Gold/Silver as currency & use

[Justus]

So the bank gets nothin!

Glad you're not my neighbor....

 

[BigMatt]

The mistake most people make is thinking that SHTF means you either have currency OR precious metals.

IMO, the most likely SHTF scenario is hyperinflation.

In this case, there is still gubmint backed currency out there, but the value is dropping by double-digit percentages every month. Gold or silver would serve as a store of wealth while the currency falls in value.

When you are ready to purchase something, you would sell some PM's, go to the store immediately and spend the currency before it loses too much value.

 

[RAMBOCAT]

NEVER barter ammo that can be effectively used against you. However, .22 rimfire will be worth more than it's weight in gold. Just start putting back a brick every week. It could be the best investment you ever made

 

[Justus]

NEVER barter ammo that can be effectively used against you. However, .22 rimfire will be worth more than it's weight in gold. Just start putting back a brick every week. It could be the best investment you ever made

Right now this plan would cost $2000-$3000 a year.

 

[copperhead-1911]

Many mention brass and lead as you cant eat if you are dead. You are right, but many miss the obvious that ammo will be a good barter tool as well. You got extra ammo and someone has some rice or eggs you can trade.

As far as precious metals "junk silver" ( 1964 and prior dimes, quarters, half-dollars, and dollars as well as kennedy dollars up to 1969 (40% silver instead of 90%) is probably the best stuff to have.

 

[Justus]

The mistake most people make is thinking that SHTF means you either have currency OR precious metals.

IMO, the most likely SHTF scenario is hyperinflation.

In this case, there is still gubmint backed currency out there, but the value is dropping by double-digit percentages every month. Gold or silver would serve as a store of wealth while the currency falls in value.

When you are ready to purchase something, you would sell some PM's, go to the store immediately and spend the currency before it loses too much value.

+1 to this.
This is exactly what happens.

 

[7.62asprin]

Gold and Silver is good if you can afford it, but if you're in the lower spectrum of the income level it would be wiser to just stockpile more food and water.

 

[copperhead-1911]

Gold and Silver is good if you can afford it, but if you're in the lower spectrum of the income level it would be wiser to just stockpile more food and water.

And ammo and supplies. Anything from an extra knife to extra lower receiver could come in hand

 

[BigMatt]

Gold and Silver is good if you can afford it, but if you're in the lower spectrum of the income level it would be wiser to just stockpile more food and water.

There is no question that gold and silver should be what you use to finish off your preps. Food, water, toilet paper all come first.

BTW, income doesn't have anything to do with it. $25 will buy you one ozt of silver right now. If you have everything lined out as far as preps, just about anyone could buy an ounce of silver per week.

 

[Enkrypter]

The problem I have with gold and silver vs. ammo and firearms is that one requires society to still function in order for it to be of value. I think we'd be lucky if we could go 6mo after SHTF and some form of currency was still valued by those who did not have it. Those with guns will simply take what they want or need, no silver required. Currency is only valuable if everyone finds equal value in it. When you're starving to death, you can't eat a bar of silver. Even the Donner party had money...

Which is why I think firearms, food, water, medical supplies, and ammo will be more valuable.

 

[Justus]

And ammo and supplies. Anything from an extra knife to extra lower receiver could come in hand

I think SHTF in today's world means something that will fall far short of having to use ammo as currency. The event will probably drag out for months and the bills will still need to be paid. The "collapse" in 2008 and Katrina are good examples. SHTF for many people yet the economy-as-we-know-it still functioned. Today, I can't think of any probable event that will suddenly overwhelm this entire continent so quickly that our debts will evaporate and we'll need to barter to survive.

The most probable wide-spread event that I can see right now is economically related. Every historical example of a currency collapse shows that people buy whatever they can as the value of their money drops just so they can preserve some wealth. The goal is to convert those assets back into a stable currency to use at some point in the future. IMO, silver is a better tool for this scenario since it can be converted back into an accepted currency quicker and easier than most other items.


Are we talking SHTF or the end of the civilization?

