Should we store gold?

I was reading an article on surviving and in the comment section a disagreement erupted. One of the posters kept saying:

So true or false? Will you trade away some of your stuff for a few coins of gold? If disaster happens, depending on the scale of things, will you sell some medical supplies? A bucket of rice? If recovery does not look like it will be happening in a year, would you sell some fuel for a gold coin?

I have heard people say that they store gold and silver because that will be the monetary system when and if SHTF, but did not barter first take place with goods? I have heard people say, you cannot eat gold so why put some away. So should one be buying an extra years’ worth of food vs. buying gold?

 

Gold will be useful in the first few days, then will be worth nothing until some sort of recovery starts to happen. Silver may be easier for smaller trades. One real concern is how do you know the metals are genuine? A tungsten billet with a thin gold covering is impossible to detect without destructive testing.

My SHTF "money" includes 22LR Thunderbolt, and it won't go cheap. Maybe during the middle phase when gold is worthless I'll trade 3 or 5 for one ounce of gold I can use later .

 

I believe in silver, because price is skewed in silvers favor vs gold which is too high in price. individual smaller gold coins even the size of dime is still worth over $100. silver and gold both expected to rocket in price in shtf type situation by many. food storage over say 3 years worth in metal cans in my AO is hard pressed not to have rust and breaching problems. glass with rubber/plastic tattler lids will last longer in my opinion. I have canned meat from 2009 I am still eating. ain't dead yet, nor have I been sick after eating same, but even I am getting leary of eating it. my point is agriculture skills are going to be very important as are seeds (non GMO heirloom open pollinated). rice, beans, spices, salt, sugar, pepper, honey, all have long long life spans as well as kept dry. beyond water, shelter, security, guns, ammo, soap, medicine, medical supplies, books and info storage, food, and seeds, ........... here is where I place priority to have silver. I will personally probably be buying very little of all the above except to replace stuff I am depleting as normal rotation goes on. I do have a rather large financial issue to make go away before I do much else. just my 2 cents.

 

It would depend on how much of the item I have stored. Rice and beans? Probably would trade some. Coffee? Sure
Medical supplies? Not likely. Ammo? Never! I read a true account of a family in a SHTF situation that bartered some ammo, and later buried two of their family members because the bullets came back to them.

 

I am in agreement with @Dunerunner here. I think it will depend on a lot of things. The main being 'how big of a SHTF' scenario and 'how long or is it here to stay' - if it's big or long term then pretty doubtful anyone would be willing to trade for precious metals. I wouldn't. But, at some point it will pull out of the nose dive and history shows even in the Dark Ages trading will occur.

Now, if we hit a economic meltdown but infrastructure is still intact and the masses are not throwing bombs around then I think there is a big possibility of precious metal trading. It just all depends on the scenario. For me, I look at gold specifically as a way to preserve my wealth, not to support me or as trading items but for use when the country starts coming back and it will in one way or another. Current price is ~$1200 but if it falls to =< $1000 (which I doubt) then yeah, I am buying in big time. Storing it is another whole thread of its own. And, even though Silver is undervalued I think Gold is the way to go for a number of reasons to include easier storage since takes less gold to equal same value.

 

"Uncle Bruce" Williams the radio talk show host back in the day (think Dave Ramsey) was asked that exact question by a survivalist who wanted to convert his money making taxi service into gold. His reply was "If you can't eat it, shoot it or make love to it, don't own it."

Yes people will trade food for gold. Look at Germany, it took 1,000,000,000,000 marks (a wheel barrel full, and in one famous case the money was left and the wheelbarrow was stolen! People wall papered the walls with money to insulate them because the money was so worthless) to buy a loaf of bread. People were giving farmers gold, silver, what ever they had for the ability to glean fields for a few potatoes (NY Times style book preferred spelling) or a few handfuls of grain.

I have a chicken that lays an egg a day. In two weeks I have a dozen eggs. You have a 1 oz gold coin and want to buy my eggs and wanted change back. I laughed about that one for days!

Realistically, IF you have some spare cash, buy low and sell high. When gold was $400 an oz and you had 1 oz, waited until it went to $800 and sold, then bought back when it was $400 again, you doubled your gold. Of course when I said that at a meeting I go to, they had a fit! That is speculation, NOT investing. "So how much gold did you have when it was $400 oz? How much do you have now? I have twice as much was I did and the same amount of money." Gold generally takes about 20 years to make you any profit between what you pay for it and what you can sell it for.

 

I keep lead ingots, Never know when ill need a fishing weight or something along that line?

 

Silver and gold will have value in the beginning, and later, once commerce starts back up and if you are around to participate.

 

I actually think ammo would have more value then gold in some circumstances. @Gray Wolf good reminder, what you barter could be used against you.

