shinnosuke wrote: And a question for you Ag gurus. Let's say the .gov says hoarding is going to become illegal as of a certain date. Will prices go up and inventory disappear, as in guns after Sandy Hook, or will the country be awash with supply because weak hands will get out while still legal to do so?
What would YOU do? What would Joe Sheeple do? Form your own conclusions. I don't think the country would be awash in silver... because you're presuming that there's an extensive above-ground physical supply, which I don't think there is... even in strong hands. What silver there is would swiftly flow to industrial consumption until exhausted. If such a mandate was put into place, I doubt there would be any incentive left to play the futures market, and true price discovery might finally be implemented.
I think you would see an exodus of "private" silver hoards leaving the country, by any means possible, rather than a conversion to fiat... at least by those among us who understand the dynamics of real money vs toilet paper. The Sheeple? They'll flock to the Cash 4 Silver shops to sell the funny looking quarter grandma kept from her birth year.