Gold once rose so fast in 1978 that I knew a guy who bought three good coins on a credit card, watched them go up, sold them and then paid of the card when the bill came in.

I think he cleared about $80 on the deal.

But interest rates for home loans at the time were about 19% and inflation was said to be out of control, so it was a good time for gold.

I pointed out how lucky he was and he said luck had nothing to do with it. He had studied a lot of history in school and thought it was time to see if all that good 'ol book learning was worth anything!