 

Gold won't be of much use unless 3 things happen.
A financial melt down. Then you will have the ultimate prep.
In a financial melt down people need to buy food, pay for housing, pay bills, pay for goods and services. If everyone is in search of some kind of median of exchange you guns and ammo aren't going to pay the bills. You might be able to sell them at a catastrophic loss as compared to what you paid for them.
I know the holier than thou survivalists are saying you should bug out and "go into the wild" at the first sign of trouble, because thats the romantic notion and it just happens that's what sells the books and gear made by their sponsors.
I'm sure if you can find one of these guys sponsored by APMEX or JM I bet they would be pushing precious metals on their radio show too.

The second thing. Seems everyone focuses on teotwawki, but totally forgets about SHTF on a personal level involving just you or your household.
The latter seems to always be neglected and the most likely to happen by far.
You won't hear about this on some radio show, again because it doesn't move any product.

The 3rd thing, at some point during recovery of a big shtf PM will likely become the median of exchange.
What are you going to do, go into the wild for as long as ypur resources hold out then rejoin the new civilization with nothing, but a good story and just start over. That's not a plan, that's a lack of a plan.

Either way gold price is up, don't buy now.

I wouldn't barter weapons or ammo, not even 22lr. Just what you need, more people armed with no plan and no resources. And now they have gun and ammo and know you have more of both.
Keep stuff to trade that will incapacitate and numb people not empower them.

 

I knew a Papasan in the RoK (back when PARK Hee was the boss) that wore an undershirt under his 'street' shirt. Had little pockets in it. Kept his gold coins in it. He was trrying to marry off one of his daughter to a GI so she could make it to the land of the Big PX and then import the rest of the clan.

In this case, gold coins kept his wealth out of the hands of the Govt (until they came looking) and provided an easy to sell item in the US.

Otherwise, much past a small amount is a bad choice. That same (in cash) invested in mutual funds would have given a far better yield.

FWIW, I don't see a society collapse in my lifetime. Once I've passed, you are all on your own.... YMMV

 

As noted above Brass and Lead will hold their value even steel cased steel projectile will hold its value.

 

Folks always miss an important point when talking about metals as a survival topic: Who will set the prices? Is an ounce of gold worth a dozen eggs or one? Or the whole chicken? Everyone assumes it will have any value at all but we really don't know. In my humble opinion, a piece of metal will mean nothing to someone who is truly hungry, and not a lot to someone who has the food. I honestly hear some folks talk about having a stash of gold and silver as if they'll be able to go out and trade it for stuff they need. Sorry, but in my world SHTF means no one will have any extra to sell at any price, at least no one sane. And no freakin' way will I approach a stranger in a post apocalyptic world with a fist full of gold coins to trade. Suicide!
So what about in a financial meltdown when gold hits $3000 an ounce? Hey, we make money right! No, we can get dollars that are devalued and made the gold prices skyrocket. Speculation and making a few dollars in good times is fun and rewarding. Trading your gold for worthless cash in financial meltdown is lose-lose. So what to do with the gold? Hmmmmm.

 

I put gold in the same category as house insurance, it's simply an asset protection (bank collapse, stock market crash, etc.) and has little to do with surviving SHTF. Silver is a bit different in that I think of it as both asset protection plus it may have some barter potential. If one believes in colloidal silver as a medical treatment, silver bars can also be used to make it.

I will likely never trade/barter ammo or guns unless it is with close family/friends I trust with my life. This is because when providing others ammo I am trusting them with my and my family's lives!

AT

 

Gold, Silver, gems, etc. are only useful in the event of global collapse. That is very unlikely, society will always exist somewhere in the world, and it will be that nations currency that will become the medium of exchange. That said, a few useful lessons I learned watching south American economies collapse (a few times);

Trade all your local currency for the strongest foreign currency quickly. For us, maybe keep a stash of euro's or pounds instead of gold.

And second, in a economic collapse, most goods were bought at black markets run by the mafia. In these cases most gold that was traded was in the form of cheap gold rings. Most of the time, their purity was never tested. After all, if one shop keeper didn't take your ring, another would. So maybe a small bag filled with cheap gold rings would be a better idea.

 

During the California Gold Rush, a man went West to make his fortune. He took a wagonload of young peach trees.
Everybody laughed at him as he hand-watered them clear across the US. A year later, he was trading peaches for gold nuggets, and made a fortune.

He was buying gold with peaches. The miners were buying peaches with gold.

If people have enough food, they'll sell food for gold. If they don't, they won't.

But even in the worst of times, somebody gets rich. There's always a crime boss or warlord who gets the best of everything while others starve.

That's the person that will want your gold.

The trick will be to sell it without dropping to room temperature.

 

I already have a stash of monies from my conquests abroad, ¥, £, €. Changing foreign currencies from within in the US is very expensive.
I'm kind of neutral on foreign currency. If you're there, in country l, sure grab some. Buying and selling from within the US is very expensive.

 

Bullet's wine moonshine blades food gold only has value because people give it value it's just another metal in the ground a dimmond is a rock really not worth nothing.