I've read all these posts and have come to the conclusion that the Comex blow up is as much a red herring as Y2K. It may be a problem at some point but not December 2008.

If COMEX inventories do get depeleted they would be forced to buy gold elsewhere in order to make delivery. As long as they can make the "backroom/private/OTC" deal at "as good or better" pices everythng will be fine.

As far as physical demand goes, I can see the averge joe buying more gold. Coins are hard to find as are small bars but this won't move the POG. The big trend will be seen when/if world treasuries BRICs, Saudi the Sovereign wealth funds etc. decide to exchange their cash for gold.

However there's a catch 22 ... a flight to gold might mean a devalung of currency. So who presses the button first and who wants to. At some point there may be no choice. Then we have a 1982 style spike in gold ... the question becomes where will it settle down .... assuming this all happens in the first place.

Perhaps gov'ts will simply buy small amounts over time that will be a blip on the annual demand and have very little effect on the POG.