gold coins

Five years ago, I was told by an American whom I chatted online that he started investing into gold coins for he feared that the world will suffer financially. He told me this before the economy had crashed and I thought this man is out of his mind. Now that we are suffering with economic crisis, the man's words keep lingering in my mind. I found myself asking how did he know it? How could he be so sure that we are going to experience what we are going through now?