# Buying Gold and Silver for survival



## HozayBuck

From an e mail I got today...never heard of this site but the guy writing it gives his bio to the left...

Just for info...do with it as you wish...

On Buying Gold & Silver for Survival Preparedness | SHTF School


----------



## UncleJoe

*I am copying part of this for folks that have a slower connection and prefer not to have multiple tabs open.*

I am very sorry because i have to destroy some popular opinions on some things, but i just have to do that. When i said and keep saying "no rules" i mean that. You can not have something like ideal preparations, you can only try to have it (and then hungry man down the road still might shoot you with his antique hunting rifle for a bit of flour). survival fear

So again on bartering and gold and silver:

No, gold and silver was not like second money, or second value during SHTF, it was not even worth like in normal times, and in most of the cases it was dangerous to have it a lot (actually it was too dangerous to have anything in great amounts and let other people to know that) If you had for example 1000 gold coins, and let s say that one coin worth 150 USD in normal times, you could think that you are rich in shtf.

But in reality it was hard to find someone who give you some food or battery or whatever useful for one coin. Gold coin was not useful for 90 percent of people, what they could use it for? Eat it? Start fire with that?

Only people which could use that gold were people who had connection to outside world, so they could use it for buying things trough their connections. In most cases they just used situation to acquire great amounts of gold for the future and in exchange for some simple things, like food, or fuel or&#8230;

They did that because they had everything else.

But thing is it was hard to make trade with people like that, because bad kind of people had connections or were gathering gold, so they can just gonna take that gold from you and give you nothing, or bullet in your head.

So yes gold was useful and not useful, it dependeds what kind of people or group you belonged to.

If we have worldwide crisis and you can not get food anywhere the first currency of choice will be food or useful things, not gold or silver. If you want gold to keep some kind of value for one day after all is over make sure you are prepped for long, long time crisis before that.

It is better to have some useful stuff in your prepping, then to waste money on gold or silver. And of course if you still want to have a lot of gold as a part of your preparations, i suggest you buy lot odd simple gold rings, or simple cheaper gold necklace, it makes more sense than to have gold coins.

In hurry it is gonna make more sense to offer "your wifes gold ring" someone for cans or something else then to offer someone some "strange" gold coin for food or one of the typical gold coins you can buy from gold sellers these days, it can raise some questions, and you do not need raising questions in situation like that. Stay low key. Be the guy with the last family jewels not the guy with gold coins from typical gold sellers...

...So in short instead of getting gold and silver to preserve your wealth you might consider getting useful stuff and if you like gold there is always option to get it from unprepared people in exchange for useful stuff if you think you need this for times after.


----------



## BillS

I understand the thinking. During World War II when the German army had Stalingrad surrounded there were people who bribed officials with expensive pieces of jewelry just to get an extra slice of bread. In an environment like that any kind of food is the most valuable commodity. You could probably trade a $2 can of beef stew for a $1000 leather couch in a place like that. 

But there are different stages of a collapse and different stages of a recovery. In a rural area where people grow their own food it's easy to imagine gold and silver coins becoming like a second currency among people who trust each other.

During hyperinflation gold and silver coins will preserve your savings. Sometime after the collapse the federal government will regain control of the country. Gold and silver will become valuable again. People who stocked up on ammo will be stuck with something with very little value.


----------



## BlueShoe

People in Zimbabwe pan and mine for gold to have something to eat.
Here's a short of that.


----------



## k0xxx

BillS said:


> ... But there are different stages of a collapse and different stages of a recovery...


Exactly. We need enough of the basics to get us through a crisis. If you believe that there will be an end to the crisis, then precious metals are a way of getting some of your wealth to that end.

Beans, bullets, and bandaids first, then metals last if you have the money.


----------



## baconexplosion

I think sometimes that people get worked up, and don't always think straight. So they think they need to store gold and silver. Then they forget the basics. What good does a stash of gold do you if you have starved to death?

If have all the basics taken care of, and you have a whole bunch of wealth you need to protect... Maybe gold is a good bet. I definitely don't have a whole bunch of wealth I need to protect so its not an issue for me! lol

It's awful that he had to go through all of the things that happened. However, it is good that he can share it with others. It helps to validate some concerns while squashing some of the silliness abounds in preparedness circles.


