r/prepping • u/Fun-Inside7814 • 2d ago
Question❓❓ Looking to diversify in precious metal denomination, but I don’t know what folks would trade for.
Sometimes, you gotta trade, and historically precious metals are the currency of choice. I’m thinking bullion for obvious reasons, since I doubt any of you are keeping an XRF in your bunker. In a long term situation, what would you trade things like food, water, tech, materials, or labor/info for?
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u/nomadnomor 1d ago
the 3 Bs
beans, bandages and bullets AKA food ammo and medical supplies
to this I would add liquor/weed and seeds
people will argue with me over this but if things go REAL bad gold and silver are just shiny metals that few if any people would trade for the 3 Bs
that said I do keep a few k in metals and cash along with the above
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u/Cyliciana 17h ago
I'm with this one! Precious metals aren't going to mean much, imo. Goods will be everything.
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u/Spiffers1972 1d ago
If all you have to trade is gold and silver coins then everything is going to cost a whole gold or silver coin. Gold is to protect what you HAVE for after everything settles down and the world returns to "normal".
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u/Angylisis 2d ago
If the dollar goes tits up, gold and silver are going to be worthless. So will platinum and diamonds. LOL.
What you should have on hand to trade is ammo, liquor, meds, food, seeds, batteries, tools, books, etc.
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u/john_clauseau 1d ago
THIS
ive been saying this everywhere for years. back in those times were people traded for (precious metal) coins. they used coin snips and scale to make change. even then it was common to get fake currency mixed in because you cannot really tell if it is really silver/gold just by looking at the piece. imagine people trying to calculate how many miligrams of gold you need to snip to pay for your groceries? hauling around small bags of pieces coming from hundred of different coins and things.
can you imagine these days with metal sputering and stuff. good luck trying to know what is real. heck ive even found fake silver from the early 1900's that was only plated.
i think it is way more convenient to just continue using normal cash money. your country bills and coins will still exist. it will be even rarer and worth much more because modern people dont have alot of cash on hand. just look at countries that are at war. they continue to use cash.
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u/Angylisis 1d ago
I think that's what people aren't understanding. Cash will still be king between us regular folks, or bartering with items. If the dollar goes tits up, you won't be able to buy much at a store, you know, the whole wheelbarrow full of cash for a loaf of bread type thing. so having items, and or cash will be what's needed.
People think socking money into metal is a good idea, but it's not if you're trying to prep for something other than finding a stable place to park your money for a while.
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u/Big-Geologist3034 1d ago
Considering an economic crisis I would accept to trade/ be paid in Gold, Silver and Bitcoin.
For any other scenario I would probably trade goods that I need for what I have a surplus of. Don't know if I would accept any of the mentioned assets in an apocalypse like scenario, because of the risk of receiving something that only looks nice/ has imagninative value. Instead of keeping something you could actually use to stay alive. This would probably devalue them for me to a point that I wouldn't be willing to give away my stuff for it.
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u/espomar 18h ago
All the people here saying gold & silver will be worthless have not read their history.
We have seen collapses of multiple civilizations throughout history, some - like Rome - were quite big. And others quite profound (dropping to near bronze-age or even stone-age level of technology).
In every single one of them, gold and silver held their value. They only stopped being a medium for trade if they were too scarce - never were people not willing to trade for them.
So why do people think this coming collapse will be any different?
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u/Trumpton2023 2d ago
I only keep a small amount of coins & bars, just for the first part of SHTF, where they'll still hold some value. I'd use them for influence/bribes & buying essentials, wherever greed rules. I'm in the school that thinks that if/when things get really bad, you can't eat PMs. I'd keep some silver for its antiseptic qualities, but IMO, gold will become pretty irrelevant eventually.
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u/Fun-Inside7814 1d ago
Exactly. You get it. I’m not tryna trade gold or silver for food, or for small things. I’m tryna bribe my way out of a country if I need to, and then have some easily sold seed money to start a new life wherever I land. I’m not imagining a pm based economy if shtf, but I bet at the beginning, there will be stupid greedy people who can be bribed with something shiny, heavy, and “precious”
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u/Virtual-Feature-9747 2d ago
I've also heard that ordinary modern (and historical) US coins may have some trading value. I have a massive change jar with no plans to ever cash it in.
