Coinage for SHTF

[m16ty]

I also think any cash or precious metals will be useless in a SHTF deal. You can't eat gold or silver. I honestly can't think of any survival value with any precious metal.

[Guest 6.8 AR]

If your life revolves around your next meal, you are toast. Metals are another form of currency when an

economy starts to re-form. You will see a huge rise in its demand then. That's why it is a good tool for savings.

There will be life after SHTF and you better plan to include it in your survival plans if you really mean to

survive or leave someone els in your family to survive.

Don't use "expediency of the moment" as your battle plan or you won't make it very long.

Edited December 16, 2012 by 6.8 AR

[nightrunner]

IMO storing precious metals isnt about surviving the initial "storm" its about thriving during and after the rebuilding of society.

[Guest USMC 2013]

IMO storing precious metals isnt about surviving the initial "storm" its about thriving during and after the rebuilding of society.

Exactly!!!  Why prep at all if you believe we're all going to die and society will never rebuild.

 

Joe

[Guest 6.8 AR]

I also think any cash or precious metals will be useless in a SHTF deal. You can't eat gold or silver. I honestly can't think of any survival value with any precious metal.

Wait until you barter your last meal away before you say that. An economy will always rebuild, and it has to be

based on something. Precious metals have been the base for thousands of years. If you are faced with a SHTF,

you had better be prepared for more than just a meal or two. Or, at least have a very in demand skill to give a

value. When things go to crap in this country, try thinking about the Weimar Republic. You will have plenty of dollar

bills for toilet paper. Food's a given necessity, but there will be a need for barter and metals will have their place.

[m16ty]

I was just trying to make a point with the "you can't eat gold" comment. I was trying to say it's useless as a survival tool IMO. Sounds like some people disagree and that's ok. It may be good when civilization rebuilds but who knows.

 

I don't think I'll have to barter my last meal. I won't have to barter for anything to survive unless I have some sort of medical problem that I can't handle. I'm pretty well covered on everything else.

 

It's not all that hard to survive in a rual setting if you can keep all the thieves away. The cities and suburbs will be a different story.

Edited December 18, 2012 by m16ty

[Guest Lester Weevils]

Here is only a theory, and I'm often as not wrong-- If things go down very gradually over a year or more, accompanied by hyperinflation, then people will "get used" to considering money worthless and by the time it hits bottom nobody will want to take paper dollars or the modern junk "plug nickel" USA coinage.

 

However, if the bottom drops out fairly quickly or there is a short-term localized emergency (short tem defined as "less than a year"), then I don't think the average feller will "instantly adapt" to believing that USA paper and pot metal coinage am worthless. If the bottom drops out pretty quick, I think the average guy will still value paper and pot metal for quite awhile even if a sane fella would know the currency is "worthless forever more."

 

So I think if a fella had a mix of some precious metals, and some paper dollars, and some pot metal coins, then with luck a fella could use up all his spare cash before people quit taking it. And even after people quit taking paper dollars, I'm guessing they will still take pot-metal pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, etc for awhile after they quit taking dollars. Not that people are stupid, but I bet it takes em awhile to get "de-conditioned". People have been conditioned to lust after USA bucks and coins their whole lives and they won't get de-conditioned overnight. So you could first trade with paper, then pot-metal coinage, and then finally get down to trading either ammo, food, or precious metals, whichever the other fella is most willing to take and you are most willing to part with.

 

I kinda think that people are slow enough to change, that even if there was global thermonuclear war and it was obvious to everybody the USA is forever no more, that people would still trade for dollars, for long enough that you could spend a few thousand you stashed for emergencies. Maybe the price would be more than they charge at walmart, but OTOH it would still be a great deal trading green paper or pot metal for useful stuff, regardless the inflated price. :)

 

Fer example a few years ago some thieves broke into a big office and stole a scad of cheap monochrome computer monitors off the desks in the cubicles, but didn't steal the computers or anything else, Just as many cheap monitors as they could haul off. Dollars to donuts those guys were so dumb they thought they were stealing little bitty TV's that they could sell for big bucks on the street. People like that, hell yeah they will be willing to trade for green paper after it is worthless for everything except toilet paper and fire-starter materials.

Edited December 18, 2012 by Lester Weevils

[Guest TNSovereignty]

Neat thread - great points outlined here, particularly for those who've never put much thought into what a Federal Reserve Note is ... and isn't.

 

A few of my neighbors have started an agrarian co-op ... essentially it's a black market economy, and essentially we're just copying what our good Amish neighbors have been doing for decades.  Junk silver is acceptable currency, as are crops, animals, skills, raw unskilled strength (thanks to the young people).  We've set up a database for everyone listing a column of "things I have to offer" and "things I need."  It's not humming along yet ... still too new for many to wrap their heads around, but my thinking is that it's better to have an alternative economy functioning NOW rather than work to educate the community when a loaf of bread costs 1000 of those Federal Reserve Note pieces of paper.  A few of us are working to make this functional, particularly as the spring growing season commences.  

 

Didn't someone earlier mention toilet paper as a good commodity?  Maybe we can eventually just use our green pieces of paper for that function :)  

[Spiffy]

Copper was at $3.80/lb last time I checked and is expected to hit $5 within the next 12 months. IMO copper makes good sense for an investment for the future and the most convenient way is to stock pile pre-1982 pennies. (It is illegal to melt down in circulation currency. Just Google it to find the law). A second best would be minted bars and rounds, but then you're paying a premium due to the cost of minting.

For investment most forward thinking folks advise keeping 10% of your savings in gold and silver. 1/4, 1/2 & 1oz gold coins are common and safe investments. 1oz bars/rounds, 5 oz & 10 oz bars are great ways to invest in silver.

For true SHTF scenario, and as an investment, pre-1965 dimes, quarters and half dollars are 90% silver. Almost everyone knows this and that fact makes these easy to trade. There is a level of trust with U.S. minted "junk" coinage because we all know it is 90% silver. With the smaller denominations it can help with trade scenarios. This is a good website to see what silver is going for daily...

www.coininfo.com

Also, if the SHTF scenario doesn't hit during your lifetime, think of the silver and gold as your prepping gift to your heirs.

Semper Fi,

Joe

 

 

But that doesn't mean the guy at the local corner store is going to agree its worth more than a dime when you try to get a loaf of bread or a can of beans.

[Guest 6.8 AR]

I was just trying to make a point with the "you can't eat gold" comment. I was trying to say it's useless as a survival tool IMO. Sounds like some people disagree and that's ok. It may be good when civilization rebuilds but who knows.

 

I don't think I'll have to barter my last meal. I won't have to barter for anything to survive unless I have some sort of medical problem that I can't handle. I'm pretty well covered on everything else.

 

It's not all that hard to survive in a rual setting if you can keep all the thieves away. The cities and suburbs will be a different story.

I know, but hopefully everyone around here will be thinking about surviving longer than a few weeks. The metals idea

is for when an economy gets up and running again.

[Hershmeister]

[quote name='TGO David' timestamp='1334925927' post='748170']When/if society collapses, paper and metal currency won't likely be worth anything. Food will be king second only to the [i]ability to provide[/i] food.[/quote] This Think maslows hierarchy of Needs. At the base is safety and security. No one is going to care about silver or gold in a survival situation that has any degree of long duration to it