3 Reasons You Shouldn’t Stock Precious Metals

[Anti Federalist]

Matt's trying to drive the price down so he can buy some.

 

[Matt Collins]

Matt's trying to drive the price down so he can buy some.

I may be known as "The Collins", but not even my influence is great enough to move markets

 

[Rampart]

Kudos to the person who posted that excellent photo of hyperinflation in the Weimar Republic. History proves again and again, that fiat dollars turn to dust when governments rev up the printing presses. Argentina and Zimbabwe are also great examples of how paper currency can fail.

So why do we need metal? Because barter has its limits...Even in the worst case scenario, people must have a reliable unit of exchange in order to survive. You will still need to buy and sell.

 

[Seraphim]

Except that who has the ability to lug a trunk full of gold around when trying to make a quick escape? It's highly impractical (which is why we have paper to begin with).

You can put a million dollars worth of gold into a back pack WITH EASE. That certainly is not an issue.

25 kilos is essentially a million dollas worth. That is not all that heavy TBH.

 

[lucius]

Very true:
http://survivalcache.com/precious-metals-survival/

Do what you think with your caches and I will do mine...

 

[Matt Collins]

You can put a million dollars worth of gold into a back pack WITH EASE. That certainly is not an issue.

25 kilos is essentially a million dollas worth. That is not all that heavy TBH.

And when you need to buy something that is 1/100th of that, how exactly do you divide it? Do you melt it down right before you do the transaction, or do you take our the saw and cut it down to the right size?

 

[EndDaFed]

And when you need to buy something that is 1/100th of that, how exactly do you divide it? Do you melt it down right before you do the transaction, or do you take our the saw and cut it down to the right size?

You can always buy gold shot or silver shot. Besides anyone with any sense wouldn't have all their wealth in silver, gold, and cash.

http://www.apmex.com/Product/22778/999_Gold_Shot___Order_by_the_ounce.aspx
http://www.apmex.com/Product/44273/Silver_Grain_Shot_999_Fine___10_oz_packages.aspx

 

[Matt Collins]

You can always buy gold shot or silver shot. Besides anyone with any sense wouldn't have all their wealth in silver, gold, and cash.

[url]http://www.apmex.com/Product/22778/999_Gold_Shot___Order_by_the_ounce.aspx[/URL]
[url]http://www.apmex.com/Product/44273/Silver_Grain_Shot_999_Fine___10_oz_packages.aspx[/URL]

Ok - that makes more sense.

 

[enjerth]

And when you need to buy something that is 1/100th of that, how exactly do you divide it? Do you melt it down right before you do the transaction, or do you take our the saw and cut it down to the right size?

A sharp knife, not a saw.

And yes, you can easily cut a grain or two worth of gold off a bar or coin. It's highly malleable.

YouTube - Gold for Bread

How much gold do you think it'd take to carry all of your wealth? It'd be around 6.5 pounds to carry $100,000 in gold right now. Yeah, that's too much to carry with you when you hit the road? It's not much more difficult to carry that than it would be to carry it in $100 bills, and it's a LOT more divisible than paper notes, as well as holding value better.

You can carry silver as well, as smaller denominations of money, but it's not easy cutting silver. You can make better change with gold unless you carry lots of silver quarters and dimes.

They're using it in Zimbabwe, why you don't think it can be used here?

 

[Suzu]

It is a little more difficult to have your money that is in a bank (as much as I hate em) get stolen.

I would offer that you do not have any money in any bank. You may have some currency on deposit there, but even that currency most likely doesn't actually exist.

 

[Seraphim]

And when you need to buy something that is 1/100th of that, how exactly do you divide it? Do you melt it down right before you do the transaction, or do you take our the saw and cut it down to the right size?

I was giving an example of just how easy it is to hold and carry VERY LARGE sums of wealth through gold. I was not giving an example of practical small exchange.

 

[osan]

Personally, I have everything I need already, and it doesn't involve gold or mountains of MRE's

Invest in skills and community networks of other like minded people with skills you don't have.

Join your local grange, or similar community club of people who like doing old fashioned things together. Quilting clubs, Brewer's clubs, etc.

All good ideas. Another is to acquire some skills yourself. I am a blacksmith, machinist, cabinet maker, knife maker, gold/silversmith, pattern maker, CAD designer, welder, fabricator, something of a rigger, carpenter, equipment operator, ceramist, and a few other things. My farming skills are pretty decent and I know how to raise birds, and other livestock. I acquired all these abilities because they interest me and I have deemed them valuable for over 30 years - long before the USA came to its current state of affairs.

Want to learn a really valuable skill? Become a cooper. If the poo hits the fan in a big way, containers will become suddenly and centrally important and if there are no factories hacking out stainless and plastic kegs and jars, etc., coopering should make a very strong come back. Like a mortician (another skill), you will probably never run out of customers.

Learn to do stuff - even if just two basic skills - hell, even ONE. I've been in the IT field these past 28 years +/-, and one thing I can say for certain is that those technical skills will be worthless if things go way south. OTOH, I have many years of management experience and that skill may in fact prove useful in decayed times, but I would not count on it.

Finally, I would say that having good horse sense will also prove very valuable. That is something many people do not have these days because they do not need to have it, thanks to the general lifestyle that encourages lassitude and mindless consumption.

