The really sad thing about all of this is that what happens when people sell all of their gold scraps? We're forgetting that most of this gold is going to China and India whose demand for the metal is voracious. In the end we are beholden to the metal, over the annuls of our history fiat currencies have come and gone, but gold has always remained as a medium for exchange. The price of gold has risen as a referendum on the rampant debts that are being run up by various 1st world societies and eventually those debts will have to be paid. For those of you who think you will ever see $300, $400, $500 gold again in our lifetimes I laugh.
To respond to The Zigmeister, it is unbelievably sad that people are taking what once was an important part of a persons everyday life, their pocket watch and just discarding it. I don't blame gold I blame the lack of appreciation of their family history and greed for this problem, not the price of gold.