Chicken or Beef?

Back when the entire Y2K hubbub was going on, Pancake was in a meeting with some folks from his office and talk turned to protecting your finances against the upcoming fiasco. One guy said that he was putting his money into bullion, to which Pancake said, "Chicken or beef?" No one laughed. But jokes aside, many folks do invest in precious metals, such as gold:

Since 1967, well over one hundred thousand investors have purchased billions of dollars of gold, silver, platinum and palladium bullion and bullion coins from Monex, one of the largest firms specializing in precious metals for individual investors. Investment experts have long-recommend portfolio diversification and that 10% to 20% (and sometimes more) of an investor's assets be devoted to tangible assets such as gold, silver and platinum bullion and bullion coins.

I feel out of my realm when I think about the possibility of investing in precious metals, but really, investing in gold is no different (I would assume) than investing in real estate.