 

[LibForestPaul]

Except that who has the ability to lug a trunk full of gold around when trying to make a quick escape? It's highly impractical (which is why we have paper to begin with).

Srsly, What are you talking about? We have paper because the International Banking Cartels tells us to have paper. I have 1964 quarters and 1921 dollars of silver.

1 pound = 16 ounces
5 pounds = 80 ounces

80 ounces*1000 dollars per ounce = $80,000 ???
80ounces *5000 dollars per ounce = $400,000 ???

If your "trunk" of gold is too heavy. Just set some of it down, and I'll carry it for you, minus reasonable 5% fee.

 

[Madly_Sane]

That's the point, it's heavy and impractical. It's not easily divisble either.

It's good for when an economy becomes stable, but in SHTF it's nothing more than a paperweight.

In a SHTF scenario, the value of it would prob decline, but still be rather valuable... so just 'lug' it around until an emergency or something like that pops up and use it to make your 'larger' purchases

 

[PaulineDisciple]

I have put a lot of thought into this subject lately and I have come to the conclusion that you should forget PM's altogether and just buy more guns/ammo, in a true SHTF senario, guns and ammo will more than likely go up in value far more than any PM's you might have on hand. For example, right now you can buy 22lr cartriges for 4 cents each (box of 500 for $20), if we have a total collapse, I am willing to wager that each 22lr cartrige could easily be worth $1 or more each to people who didn't prepare, that is a 2500% increase in value. $1300/oz gold would have to be worth $42,250,000/oz to give you the same return on your investment and you can't use gold to defend yourself if you need to unless your really good with a sling shot and you would be shooting a $42 million dollar bullet at the aggressor, not a very pleasant thought IMO. Larger calibers would be worth more but I don't think that the % increase on other calibers will be as great as the good old 22lr. By all means, make sure you have plenty of the ammo for your main defensive rifle but the 22lr will more than likely be your most used for taking small game if you find yourself in a survival senario.

So my fanancial advice, bulk up on ammo escpecially 22lr and you will not only have better return on your investment if the system really does collapse but you can use them for feeding and defending yourself/family, what more could you ask for?

 

[Original_Intent]

If I made massive list of everything I wanted to prepare and it was in order of importance, precious metals would near the very bottom, somewhere around “Plans to build a printing press” and a copy John Locke’s Treatise On Government (all useful in a budding society, not so much for survival).

Doesn't eveyone keep a spare copy of the 2nd Treatise on government (and Bastiat's The Law) to educate the masses after TEOTWAWKI?

 

[TruckinMike]

...Consider the example of the Somali Shilling (a fiat currency). I think we can both agree that there has not been any Somali government to speak of since 1992 or so. And yet the Somali Shilling continues to be used as legal tender in Somalia. In fact, due to its relative stability, it's used as the local currency in much of Ethiopia and Kenya as well. It still trades on international currency markets.

Why was gold used as a medium for currency for thousands of years?
A few reasons - difficult to counterfeit, recognizable, easy to carry. Those are the same reasons the somali's continue using their shilling. That is its VALUE, REAL VALUE. And without a government to inflate the currency it will maintain value, and maybe even grow in value due to demand and wear and tear. Without the shilling, they are left with trading baskets of sundried bricks. People need to trust it, so they do.

Necessity wins the day.

TMike

PS- They would trade gold if they had it.

 

[Inflation]

I for one welcome a return to the Dark Ages!

I stock some 90% silver and some fractional gold. Good to be diversified.

In a SHTF scenario where we go back to living in medieval times...

Stopped reading right there, because the image of America turning into a giant Renaissance Fair distracted me.

Ron Paul for King of the Realm!

*raises mead toast*

 

[heavenlyboy34]

Why is it in demand? People have assigned it an arbitrary value far greater than its practical value.



Nope. Consider the example of the Somali Shilling (a fiat currency). I think we can both agree that there has not been any Somali government to speak of since 1992 or so. And yet the Somali Shilling continues to be used as legal tender in Somalia. In fact, due to its relative stability, it's used as the local currency in much of Ethiopia and Kenya as well. It still trades on international currency markets.

The value of gold is not arbitrary. It has value in many industries. Its price is determined primarily by supply and demand.

The value of fiat currency is arbitrary. For example, a central bank may decide to print 100 dollars per ounce of gold. Though the currency value may fluctuate depending on Central bank policy, the price of gold is consistent.

Also, one central bank can exchange some gold with another central bank, which diminishes supply for one bank, thus creating more scarcity and higher value.

This is pretty well explained in Mises, Rothbard, and RP's books on the subject.

P.S. guns and food are good investments too.

 

[ClayTrainor]

All good ideas. Another is to acquire some skills yourself. I am a blacksmith, machinist, cabinet maker, knife maker, gold/silversmith, pattern maker, CAD designer, welder, fabricator, something of a rigger, carpenter, equipment operator, ceramist, and a few other things. My farming skills are pretty decent and I know how to raise birds, and other livestock. I acquired all these abilities because they interest me and I have deemed them valuable for over 30 years - long before the USA came to its current state of affairs.

You sound like a good guy to have around during a SHTF scenario.