Editor's note: An unprecedented event is currently taking place in the gold market.

And according to gold guru Jim Rickards, it's exactly why we're going to see a massive run on physical gold—sooner than anyone expects.

Rickards is one of the smartest and most respected financial writers in the business. And we recently found out that he just developed a new thesis for gold. We think you'll find it very interesting. If you've ever thought of buying gold for safety, make sure to read on to learn about his incredible opportunity which ends tonight…

Imagine you’re in a theatre. Full of people…

If one person screams and runs out of the theatre, you and the other 250 people may not react much. Fact is, our brains are programmed to write some things off as an outlier event.

However, what happens when 10 people run out? Or what about 60 people screaming and running out of the theater? You may start to get antsy in your seat, right?

Well, right now we’re seeing the first people run out of the burning currency theater…

And run into the safety of physical gold. Take a look at this chart…

Source: Agora Financial

You’re looking at two lines.

The top “gold” line represents the physical supply of gold at the COMEX warehouse (this is where gold is stored for the commodities market). As you can see, the amount of gold stored has dropped considerably in the past 12 months.

But more important is the “black” line. See that super spike to the right hand side of the chart? That’s the “owners per ounce” of gold. It shows that there are over 500 owners for each ounce of gold stored at the COMEX warehouse.

This is an unprecedented event.

During a recent interview with Fortune, I talked about the physical gold market being leveraged 100 to 1. Well, it’s even worse than I could have imagined. The commodities exchange is leveraged over 500 to 1.

That means if 500 folks show up at the COMEX warehouse to collect their physical gold, 499 of them will walk away with nothing. This is exactly why you want to hold physical gold.

And it’s exactly why gold could soon head much, much higher.

According to the World Gold Council, the first quarter of 2016 was the strongest on record for gold demand. There’s something going on here. In fact, we may be seeing the early warning signs of a full scale monetary collapse.

This is what I warned about in The Death of Money, Currency Wars, and more recently, The New Case for Gold.

Time will tell of course. But, you and I both know that by the time people start running for the exits, it’ll be too late. We’ll see long lines and “closed” signs at your local bank. 401(k) freezes. An outright “war” on cash. Violent swings in the stock and bond market. Bank “bail-ins.”

And sooner than anyone expects, I believe we’re going to see a massive run on physical gold.

It’s the day when the “full faith” in paper currency is lost. The day when you, me, and every global citizen runs for the exits. This event will likely send gold prices soaring. The price of gold could go up more than $100 an ounce per day… Or more than $1,000 an ounce per week. That is what a buying panic looks like. And this “super spike” could happen sooner than anyone thinks…

That’s why I recently developed a dynamic new thesis for gold.

Sure, I think everyone should hold physical gold. But with what I see shaping up in today’s gold market – and the pending monetary collapse – there’s an even BIGGER opportunity here. Look, I understand if…

  • You’re worried about a paper currency collapse…
  • You’re worried about the fallout of new “negative” interest rates…
  • You’ve ever thought about buying gold for safety…

That’s why you simply MUST read my new announcement on gold.

This opportunity ends tonight, so you must act fast. Click here to get started.

Sincerely,

Jim Rickards