Originally Posted By: benjammin
That's funny. People are holding on to dollars that are steadily losing money, and will be worthless long before precious metals start to fail, yet still see gold and silver holdings as a risk in an extended crisis.

When the dollar collapses, it could happen in hours. The transition to a full on barter only system will take weeks, as people realize that the economy is not going to recover as quick as the government lies indicate. During that time, the dollar will be worthless, while people will place even greater value on precious metals. The junk silver I have will be highly desirable during that period, possibly being over-valued by as much as 300% (right now a silver dime is worth a cheap loaf of bread, it could be worth a gallon of gas in that crisis period).

It would be prudent to have a few thousand dollars on hand, and 10-15k worth of junk silver. Then it is all about barter items if things keep spinning down the drain.

But saying gold and silver has no value while trying to retain dollars as a hedge when it will vaporize like flash paper when tshtf seems a bit backwards to me.

Gold and silver have no practical purpose in life, other than it's "rare" and shiny. OK, sure, you can use silver for dishes or something, and gold is nice for electronics, but it's not a practical metal. It's no more or less stable than the dollar that way.

I mean, you can't eat it. You won't be tilling your fields with it. In a true barter economy, it's value is only what someone is willing to trade for it. I'm sorry, but if my kid is starving, and yours is too, you're 1kg gold bar is going to be hard to stomach for your kid, cuz mine is keeping her food. I might trade you for bullets (ie, brass and lead), or something steel (plow, pitchfork, shovel, knife, etc), but gold? Ha! Silver? Ha!