# The GOLD Standard...or SILVER? or BREAD STANDARD?



## watchman220 (Dec 27, 2009)

I have been telling people for months, that you can not eat gold! So why get it? But I have learned recently through discussion what may be more obvious to some...possessing gold holds large amounts of value in a small space of storage.

Holding silver is similar, but not as expensive as gold.

If you had a small gold nugget and a several small silver nuggets, it would be akin to having a 100 dollar bill and several 5 dollar bills.

Storing up food (A GREAT IDEA) is good for when you will staying in one place for a long time. But what if you need to go mobile?

Carrying that bucket of rice or flour is going to get very heavy after awhile.

Herein lies the logic...that I have been missing. 
Portable Currency. There may come a time when our paper dollars become worthless, but small amounts of silver will go a long way when you need to have a reliable portable, light-weight currency with which to travel.

*An Example of how inconvenient GOLD is as a singular currency.
LOOK at this video - GOLD For BREAD in Zimbabwe*

*Think it can not happen here? What happens when BIG CITY FOLK run out of food? They will be coming to you!*


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## NaeKid (Oct 17, 2008)

Hmm ... reminds of me of a little story that I read years ago ..


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## allen_idaho (Oct 21, 2009)

But when the SHTF and everyone is starving, who is going to want that gold? If the paper currency is worthless in the US, the gold isn't going to do you any better. You could at least burn paper currency for warmth. Or eat it if you get extremely desperate.


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## UncleJoe (Jan 11, 2009)

allen_idaho said:


> who is going to want that gold?


I'll trade you some of my food for some of your gold or silver.


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## bunkerbob (Sep 29, 2009)

UncleJoe said:


> I'll trade you some of my food for some of your gold or silver.


Joe do you know something I don't, is it time to barter already.:gaah:


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## UncleJoe (Jan 11, 2009)

It's always time to barter.  Best to learn before it becomes a necessity.


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## bunkerbob (Sep 29, 2009)

UncleJoe said:


> It's always time to barter.  Best to learn before it becomes a necessity.


Oh I thought the time for necessity had arrived, my misunderstanding.:2thumb:


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## greaseman (Jun 13, 2009)

Lately, I have been buying freeze dried food items. mostly fruit, but also some other common foods. They are very light, easily transportable, and have extremely long shelf lives if unopened. These items along with any other type of food items are easily tradeable.

I'm one of those people that believe there is no one item that is the ideal barter item. I Have some silver, and small quantities of gold, but I believe in the long run, food will be the most important barter item.

In any kind of natural disaster, food and water are the first thing people need. The need for money to buy these things usually comes secondary. if things have gone badly for a long time, silver or gold may not buy you anything, if the supply of food is low enough. Later, after things have stabalized, then gold or silver might help you out.

So, for my money, food is number one. So, taking this discussion back to real life, in my on going plans, the continued buying of a variety of food stuffs is never ending. Along with that, I'll try to accumulate precious metals as i can. They are a part of the plan. Along with other necessities, all items play a part of a good prep plan, but to me, food has to be #1.


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## kyfarmer (Feb 22, 2009)

Metals as money will always be handy, because greed will always be in some folks no matter what the condition's. :dunno: But it's the BEANS & BULLETS baby that's the currency of the future. Which would choose if it was past bad a 5lb sack of gold or a 5lb sack of flour. Not much of a choice there. The only thing i would barter if i have to is metals, tools, maybe seeds or related things maybe luxury items. Not my food stuffs or ammo. Staying alive will depend on feeding ones self and protecting that feed. It's just my opine that food and ammo will be the big bucks of the future if ya have a lot of extra to do it with.


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## greaseman (Jun 13, 2009)

kyfarmer said:


> Metals as money will always be handy, because greed will always be in some folks no matter what the condition's. :dunno: But it's the BEANS & BULLETS baby that's the currency of the future. Which would choose if it was past bad a 5lb sack of gold or a 5lb sack of flour. Not much of a choice there. The only thing i would barter if i have to is metals, tools, maybe seeds or related things maybe luxury items. Not my food stuffs or ammo. Staying alive will depend on feeding ones self and protecting that feed. It's just my opine that food and ammo will be the big bucks of the future if ya have a lot of extra to do it with.


 When it all gets down to basics, I gotta agree with you. Hunger is the most basic of needs, and it must be dealt with in whatever way it can be. I'm always a big believer in looking at history to see what people have done in the past.

history shows that people will resort to cannabilism if pushed hard enough. So I have to agree, that food is the number one item of importance to guard and preserve, and bullets and weapons to protect them number two. without either of these two items, the rest of you plan makes no sense.

