A chart making the rounds recently makes a bold claim: gold may need to skyrocket—potentially to $26,000 — to match historical levels of U.S. debt coverage. At first glance, the argument is compelling. Today, U.S. gold reserves cover just about 3% of federal debt—near record lows. In 1980, that number was closer to 18%. Go back further to the 1940s, and it exceeded 50%. So yes… if gold were to “rebalance” against debt the way it has in the past, prices would need to rise dramatically. But that doesn’t mean those price targets are realistic. The Flaw in the $26K Gold Argument It’s easy to look at historical ratios and