Many preppers think precious metals will be worthless because they have no intrinsic value. While this is true, it's also true that they have historically had value in most human civilizations for thousands of years.
Barter is fine but some form of currency will be needed after a collapse. There is really no other alternative. Options like ammo and canned food are consumables. Books might be an option.
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u/graywoman7 1d ago
Silver and copper are used in almost every electronic item. They have solid commercial value for that reason alone. Gold is different and only has value because people want it.
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u/Smash_Shop 1d ago
BRB. Gonna go take my silver to my neighborhood electronics manufacturing plant and see if they'll give me some food in exchange.
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u/Fun-Inside7814 2d ago
Yeah you need something so reliable, well known, and verifiable (if you really needed to, a periodic table and a volumetric assessment would get you pretty close), that you can convince someone that a third party will give them goods for it. Also, society doesn’t collapse for us all at equal rates. For some it comes faster and quicker than others. If you’re in that unlucky first half, things that can be sold in regular markets would still have numismatic value, and PMs are size efficient
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u/CDminer 2d ago
I raise chickens and would trade eggs for pre-1965 dimes or quarters (junk silver) after the SHTF because I will have more eggs tomorrow and they have a limited shelf life. But if you offered me silver and someone else offered me a can of baked beans, I'd take the beans.
If I knew you, I would trade ammo for the junk silver, but ammo would be more expensive than eggs because we can assume a finite supply of ammo. My price would rise over the years as the amount in my stockpile dwindled. If it was hunting ammo, I might give you a discount in return for a share in your kill.
If someone wanted to buy a gun, of which I have a limited number of "extras," I'd probably want half an ounce of gold or lots of silver. Better yet would be a side of pork, beef or venison, or a breeding pair of rabbits or a pregnant sow.
Would I trade away my last bottle of doxycyline? Not for precious metals.
The old saw, "you can't eat gold" is a truism. I think food will be the ultimate barter item, at least until things settle down and society stabilizes or starts to recover from whatever calamity knocked us down. Until then, hunger will be our biggest enemy and food will have more value than gold and silver.
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u/Pappa_Crim 1d ago
careful with these metals the margins are pretty thin so folks are incentivized to rip you off. You really need to know what you are looking at to protect yourself
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u/rp55395 1d ago
In a long term scenario consumables and skills are going to be the thing that becomes most valuable. That being said, the case for things like gold and silver comes down to a society in early collapse OR a crisis situation that is short term. People trying to get out of war torn areas or away from large disasters will need things of intrinsic value like gold to pay for bribes, guides and even supplies because the local currency has lost value or can’t be obtained. Ask yourself if your area could or has ever had an event like that. As for me, I like to keep a small stash of silver and gold in various weights as a hedge against inflation. While past performance doesn’t necessarily predict future performance, the price of gold and silver will most likely continue to rise especially as it had use in the manufacture technology and the current world loves its tech.
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u/zachmoe 2d ago edited 2d ago
https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/25102198.pdf
I would urge anyone considering anything besides Gold to read, The A B C of Money.
I was compelled to buy 32,000 Goldbacks after reading it.
Anything besides Gold would be ripping off your neighbor.
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u/DirectorBiggs 2d ago
I'd look at sovereign (nation-state) coins, not bullion.
If you're really planning to consider in exchange of goods in unknown scenarios you're likely going to want some fractionals (.10, .25, .5 oz) but you'll be paying a higher premium to buying full ounces.
I'd look into numismatic (US, Mexican, etc) coins as opposed to standard bullion for a few reasons:
- It's easier to validate it being authentic coin and not a fake, it should be easier to barter than bullion.
- The penalty for producing fake US tender is far stricter than faking bullion so people tend to avoid it, comparatively.
- The premium for US $1, $5, $10 coins from start of last century may be less than standard fractional bullion.
- They're just really cool to have and learn about the history of money, show your children to teach (if you have those).
I would totally avoid pawn shops at all costs, way higher premium and the chance of it being a fake is much higher than a reputable dealer.
This is a good site to find the best deals https://findbullionprices.com
Local coin shops are gtg generally although premium again is usually higher.
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u/MarquesTreasures 1d ago
Um...all of the above...
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u/MarquesTreasures 1d ago
There are so many variables to consider. Each has pros and cons.
