Intrinsic value post SHTF

Once all that (and much more) has been deep stacked then what? A functioning society will return, will gold have held it's value?

I've yet to hear the belief that gold is still the storage of wealth it's historically been. Might as well buy a cattle farm with a rye field and a fresh water lake. I already know how to distill and BBQ.

 

I think ye just answered your own question.

buy the farm

 

.....within walking distance of a an old closed down gold mine....near railroad tracks.

 

For the love of all things shiny.. I should have titled the thread: PMs in the new world.

It's seriously been an uphill battle justifying gold after survival (and not just on this forum/thread).

Isn't anyone else optimistic about the value once a new currency/government/society has been established?

The attraction is obvious and plain; portability and widespread acceptance. Shouldn't the value be greatly impacted once the paper market no longer has a (manipulative) effect on value and it is finally measured solely on supply and demand?

 

When you are hungry, would you accept gold as payment for labor? Value is based upon need. When your belt buckle is wearing a blister on your backbone, you would trade 10 pounds of gold for a sandwich and a beer.
When you are freezing to death, you would trade all you carried for a handful of matches, and a few blankets.
There are air tanks recovered from drowned divers, crushed by outside pressure, and diver's suction, trying to get just one more breath....value is based on need.
Gold is a pricey item, And I wish I had some, but life doesn't stop without it, so I don't really need it. Land, food, water, and the ability to produce more are things I need, and can always fall back onto, in case of need.
But gold? Precious gems? Folding money? Only time and need will determine their relative worth.
Silver, on the other hand, does have medical properties, electrical properties, kills bacteria, (so could help clean water or wounds), and still has monetary value, now, and most likely then, because it has more than one use.

So, self-sufficiency has the highest value. And (IMHO) silver will hold it's value better than gold.

 

PM's are just tools to be used in a certain set of circumstances.
Hyper-inflation might be a good example.
But, when is it coming?

It's kind of like buying a 41mm socket for a specialized job. You have the tool because maybe you needed it once before .. but you may never need it again. What do you do. Sell it at a loss, hope you get to use it again, or tuck it away for the grandkids.

PM's are not the road to survival. Hell, they are not even part of the 3 legged stool of survival (food, water, shelter).

There may come a time when PM's will come into play, where those that have it will thrive. But my friend, it might not even be in our lifetimes. We may just be prepping the basics of survival and stacking PM's for our children's futures and not ours.

 

Why are PMs valuable?
Because people say they are.

Why do people think PMs are valuable?
Because they are rare and have held value over time, which makes them a vessel to store/hold wealth.

The problem with PMs however, is you need people to want them and find them valuable. But, what happens if they don't?

In some situations--like a barter economy, things like seeds, tools, shells, food may be much more valuable because of their utility. If you can't barter with PMs, they have little intrinsic value. They are no longer "legal tender."

If you have a bunch of goods and people want to pay you with PMs, that's one thing. YOU still have goods.

If you have to break out your PMs--your ONLY wealth--to buy food or needed goods, you're desperate. You don't have anything else--it's a bad place to be because people will have you over a barrel. You have to pay THEIR asking price for that $50 knife or $20 backpack or $10 bag of jerky.