Fun on Friday the 13th: Today Could Be Your Lucky Day If You Play It Right

It’s Friday the 13th.

Are you scared?

Well, I ain’t skeert!

Of course, I’m not generally a superstitious person – except when it comes to hockey. Out on the ice, I admittedly get a little weird. But I am a goalie, so saying I’m a weird hockey player comes off as a little redundant. But for the most part, I don’t get into the whole superstition thing. I don’t care if I spill salt. I went out of my way to adopt a black cat. I don’t worry about having bad luck if I break a mirror. Heck, I already had the bad luck – I broke my mirror! And here’s a confession, sometimes I will walk under a ladder on purpose, just to freak people around me out. So, as far as Friday the 13th goes, it’s just another day. In fact, I kind of feel like it’s basically a good luck day, because hey, it’s Friday!

But quite a few people are hung up on the number 13. It actually affects the way we do things. For instance, a lot of buildings skip the 13th floor. I always found that a little strange. You do know the 13th floor still exists, right? It’s not like there’s a giant gap in the building. You can slap a 14 on it all you want, it’s still the 13th floor. Pretending it isn’t there is just kinda kooky. But then again, we’re dealing with people who are afraid of a number – so there’s that.

What’s the deal with the number 13 anyway? Why is it considered unlucky? As it turns out, it’s not just because Friday the 13th is the day Jason runs loose.

Some people trace it all the way back to 1780 BC. As the myth goes, we find the first reference to unlucky 13 in the Babylonian Code of Hammurabi. The 13th article was supposedly left out. But as it turns out, the articles weren’t numbered in the original, so that couldn’t have been a thing. It’s like the 13th floor of every building. It’s there no matter how you number it. Anyway, as it turns out, a translation by L.W. King (1910), edited by Richard Hooker, omitted one article, which is apparently the source of the myth. By the way, the missing article was, “If the seller has gone to (his) fate, the purchaser shall recover damages in said case fivefold from the estate of the seller.”

Here’s an explanation for unlucky 13 that will enrage feminists.  In many ancient cultures, the number 13 represented femininity because it corresponded to the number of lunar (menstrual) cycles in a year. As the solar calendar took precedence over the lunar calendar, 13 became an anathema.

One of the more common explanations for the unpopularity of 13 comes from the bible. There were 13 people at the table during the Last Supper. The 13th person – Judas – betrayed Jesus. You might wonder what made Judas the 13th person and not Jesus. Well, according to tradition, Judas was the 13th to sit down.

And Friday the 13th was, in fact, a bad day from some people. On Friday, 13 October 1307, King Philip IV of France ordered the Knights Templar arrested. Most of them were tortured and killed, which admittedly counts as a bad day.

Whether you consider the whole Friday the 13th thing silly or not, a lot of people take it seriously. In fact, the Independent did some analysis and found the day really does affect people’s behavior, at least in England. For instance, Brits are apparently more careful on Friday the 13th. Not only are there fewer home insurance claims, but the value of those claims is also lower.

Brits are also reluctant to buy or sell a property on Friday the 13th. According to the Independent, analysis of records dating back to 2003 showed less than half the number of properties actually changed hands on that date then you would expect based on averages for a normal Friday. This holds up even when you adjust for seasonal differences.

If you want to buy a property, finding one with 13 as the address will save you a little money. According to the Independent, on average, property number 13 on any street in England is 3% cheaper than their equivalent properties with “less sensitive” numbers.

And get this. You might even save a little money if you buy gold today.

The price of gold in particular – that most emotive of metals – seems to be hit hard by the ‘Friday 13th effect.’ Precious metals platform Bullionvault.com reported back in 2015 that gold transactions fall by an average of 39% on a Friday 13th, so if you’re planning to buy a few ounces today may be your day to snap up a relative bargain.”

So, there you go! Friday the 13th could be your lucky day. Just call one of our SchiffGold precious metals specialists at 1-888-GOLD-160 and they’ll hook you up with some lucky Friday the 13th gold. Just don’t be the 13th caller. That could be bad luck. Of course, we could just have the guys call the 13th caller the 14th caller. Yeah! That’ll fix it!

Fun on Friday is a weekly SchiffGold feature. We dig up some of the off-the-wall and off-beat stories relating to precious metals and share them with you – with tongue firmly planted in cheek. Click here to read other posts in this series.

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