 

[BigMatt]

I think SHTF in today's world means something that will fall far short of having to use ammo as currency. The event will probably drag out for months and the bills will still need to be paid. The "collapse" in 2008 and Katrina are good examples. SHTF for many people yet the economy-as-we-know-it still functioned. Today, I can't think of any probable event that will suddenly overwhelm this entire continent so quickly that our debts will evaporate and we'll need to barter to survive.

The most probable wide-spread event that I can see right now is economically related. Every historical example of a currency collapse shows that people buy whatever they can as the value of their money drops just so they can preserve some wealth. The goal is to convert those assets back into a stable currency to use at some point in the future. IMO, silver is a better tool for this scenario since it can be converted back into an accepted currency quicker and easier than most other items.


Are we talking SHTF or the end of the civilization?

Exactly.

People like to look at SHTF with blinders on and think that there will be no government at all.

People like to say they are prepared for anything, but they aren't. They are prepared for one scenario - TOTAL MAYHEM!!!! Anything less than that and their car gets repossessed and their house goes into foreclosure.

The flip side of the "you can't eat precious metals" coin is "you can't pay your mortgage with an MRE".

 

[MT60]

I'm of the opinion we're in for more of an extended slide to the new normal that's inevitably coming rather than a "crash" that comes over weeks or even months. I also believe we're seeing the early signs of that now, with our current government seemingly doing a lot to expedite the process. I also agree that eventually (like when we finally admit the US will NOT be able to pay off the national debt) high if not hyper-inflation will be part of the mix.

That being said I think an early part of the new economy will be a barter system, and that it will start locally with people who 1) have something worthwhile to barter and 2) are mentally prepared for a system that does not involve a take-it-or-leave-it price tag on almost everything. I think that things like eggs, firewood, honey, and preservable (or preserved) things off the homestead will be early barter items with first aid, ammo and the like coming soon after. However if you have eggs, I have firewood, your neighbor has canned green beans, and his neighbor has .22s, it may soon become desirable to have some sort of currency so I get some silver for my firewood and take down the street to get green beans, which he'll use to get .22s and maybe some eggs. That's kinda the long way around of saying I think there will be local groups willing trade amongst themselves in both barter and currency, and silver makes a ready way to do that. Silver is on my short list of preps to get started on this year.

 

[BigMatt]

Silver is on my short list of preps to get started on this year.

Good for you.

 

[Khazik]

I've recently started a new full time job installing those radio-transmitting meters people criticize due to health issues. I've decided I'm going to set up an aquaponics system, likely outdoors and built like a styrofoam cooler, and have it run on solar power separate from the grid. After I get that going, I'm going to get silver next... unless I get impatient lol.

 

[Onionsanddragons]

I think silver is probably the best hedge, or wealth assurance, for the event of serious economic collapse or restructuring (like a currency rebasement). This sort of scenario seems the most likely SHTF event in the foreseeable future. Things will be rough on most people, and really bad in some places. There will be places with very little rule of law, and also a lot of places with quite excessive rule of law(most of the major urban centers after the militarized police are used to quell them).

Cash will be worth very little for a lot of this period either due to inflation, lack of confidence, or both. Medical supplies and useful skills will probably be the most valuable things. Markets will eventually emerge, because they always do, and unless things are truly FUBAR things like silver will be good general currencies. But the real benefit if something bad does go down, is in the rebuilding process. Once we start piecing a functional society back together or stabilizing, markets will become stronger but cash will still likely be quite weak for lack of confidence in the old, or the new, and PMs and other traditional value stores will have their highest gains here.

So, I see them as the plan for AFTER we survive. Having a stash of silver will give you the opportunity to be one of the people that thrives once things near an equilibrium. They are also just a great hedge in the event that it never gets quite that bad, but other assets like stocks and traditional cash does, because our economy has been so horribly mismanaged.

My personal goal is to hold about 10% or so of my total assets in silver. Silver has held steady value against inflation, so it's not like it is much of a risk. But I think it is a great bit of insurance, and assurance that what I have gathered so far cannot be wiped out by one fell financial event. The bullets and antibiotics and food forestry is for the other stuff that is less likely to happen. Not that ammo will be getting cheaper any time soon, so that isn't a bad investment for us shooters anyway.

Just my thoughts on the matter.