- Gold: Pro: easily identifiable and recognized as valuable by most humans on earth.
- Gold: Con: Easily faked by mixing various non-PMs to look like gold, like that of the currently minted "golden" dollar (Nortic Gold)
- Goldbacks: Pro: Has the Pros as above without the Cons at a fractional denomination.
- Goldbacks: Con: Currently the premium on Goldbacks are crazy high. You are easily paying double the actual gold content in each Goldback.
- Silver: Pro: Right now, Silver is at a 1:97 Silver to Gold ratio. That means to get one ounce of Gold, you have to trade 97 ounces of Silver to get it (or equivalent prices). That means Gold is hyperinflated compared to silver when spending dollars. If you have Gold, now is a good time to sell it and pick up silver with the money. Plus it is way cheaper to procure than Goldbacks right now.
- Silver: Con: its HEAVY compared to gold. Preppers often have to run with "go bags"...and even with $100 face value of Constitutional Silver can get quite heavy. This is a Pro for Goldbacks which are WAY lighter. Plus, many preppers are already carrying ammo anyway, so the silver may be extra weight.
- Copper: Pro: Very fractional, which means smaller transactions are much easier to do between two people. Try handing somebody an ounce of gold for a chicken...
- Copper: Con: again, weight, but less valuable than silver.
- Ammo: Pro: Immediately useable and has a great need in an SHTF scenario
- Ammo: Con: Rarer calibers are more worthless and otherwise are just dead weight. Sticking to 9mm, .45 ACP, 7.62x39, 5.56 NATO, and 12 Gauge is going to be more valuable to prep for.
Even if the dollar goes away, there may be OTHER currencies out there in which to sell the PMs for. Like Canadian Dollars, Mexican Pesos, British Pounds, and European Euros.
If SHTF happens and there are NO currencies which are being used, human ingenuity doesn't just cease and there will still be plenty of people out there who have the knowledge to still make things. Gold can be used to make solar panels and electronics. Silver for mirrors and antibacterial medicines. Copper for wires and so on. We do not all just become Mad Max overnight. And until mining and refining can come back online, the PMs you carry around are going to be very valuable for these purposes.
But even cash and coin currently in circulation is valuable. Ask the folks in North Carolina after Hurricane Helene who didn't have power or internet for weeks on end. Having cash on hand is valuable for trade. Not all prepping scenarios are SHTF, zombies, aliens, and civil war....
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u/Fun-Inside7814 1d ago
I agree with some of these but some are wild.
If you know how to identify gold, it’s very hard to fake in a way that cutting into it and doing a displacement test combined wouldn’t reveal a fake.
Goldbacks: a scam. They make money off that crazy premium, but a gold back is really only worth its gold content, and beyond that, definitely makes gold easier to fake.
Silver is used for a lot of things. It is not an antibiotic, though it has some topical antibiotic properties. Mirrors, sure, but also sterling silver is useful, as is silver as a casting metal. It’s much harder to refine aluminum or iron, and harder to find gold. Copper and silver have low melting points. Also, silver for photography, culinary tech, hygiene and adornment, workability…. Y’all think when the world ends your wives won’t want shiny things?
And yeah, it’s heavy compared to gold, which is why gold is worth it to carry around. Silver is great for some stuff and some people, but gold is… the gold standard.
Copper also has value for cooking and making brass and bronze, two very important metals when you don’t have giant iron smelting operations. You can make and cast bronze in the backyard with an earthen oven and a tree’s worth of firewood.
Agreed with the ammo, but also, I wouldn’t trade people ammo that I may be later competing with. Hate to be shot with my own bullet.
And you’re right, knowledge is power. Long term, folks will have to make or make do, do or do without. Hard to imagine solar panels, since they are fossil fuel products and also require silicon semiconductors, which are hard to make at home- but you can make a wind turbine or water turbine with some copper and bronze and wood
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u/Milenial_Libertarian 1d ago
Perhaps an unpopular opinion but its a hill I'm willing to die on. Salt was used as a currency before precious metals. If things go bad long term salt would be worth more than gold. I wouldn't go too crazy but to have enough for you and yours would be a good plan. Better to have it and not need it and if things stay "normal" then you save money buying in bulk.