----------



## JustCliff

IMO
I think it really depends on how much money you have to start with. 
If you have a great deal on money it would be wise to put some into gold and silver. If you are just a normal Joe, food and equipment is the way to go. 
preppers like us are few and far between as a percentage of the population. People will be hungry,thirsty and need things. Metal will not be one of them.
Take just one facet of hard times, heating. A lot of folks say they will heat with wood. Good luck with that if you don't have a wood heater or a good deal of extra exhaust pipe. Pipe only last for so long, maybe two full seasons if your lucky. No exhaust pipe, no heat. Then there is the cutting of the wood. Using gas to run a noisy chainsaw would not be wise. 
How many people have a one or two man saw? A saw buck? A maul and splitting wedges? An axe and hatchet? Sharpening tools for saws and axes? 
For the price of one gold, 1oz coin today. You can buy 2 two man saws, two one man saws. the sharpening equipment, several axes and hatchets and splitting wedges and many peices of 6" pipe and elbows. You could also buy fiberglass gasket material and cement to keep the heater efficient.
Not only would you have a way to cut your wood but you would have wood to barter, the service of cutting wood for someone else, the means to sharpen old saws that people have stored in their sheds and you could help install heaters. 
All that for the price of one gold 1oz coin, the price is $1616.00 as I type this.


----------



## Tweto

All of these postings have some very smart comments.

During the California gold rush of 1849, the real money was made from selling supplies to the miners. 

The miners complained about their pants not being tough enough and Levi blue jeans were born.

I guess the lesson is if you want to survive, have the supplies to barter with.

Gold and Silver will not help you to survive until long after SHTF when some form of society has been established.


----------



## mosquitomountainman

The key is right here: *"If we have worldwide crisis and you can not get food anywhere the first currency of choice will be food or useful things, not gold or silver. If you want gold to keep some kind of value for one day after all is over make sure you are prepped for long, long time crisis before that."*

Even during times of hyperinflation food will hold or increase in value as will many other investments such as land. Once you've taken care of the necessities then by all means stock up on PM's. It might make more sense though to stock up on food and useful items then scam the gold from those who thought gold was all that they needed. I'm looking forward to selling bread, meat, etc. for gold. "You paid $800.00 an ounce for your gold? ... Guess what, that's the same price I'm selling a pound of flour for!" (And I grew the wheat in my back yard and ground it into flour in my grain mill!)

So please, buy lots of gold.

Steve


----------



## Immolatus

One point I will bring up that if theres a massive financial meltdown in the US, gold/silver will *at least initially* go through the roof. Now how long this 'initial' phase lasts is anyones guess.
I think the play here would be to trade in some gold for the tons of soon to be useless dollars and buy as much useful stuff you could inthose last moments. Risky, yes, but as he says, unless you have a long enough timeline to wait the whole thing out in a true SHTF situation, as people love to say, it wont be worth much to the average person.


----------



## BillM

*P M's and survival*

If there is a world monitary collapse, Fiet currencys will become worthless.

At the beginning of such a crises, junk silver coins will still purchase goods and services.

Once all connection to other countrys and the centeral goverment are no longer available, Gold and Silver will have no trading value.

When recovery takes place, these metals will regain their value and will be the basis of any new currency.

Precious metals are a means of transfering wealth from one monitary system to any future monitary system. at least that has been their function for the last six thousand years of recorded history.

If you are counting on buying food after a collapse with gold or silver you are going to be disapointed at the exchange rate.

If you are counting on trading your food for gold or silver after a recovery, you are going to be dissapointed at the exchange rate.

I hope this clears up any misconceptions people may have!


----------



## Norse

I have to disagree.

Gold and sliver will be trade standards. Yes, it is basically worthless in basic survival, but even barter society will need transfer currency, and the plain fact is a farmer with 5 silos of corn is not going to be trading grain for socks with holes in the toes.

Also consider this. Eventually a new market will arise. Gold and silver have been currency and trading standards for thousands of years, and I highly doubt that will change, unless you plan on evac to the south pacific where the currency is shells or something.


Best to spread all your excess prep funds evenly. A priority list would be.....

1.Food and clean sources of drinking water, or purchase several devices or chemicals that can render dirty water safe to drink.

2.Several various means of self defense.

3.Large quantities of barter items, medical supplies,large quantities of excess food, ammunition, female hygienic products, and yes, toilet paper would become gold without renewed supplies. 

4.Several alternative possibilities of electrical power generation.

5. Long and short range communication devices, preferably the higher end models with code in technology.

6.Alternative dig in locations.