So anyone who doesn't have weapons in their prep plan, better start thinking about it, as there rerally isn't any other choice. good luck all.

nice points kyfarmer, you got the idea down to the basics.


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## UncleJoe (Jan 11, 2009)

greaseman said:


> When it all gets down to basics, I gotta agree with you. Hunger is the most basic of needs ... food is the number one item of importance to guard and preserve.


No doubt in my mind. Without food there is nothing else.
I would however barter some of my food and seeds as long as it didn't leave us short. I would always want to keep 2 years worth of seed and food although I'm not to that point yet so I'm still "hoarding". Heck, I'm still working on 1 years reserve after last years pathetic growing season.

Eventually some type of currency would become necessary because at this point in time, not everyone can grow their own food. Actually the vast majority of the country couldn't. We considered setting up a stand to sell eggs, peeps and some of the other stuff we can produce but decided we didn't want to advertise that we had more than we need. And in a truly SHTF situation, I would not do any deals out of the house. It would have to be done in a neutral location.


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## allen_idaho (Oct 21, 2009)

Sort of like that armed caravan that travels from location to location making deals. That would be the smart thing to do. If everybody was just coming to you, they'd know where you keep the stuff and probably kill you. 

The way I see it, the most important trade items are not going to be gold, jewels, or other useless items. It will be food, water, medicine and bullets.


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## UncleJoe (Jan 11, 2009)

allen_idaho said:


> The way I see it, the most important trade items are not going to be gold, jewels, or other useless items. It will be food, water, medicine and bullets.


And fuel.


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## Rody (Sep 4, 2009)

In a very bad scenario if someone came to my door wanting to trade gold or silver for food I'd tell them to take a hike. If they want to trade for something I consider useless to me then I might consider it. If I can't eat it, shoot it, drink it, smoke it, plant it, or wear it I consider it worthless.

Eventually I suppose gold and silver would have worth again. Determining exactly what it's worth would vary from location to location. Most people who have gold have it in jewelery. It's almost never pure gold. A lot of stuff is gold plated and the actual gold content is very low. A few people own gold coins but those are few and far between.

Until someone powerful enough comes along and establishes rule I don't see much trade in gold and silver.


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## Norse (Jan 30, 2010)

In any situation a medium for trade needs to exist, suppose you are trying to trade with someone who has plenty of what you have to offer, but knows others who are willing to buy some of your goods or services, a medium of currency is best backed by metals that have value in industry, for currency is the basis of any economy, even if among survivalists.

Best bet, keep your assets balanced, a little gold, a little silver, and generous portions of all goods that can keep you alive in emergency situations, just don't keep all your hope in one pile of gold.

Clean water IS THE UTMOST PRIORITY. Equipment that can clean and sanitize water will be worth ten times its weight in platinum in just about any bad event.

You can live a few weeks without food, but only a couple of days without water.

Freeze dried food would also be better than precious metals, but again, don't put all your eggs in one gold basket.


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## HozayBuck (Jan 27, 2010)

NaeKid said:


> Hmm ... reminds of me of a little story that I read years ago ..


LL Bean of the Bean catalog store once wrote and I quote..." Scenario.. After the big blow up, Man walks into farmers yard, says see this $600.00 gold coin? farmer points to his left and says, see that $600.00 chicken?"... or something like that...

Gold and such only have value to somebody who values them, if it's SHTF time I will not be worried about gold or silver... if my family is safe and we are fed and have a warm shelter then that will be enough for the moment, after things tame down and all the MZBG's are dead and folks can travel freely without too much fear then maybe I will value something like gold and silver, I doubt it but I may...

A good horse and rifle and a dry bed roll would be worth more then gold..

IMHO...:2thumb:


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## HozayBuck (Jan 27, 2010)

NaeKid said:


> Hmm ... reminds of me of a little story that I read years ago ..


LL Bean of the Bean catalog store once wrote and I quote..." Scenario.. After the big blow up, Man walks into farmers yard, says see this $600.00 gold coin? farmer points to his left and says, see that $600.00 chicken?"... or something like that...

Gold and such only have value to somebody who values them, if it's SHTF time I will not be worried about gold or silver... if my family is safe and we are fed and have a warm shelter then that will be enough for the moment, after things tame down and all the MZBG's are dead and folks can travel freely without too much fear then maybe I will value something like gold and silver, I doubt it but I may...

