model 29 twenty years ago for $275, but no box or papers:



40 years ago my Dad bought this decent '66 Winchester carbine for $75 (in Mexico):

 

[gopguy]

The appalling thing is the value of the dollar has gone to hell and it will only get worse with Bernanke and 0bama printing up $40 billion a month out of thin air to service this bloated debt they have created. 0bama just got another four years so this will only get worse. WE are on our way to being like Weimar Germany in the pre Nazi days. So buy guns today while you still can and enjoy them while the greenback still has some semblance of value...

 

[Ky Larry]

I agree with gopguy. I wanted a Python for 30 years but they were always just out of my price range. A few years ago it finally dawned oin me they weren't getting any cheaper and I wasn't getting any younger. Now I want to kick myself for all the years of lost enjoyment a Python would have brought me. I'm saving my pennies for a 4" nickel Python and the price be damned. After that will be a Colt .45 Gold Cup.

 

[beatledog7]

Inflation is sneaky. Do you remember when a gallon of milk cost less than a buck? How long ago was that? What are you paying now, and do you consider it too much?

When inflated prices become the new normal prices, we tend to lose perspective and forget just how little a dollar buys.

 

[otasan56]

Great S&W M29!

 

[788Ham]

I'm glad I picked up my Python in '85, it was NIB for $275.00, I knew it was more than I'd ever paid for a revolver, but sure glad I did. Now,in the past year, I've picked up 3 more revolvers, not NIB, and a few $$$$ more than the Python, no, I'm not rich, but I'll be damned if I'm walking past a good deal when I see one. Also, since I've seen Guillermo post new pick ups he's finding by the week, I'm through buying them... or I'm gonna be out of money! Way to go G, keep after 'em !

 

[GreyCoupe]

Guns aren't worth more, the dollar is becoming worthless...

 

[MCgunner]

Most guns have gone up over THAT many years. I have two SKSs bought in the early 90s. Both Norincos, one's a rifle I paid 75 bucks for (actually has a great trigger) and one's a paratrooper carbine I gave 115 for. At the time, i thought I was stupid buying those guns and spending another 120 bucks on stocks, ambi safeties, this and that on each. Keep 'em long enough, and you'll recoup the investment. I bought a German '88 Commission Mauser in 1976 for $27.50. It's worth, I hear, around 150 now, not SURE of that because I really haven't done the gunbroker searches to see. I have a Hakim I gave 80 bucks for in the early 90s. I hear it's worth maybe 400 now and I have a bayonet for it, too. Didn't buy the bayonet for the Commission rifle, lesson learned. Would have been a cool one, too, side mount.

I shoulda bought a shipping container full of SKSs and Hakims instead of mutual funds. :banghead: Talk about precious metals! Only problem is, I don't hesitate to sell a mutual fund. Now, I ain't real attached to that Hakim or that Commission rifle or the paratrooper SKS, but I kinda like the SKS rifle for field uses. That's the cool thing about guns, as they accrue value, you can play with 'em and have fun. I would imagine the OP is rather attached to such as a 1911, a Python, etc. Not good to have emotional attachments to an investment. Therefore, i think milsurps are the perfect investment tool....

 

[MCgunner]

Guns aren't worth more, the dollar is becoming worthless...

Well, that, too.