7.Large quantities of high proof Alcohol.


----------



## Immolatus

Assuming total financial meltdown, gold and silver will skyrocket in dollar terms (assuming the dollar still exists, which it will, just highly devalued) so big ticket items (houses,land) will become extremely cheap in gold/silver. Just to throw some numbers around (not predictions) say gold is 10k/oz and now your neighbors house is only worth 30k instead of the 100k its 'worth' now, then you get a house for 3 oz of metal.
While your other neighbor may not take a lump of metal for some food, you would still (theoretically, unless you are waaaay out in the sticks) be able to trade your gold for dollars.


----------



## BillS

Immolatus said:


> Assuming total financial meltdown, gold and silver will skyrocket in dollar terms (assuming the dollar still exists, which it will, just highly devalued) so big ticket items (houses,land) will become extremely cheap in gold/silver. Just to throw some numbers around (not predictions) say gold is 10k/oz and now your neighbors house is only worth 30k instead of the 100k its 'worth' now, then you get a house for 3 oz of metal.
> While your other neighbor may not take a lump of metal for some food, you would still (theoretically, unless you are waaaay out in the sticks) be able to trade your gold for dollars.


Here's a link to some interesting charts. It shows the price of an average home in ounces of gold or silver from 1963 to 2011. The lowest it got was for about 2500 ounces of silver or about 100 ounces of gold.

Average US House Values in Gold & Silver


----------



## mosquitomountainman

The worth of PM's will depend on what happens in the future. Not all societies had currency. American Indians did a lot of trading but seldom used any type of precious metal. It just didn't have much meaning to them.

If, after TSHTF and it's TEOTWAWKI or TEOCAWKI then the value of PM's could conceivably be "zero."

Even if some trade and industrializtion is restored PM's may or may not be a worthy investment. It will all depend upon what's left of civilization. PM's have value only if the basic needs of a society are met. If people are starving they won't have any interest in gold. Only food. If the society that emerges is prosperous then PM's may be useful. 

Always be sure to provide for your needs first. As long as those are met you'll be a rich person. If those needs are not met you'll gladly trade a bucket full of gold for a loaf of bread. 

Once you've stored up adequate supplies of food, have provided all that you need for shelter and security and have the ability to keep secure and fed indefinitely then put all the money you have into precious metals. But not until then!


----------



## Shane

This is an ongoing discussion regarding the value or not of PM's in the crisis that is developing here in the US and the developed economies of the world. IMO the bottom line is no-one knows what is going to unfold here. We will perhaps most likely continue to endure a 'slow burn' of our economy over the next decade. On the other hand we could find ourselves amidst WW III in the not too distant future as the US and Israel continue to bear down on Iran. Who knows how that could play out in terms of it's effects upon the US economy etc. .... Natural disasters are a significant possibility as well.

The bottom line is, no-one knows how things will play out here. It's probably a good idea to prepare for as many possibilities as you can, ... and PM's is one that should not be ignored. ... Gold and silver have always been considered money and the most ideal form of exchange throughout history. That is not going to change any time soon, but, IMO, by all means, as a first priority, do make sure that you are well prepared to live as self sufficiently as possible and if you can as well, form a small community network in your neighborhood so that you will have the networking and security of community behind you.

Argentina is another good example to examine with respect to the role of gold and silver in a collapsed economy. If you look at the following video you will see that gold and silver became a very valuable form of exchange there. In the video below that you will see that Argentina also developed a very successful form of Barter Exchange Markets where people use coupons as a form of currency to use for the exchange of goods and services;

- 




-


----------



## Immolatus

Yes, the question is how bad of a meltdown we would be talking about.
If its *just* a massive depression then gold will skyrocket.
If its nukes/emp/asteroid strike, etc., then well...it wont.

I would still say it should be a part of prepping, but yes, make sure you have everything else first.


----------



## desertrider479

I don't see that we would have the ability to make a recovery. After all, how long have we sat and watched the collapse approach? I think that once we reach meltdown, all of the "anti-anythings" will hit the streets and they will not crawl back under their rocks of their own free will.

And, wasn't it our own gov. who took away the gold standard, and then the silver standard from our currency. Didn't they also make private ownership of gold illegal at one time?

I think a safe plan is to form small, agri based groups well enough armed to defend against both roaming bands of street gangs and NEW AGE GOVERNMENT reps. If you want to invest in precious metals, buy lead! Plan on bartering goods and services with like minded groups and set up mutual defense plans. Let's make the next try at civilization a better attempt at helping each other and avoid getting involved with a strong central government.