A good horse and rifle and a dry bed roll would be worth more then gold..

IMHO...:2thumb:


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## greaseman (Jun 13, 2009)

I think whatever people need, will be the currency of the day.And yes, I'm more inclined to think that food will be the most used currrency. Next in line could be a way to grow food--seeds. Seeds could be as valuable as any other form of currency. I have stocked some bulk seeds, as I am going to have a garden, but it would probably be a good idea to get much more.


Each post SHTF situation will be unique, so being able to think on your feet will be a valuable skill. These various situations that will come up, will make us get down to the basics of life. Food , water, shelter. We'll have them, and other's will want them. More time might be spent on trying to keep what you have from falling into other's hands, than any other activity. I gues it just depends on how bad the situation is.

Good luck people.


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## UncleJoe (Jan 11, 2009)

HozayBuck said:


> " Scenario.. After the big blow up, Man walks into farmers yard, says see this $600.00 gold coin? farmer points to his left and says, see that $600.00 chicken?"... or something like that...


I like that.  We have 40 or so $600.00 chickens. I'm guessing the goats should fetch about $6000.00. And the horses.... Priceless.


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## greaseman (Jun 13, 2009)

The chicken is kind of like having a "to go" carry out meal. If the chicken is worth it's weight in gold, what are vegetable seeds worth??. They can sustain a food source over a longer period of time, although they do require more time to get a yield.

Depending on how bad things get, I will have to re-think my seed supply, and possibly buy more. I suppose we will all re-think quite a few ideas before we make it through 2010.


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## UncleJoe (Jan 11, 2009)

Last year was the first time I grew things for specifically for seed. At the extremes, I got 10lb's of sweet corn seed and about 30 viable broccoli seeds.  
I'm expanding my seed stores dramatically this year. Too many is probably not enough.


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## HozayBuck (Jan 27, 2010)

UncleJoe said:


> Last year was the first time I grew things for specifically for seed. At the extremes, I got 10lb's of sweet corn seed and about 30 viable broccoli seeds.
> I'm expanding my seed stores dramatically this year. Too many is probably not enough.


UncleJoe, were the parent plants grown from Heirloom seeds? if not I'd like to know how well your collected seeds grow.. they say some seeds saved from modern( hybrid) seeds might grow but it will be a stunted plant...be nice to know..

Keep on saving them seeds they truly will be worth their weight in....life 1


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## mosquitomountainman (Jan 25, 2010)

Regarding seed saving...We let a few carrots go to seed a few years ago and now have "perpetual carrot patch." It's worked great. Carrots go to seed in the second year of growth so we just leave a few scattered in the patch and let them go to seed. We haven't bought carrot seed in years.

I believe it's good to have some gold or silver on hand but the things needed to sustain life such as food, shelter, water and security should be the top priority. After that get some gold or silver. If you have those essentials to trade you might end up with vast amounts of gold/silver in the first year of a severe crisis.


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## UncleJoe (Jan 11, 2009)

HozayBuck said:


> UncleJoe, were the parent plants grown from Heirloom seeds? if not I'd like to know how well your collected seeds grow.. they say some seeds saved from modern( hybrid) seeds might grow but it will be a stunted plant...be nice to know..
> 
> Keep on saving them seeds they truly will be worth their weight in....life 1


Yes, they are heirloom. '09 was my first year using them. With the pathetic growing season we had I didn't get near what I had hoped for, except for the corn.
I had a forest of cherry tomatoes (hybrid) come up from '08 and they seemed to be just as productive and tasty as they were the first time around. Same with the watermelon. On the other hand, we had some ornamental corn (hybrid) that came up from '08 that looked nothing like the plants from the original seeds. The stalks themselves were 3' shorter, the ears were smaller, had very few kernels and were mostly white. I'm going with mostly heirloom seeds this year, but I will plant some hybrid corn. I'll just wait until early July for that so they aren't pollinating at the same time.

*mosquito*, I left carrots and beets in the ground last fall so they could go to seed this year. This is my first attempt at this. Anything I should know?


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## mosquitomountainman (Jan 25, 2010)

I can't help you on the beets but you'll be able to see the sifference in the carrots once they get some tops on them. They'll look different than the carrots on their first year. The second year carrots have stunted bottoms too but that's not obvious unless you pull them. We keep the weeds down, thin them out as needed and keep them watered. Other than that just let them grow. At harvest time leave a few of your first year carrots to go to seed the next year. (We leave them spaced about a foot apart from each other.)


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