Silver Stacking & Other Precious Metals

[Wills]

How many of you look to silver, gold, or other precious metals as a way of prepping, wealth preservation, etc.? I have not really ever seen a thread on it, granted, I admittedly didn't 'search' for one. Myself? I just recently started within this past year, but I do have to say it is a very fun/interesting hobby. I mostly go for 90% Halves and 35% War Nickels, mostly 'junk silver', with some bullion (one-ounce bars and rounds) mixed in. I was into numismatics for a little bit but found 'silver stacking' more to my liking. Working on my 5th full set of Silver American Eagles (1986-2014). I also keep all Cents dated 1981 and prior in 5-gallon buckets for their copper content because, imho, the cent will be a thing of the past soon, so I will have PLENTY of copper hoarded, as well as Wheat Cents, which I keep in rolls. How about it? Anyone else a 'Stacker'??

[TMF]

I've considered keeping a few thousand in gold on hand, but I curious how one can quickly liquidate their gold at market value. I'm assuming all those "cash for gold" places aren't paying market price and I don't like the idea of going on the Internet to sell. Just seems like, in an non SHTF scenario, the gold I would purchase would immediately lose value if I couldn't liquidate it at market price. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[gun sane]

We didn't mess with the gold rush.....too big to trade for everyday things.  Silver and ammo will do and any skills you have that would be in demand.

[whitewolf001]

I have a little put back, enough to make any purchases I might need should the economy tank and there are still stores up and running but I'm not putting all my eggs into that basket. As gun sane said, invest in skills that would be sought after and other renewable resources such as crops or livestock. Medical skills will be HIGHLY sought after as will any mechanical knowledge and blacksmithing as well. You know what people will go buts over when the schumer hits the proverbial fan? Toilet paper, a roll of TP will be worth its weight in gold if(when) TEOTWAWKI hits.

[2.ooohhh]

The only precious metals I have enough of to stack are lead ingots. 

[nightrunner]

Gold is nearly useless for post-SHTF purposes. Its too valuable. Last i checked gold was around $1600 an ounce, what are you gonna buy with that? Even the 1/10th oz. gold eagles are worth $160 still a large denomination. Silver is much better in this aspect. Gold is excellent for pre-SHTF wealth preservation.

I personally believe for precious metals, that Silver Eagles and pre-65 90% silver quarters and dimes are best for purchasing things post-SHTF.

While precious metals are good to invest in, i believe even more valuable at least immediately after an event would be trade goods.

Alcohol, tobacco, chocolate, toilet paper, canned food, bottles water, flashlights, batteries, common types of ammo, pocket knives, common durable clothes, etc. will be in high demand. I believe it would be easier to trade something immediately useful than some silver.

And no one really knows how it would really play as we as a country havent experienced anything like this yet

[jtmaze]

Fixed blade knives as well as pocket. I agree. Booze will be gold in the long run. I am working on putting a materials list to make a makeshift still to put away for TEOTWAWKI. JTM We the People of the United States, in order to form a more Perfect Union......

[tnguy]

I think if 2013 taught us anything, "ammo". Probably one person in 10,000 has enough for personal use, let alone for trading.

 

Some gold is probably not a bad idea but I agree silver is probably more useful. Alcohol is good. A few high-end ones might be a good idea too.

[Guest theconstitutionrocks]

It depends on what you are planning for/considering...

 

If we are talking about a total grid down/TEOTWAWKI situation, then PMs are going to be close to the back burner. The chances are great, in that situation, that IF you can get anything, you will have to barter for it with something useful which, in that case, PMs really aren't. The Beans, Bullets, and Bandaids mantra comes to mind.

 

Now, if we are talking about fiat collapse then PMs are likely a good choice. An ounce of silver or gold is an ounce of silver or gold anywhere in the world. It is compact, has a high value to weight ratio, is universally recognized for its value and has SOME industrial applications as well as being historically recognized as "money" as opposed to let's say diamonds.

 

One of the responders points out that, in most cases, gold has too high a weight to value ratio to be useful for day to day uses...that is pretty accurate. In crisis situations (think Zimbabwe) it becomes a store of wealth that you can hold until the dust settles and the economy re-establishes at which time you can convert PART OF IT to a stable fiat currency to buy what you need.

 

Dose of reality wise, short of an asteroid strike, a massive EMP burst, or widespread nuclear exchange, I don't see TEOWAWKI situations happening, people and societies are resiliant. What I DO believe could easily happen is a financial crisis due to currency collapse, replacement of the dollar as the reserve currency, or our debt catching up to us. In those situations it would seem that having PMs, some of the "new" accepted fiat, and lots of commodities (gas, food, water, tools, etc,etc,etc) would be smart.

[Ted S.]

Even if I had the money to do so, I wouldn't invest in precious metals to hedge any kind of risk. If a SHTF scenario were to occur, there is no guarantee that precious metals will take the place of fiat capital for currency. Even if precious metals did take the place, if the markets are in ruin, I would hardly assume the value would increase or stay equal with what you pay for it now. It seems more reasonable that relatively to the new scarcity of necessities and other resources, the value of precious metals would greatly suffer from a huge increase in demand and huge decrease in productivity.

 

This is all my speculation. I would only invest in land, food, and water, to both secure and produce those necessities.

 

Whoever has control food, water, and land would be better off in many SHTF scenarios that someone with a lot of pretty metal.

 

Just my opinion. :hat:

Edited April 2, 2014 by Ted S.

[Guest theconstitutionrocks]

FWIW I think the key question is....depending on WHAT situation/scenario you are dealing with, unless people are going to hoard everything and not do any exchange at all (which is unrealistic), the question then becomes, what is the anticipated item/source(s) of "value" that will be accepted as a measure of trade? I would offer that, if you can figure that out, that is what you need to hold onto, keeping in mind that the "item" may be multiple things or it may shift based on time and unfolding situation (could be food one week, fuel the next, toilet paper the next month..ad nauseum)...figure that out and you are in good shape.

 

I don't even pretend to think I have that answer

[Ted S.]

[quote name="6.8 AR" post="1133197" timestamp="1396478309"]That much might keep you alive. I'm guessing you haven't really started?[/quote] Nope. Life keeps happening. Sent from somewhere in the cosmos using magic...and bacon.

[tnguy]

The LDS have a schedule for building up supplies in an orderly manner. Let me see if I can find the link.

 

Well, looks like you have to provide an email to download it from the "official" place but it's available elsewhere also so I'll just paste a google link

 

https://www.google.com/search?q=lds+preparedness+manual

 

Starts on page 28 in the version I have.

[RAJTENN]

I like silver in dimes and quarters (pre1965) when they were real. I also like blocks of .22 for trade. I have laid up more sugar and salt than I could ever use. I agree that even the smallest gold coin will be a little too pricey for the average trade.

[Ted S.]

I won't knock precious metal allocation too much; for the long term. If you can't make it to the long term first though.... Sent from somewhere in the cosmos using magic...and bacon.