Thanks for posting. Most of us are just speculating based on personal near-misses and situations that didn’t become critical on the one hand, and events that happened to others as reported by unreliable media on the other. It’s worth a lot to hear real experience first-hand.<br><br>One thing I did learn from those that had been through the hurricane in Charleston- they told me always to have plenty of cash in small bills. Apparently, after the hurricane the banks were closed, and while many stores and shops were open (especially smaller ones), NOBODY had change. If you wanted a breakfast roll, and all you had was a $20 bill, then the breakfast roll cost you $20. It wasn’t technically “gouging”, since they were willing to sell it to you for less- if you had less.<br><br>For similar reasons, I’ve chosen to stash a bit of silver instead of gold. One ounce of silver is a large coin, and was worth about $5 the last time I checked, so you wouldn’t feel too bad about trading one for a hamburger or some canned food. Five dollars worth of gold, on the other hand, is a coin the size of a sequin, just as thin, more fragile, and terribly easy to lose- even if you could convince someone to take it. Larger gold coins are just too much value at once for subsistence-level trading, and you may well end up trading a $75 coin for that hamburger.<br><br>I don’t put a lot of faith in either. Unlike most survival gear, gold and silver are pretty much useful only in one scenario- economic collapse. In any other survival situation, it’s likely that people will be taking paper dollars for quite some time.<br> <br>Thanks again.<br>