----------



## Norse

desertrider479 said:


> I don't see that we would have the ability to make a recovery.


There really would not be any reason to attempt to survive a intermediary period then would there?

It supposedly took mankind around 15,000 years to develop the modern world, at any point that was partially or totally wiped out, any surviving population large enough to perpetuate mankind would certainly be aware of modern technological abilities, and more than likely enough highly skilled and highly educated people would survive to form some type of organized social structure.

The basis of civilization is agriculture, and the ability to trade commodities with forms of temporarily trading, with a monetary standard, for those goods, that don't involve lugging a cart of chickens and watermelons around to shop for hog feed and shoes.


----------



## Davarm

I have been asked if I have gold and/or silver, my honest answer is no. I am one of the individuals who does not have the resources to make that kind of investment. I have chosen instead to ensure that I have no debts, no mortgage, no loans on land, credit cards or car loans and full pantry

I have decided to store and stock up on the things that the gold and silver would be needed to obtain, that, I can afford to do and it seems like a reasonable course of action. I am working on/have stores that will see my family through a relatively long crisis with the ability to make a new start when and if their is a rebound. 

It may just be the mindset I have adopted regarding the future, but I would prefer to have my needs self contained without planning on having to venture out in the chaos to to obtain the necessities that gold and silver may be required to purchase. If those you are forced to deal with know that you have precious metals and the provision that you purchased from them....Bingo, in my mind, there goes that bulls-eye on your back.

If gold and silver are in your survival plans/scenarios, sincerely hope it all works out for you and to your benefit, if and when the time comes.


----------



## wolfer

K0xxx has the answer gold and silver are not worth much during a shtf fan situation but shtf doesn't last forever eventually rebuilding starts thats where the precious metals will have high value. You should have already collected your hoard of silver and gold now is the time to invest in food and bullets and trading stock. The second post is in reference to a man that went thru war in Bosnia. You should all go to survival boards and read his whole post it is enlightening. He stored booze and bic lighters for trade.


----------



## Jezcruzen

I have often found that those who poo-poo the storage of gold/silver to be those who have none. Thats OK. If anyone chooses to "invest" in tangibles like food, clothing, meds, alcohol, tobacco, tools, etc., then thats fine. All of those commodities will someday be in short supply or totally unavailable and worth a lot more than the initial investment.

But gold and silver have been accepted in exchange for goods and services since before recorded history. In every society. In every culture.

Sure, if you are starving, a can of beans means more to you. If you are suffocating, so does a breath of fresh air. But in the long term for whatever society emerges, gold and silver will have a prominent place in the economy.

So, those of you out there... what is your wealth in? Thats a rhetorical question, btw. Is it in land? A house? How about in some 401K or IRA or stock or bond or certificate calculated in FRNs and earning you NOTHING? Maybe it in a basement full of rice? Ammo? What will you use to get a relative out of jail? A cup of rice may not do it. A gold coin may.

And how about when some semblance of 'normalcy" return... a new currency? A bucket of potatoes may not get you any new folding money, likely based on PMs. Nor will that cresant wrench in trade.

PMs are only one layer of preparedness. You may have chosen to place your treasure into other things. Maybe you made the right decision. Maybe you didn't. Only time and circumstances will tell. But, I tell you this... even in a Mad Max world, PMs will buy you things... things you need. History shows that.


----------



## tccuba

?. What about investing in brass, copper or other metals.


----------



## BlueShoe

Investing-wise for SHTF, you could do okay. Are you going to store it on site or have it held in commodities futures? Industrial metals are what those are. Silver also fits into that group. Missile technology uses thousands of dollars of silver in each vehicle. If you have a coronal mass ejection that takes down portions of the utilities grid you get a big bump in demand. If you experience worldwide recession, and thus less demand, you don't go broke.


----------



## tccuba

Hey, ten I've been buying lots of brass, copper, nickel, a little silver, lead, storing it in a safe. But been also buying lots of ammo, rice, making venison jerky and storing water.


----------



## k0xxx

tccuba said:


> ?. What about investing in brass, copper or other metals.


Unless it is in the form of ammo, I personally would not bother.

To preserve wealth during SHTF event, it doesn't fit the requirement of being compact and transportable, and readily convertible into whatever currency is being accepted once (if) things return to normal. Just my two cents.


----------

