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This is a question that popped up in my head when thinking about the 1 ounce of silver coins I found in a container of coins. Supposably when dollars become worthless and a gallon of milk costs 50 dollars, the dollars we use today will have to be replaced with something more solid as money. Silver.
Now it costs 10-15 for a simple haircut.
4 / bottle of juice
2 / loaf of bread
10 / book
300 / rifle
100 / bed set
500 / nice fridge
Which of these will an ounce of silver buy? Is there anyway of knowing or making a logical guess? I don't know but I heard silver is suppose to go up to 300 an ounce, so I guess that would translate to a rifle... but then again a rifle seems a lot more valuable than an ounce of silver.
Buy a dairy goat; let it mow your yard and give you milk. Probably could buy a decent dairy goat for 2-3 oz. of silver right now; or, get one off of "petfinder". Goats will eat anything so just don't let it eat your silver.
This is a question that popped up in my head when thinking about the 1 ounce of silver coins I found in a container of coins. Supposably when dollars become worthless and a gallon of milk costs 50 dollars, the dollars we use today will have to be replaced with something more solid as money. Silver.
Now it costs 10-15 for a simple haircut.
4 / bottle of juice
2 / loaf of bread
10 / book
300 / rifle
100 / bed set
500 / nice fridge
Which of these will an ounce of silver buy? Is there anyway of knowing or making a logical guess? I don't know but I heard silver is suppose to go up to 300 an ounce, so I guess that would translate to a rifle... but then again a rifle seems a lot more valuable than an ounce of silver.
To some degree it's going to depend on the ability of the 'haggler'.
Americans just don't know how to bargain. We will learn.
NOW: Even though we cannot know, we DO know the historic ratio range of silver to gold.
(I don't remember... 16 or 17 to one is it?)
And we DO know that in (Don't quote me on the EXACT dates... just roll with it) in 1965 a Silver Quarter would get you a Gal of gas.
It will STILL get you a Gal of gas!
...You should be able to take it from there.
As to a rifle being more valuable.... not necessarely.
I have rifles, don't need any more.
"Money" needs to fit a few things:
Divisable, set value (Weight) doesn't rot, rust, corrode etc...
And the biggest thing... Portable.
I have a 1 oz medallion in the watch pocket of my jeans right now...
Americans don't understand that money is nothing more than an exchange for goods or services. If the economy collapses, what gold or silver will be "worth" will vary from state to state, community to community.
If you have gold or silver, and I have chickens, how much is a chicken or a dozen eggs worth to you? Right now you probably wouldn't even consider parting with a single piece of that coin, or a single small bar of that metal, for a chicken; you'd try to tell me that you could buy the whole flock plus the coop for that. BUT...
If you are starving, how much would a chicken or a dozen eggs be worth to you then? You can't eat your gold or silver. I have chickens, so not only do I have eggs, but I have roosters, too - so that means I can "make" more chickens. You don't have the time to incubate the eggs, or the facilities, or even a chicken to sit on them - you need food today. NOW what is that chicken or egg worth to you? Would you give anything for it? I'm not going to give you change back because I can't; what would I give you - a handful of feathers from another chicken? You can't make more gold once you have spent it all; unlike clothes hangers, you can't leave gold or silver in a closet and come back to find that you have more in a few weeks.
Gold and silver will only be worth what the market will bear - and I don't mean a global market or even Wall Street; in the event of financial collapse, what you have to trade will be your only 'money'. You could starve to death with a basement full of gold, because you don't have anyone with whom to trade or barter. You can live quite comfortably without that gold or silver, as long as you 1) know how to trade either what you have, or what you can do, for an item that you need or want or 2) have something that no one else has nearby.
Trying to guestimate what gold or silver will be worth is like trying to determine how many stars there are in the sky, or how many people will be left after an economic collapse, disaster, or pandemic. There are too many variables, and your mileage WILL vary, because of the particular circumstances in which you find yourself. People who are buying pieces of paper called "gold" or "Silver" certificates, may quickly discover that those pieces are paper are worth less than some stock certificates were worth in November 1929. People who are using gold or silver as their only investment against a SHTF situation might discover that they have more 'money' than their neighbors, family, and friends - but nothing to eat, no way to buy it, and no way to protect what they have. Money can't buy you love - and in some situations, won't buy you food, clothing, security, medicine, or shelter, either.
Take stock of who you are, what you have, who and what resources are around you, and what you can do to obtain them - and diversify.
Americans don't understand that money is nothing more than an exchange for goods or services. If the economy collapses, what gold or silver will be "worth" will vary from state to state, community to community.
If you have gold or silver, and I have chickens, how much is a chicken or a dozen eggs worth to you? Right now you probably wouldn't even consider parting with a single piece of that coin, or a single small bar of that metal, for a chicken; you'd try to tell me that you could buy the whole flock plus the coop for that. BUT...
If you are starving, how much would a chicken or a dozen eggs be worth to you then? You can't eat your gold or silver. .
Most of us with gold...
Have food, guns, medical supplies etc.
It doesn't REPLACE... it ADDS to...
RATHER THAN what you said...
Perhaps you should consider...
If I have Gold, Chicken, Eggs, Wheat, Ammo, Guns, medical supplies...
If I have Gold, Chicken, Eggs, Wheat, Ammo, Guns, medical supplies...
And you have chickens and need meds...
What will you do?
Good preparation, however you seem to have your priorities right.
I've met many many people who are of the attitude that as long as they have gold and/or silver no matter what they'll do just fine, because they can just buy what they need if something untoward happens. Bullion is really only a hedge against the devaluation of paper currencies, if those currencies collapse altogether, or cannot be traded, then SCGranny is completely correct.
As an aside it's also important to remember that in that situation only bullion that is physically in your possession can be guaranteed to be owned, bonds, certificates etc. might well be seized by foreign governments if they are held offshore should the dollar die, and the US defaults on it's national debt, after all the US taxpayer is liable for those debts. If you're storing actual gold (coins, bars, etc.) in a safety deposit, you need to make sure you get it before any situation that might lead that bank closing its doors.
Unfortunately this is not the case, SCGranny mirrors my own perspective. Precious metals may well get short shrift from me in any case of emergency, where the US currency is worthless. I will admit it depends on the emergency, something that appears short term will result in a better result than something that appears longer term.
Currency should be used to first supply real estate, vehicles, hard goods, water supplies, tools, food resources (preferably sustainable), medical supplies, spare parts and energy/fuel resources. Only when these are gathered should you consider bullion.
To turn the question around, suppose you need a chicken, and have both gold and meds, I need neither and I really don't, if I don't already have a med, that med might only keep me alive for a few days before I need a hospital, if I can't get it, I can't expect hospital treatment, so it's only adding a couple of days to my lifespan (even though we do carry about 30+ liters of IV fluids).
How many of those Maple Leaves, Krugerrands, Sovereigns or Double Eagles will you part with for one of my chickens? 1, 2, more than? It all depends on your situation, if you're a bit peckish, and feel the need for some spit roast free range chicken, maybe a silver eagle and you'd need to be really jonesing for some spit roast chicken. If you and your family are starving, maybe everything you have.
However we can argue all day about the value of different items, from gaskets, to generators. Ultimately there is no reason for anyone to accept any form of payment that they are not interested in, there's no obligation to accept gold any more than an obligation to accept Federal Reserve notes.
The ironic thing is today the price of one ounce of those gold bullion coins really would buy you enough chicks to start a flock, a coop, an incubator and enough feed to feed them for a couple of years. After all of that you'd still have change to go and buy 500 rounds of your favorite ammo that isn't a 50BMG.
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